We didn’t think it was harm. We knew. Or maybe we didn’t. But now we do.Now we pay back what we took — and fund the designers who’ll do better.
Reparations.design is a public, permanent record of dark patterns, manipulations, and exploitations designed by those who now seek to atone. Designers, product leaders, engineers, and growth folks confess what they shipped — and pay a self-chosen reparation, $10 to $100,000, to fund the next generation.
100% of every reparation routes to scholarships at the School of Critical Design, educating designers who will refuse to build what we built.
First-person, specific. We publish concrete things you designed, approved, or shipped — not theory or industry critique. “I designed X knowing Y” not “the industry tends to”.
Name the harm. A vague apology isn’t a confession. Tell us what mechanism you used and who it affected.
No defamation. Don’t name colleagues, executives, or companies. The point is your accountability, not theirs.
Italics for emphasis. Wrap *words* in asterisks to italicize them in the published quote. That’s the only formatting available.
Length. 40–600 characters. Short and sharp publishes best.
Every entry is reviewed by a human before publication, typically within 48 hours. We approve, decline, or request a revision.
If we decline, your reparation still funds the scholarship — the funding work is the priority. We’ll email you the reason and you’re welcome to revise and resubmit.
Common reasons for declining: the confession is too vague, names third parties, isn’t first-person, or describes industry-level patterns rather than specific work.
You can publish anonymously. We never store more than a contact email for moderation comms — that email is never displayed publicly and is deleted on request.
If you sign your name, your name and optional website are published with the entry. Your role (e.g. “Product Design Lead”) is optional in either case.
Reparations.design is operated by Neeley Worldwide, a studio practice based in Montevideo and New York. For press, partnerships, or questions, write to confess@reparations.design.
Want to confess? Begin here.