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Value Sensitive Design: Applications, Adaptations, and Critiques

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Book cover Handbook of Ethics, Values, and Technological Design

Abstract

Value sensitive design (VSD) represents a pioneering endeavor to proactively consider human values throughout the process of technology design. The work is grounded by the belief that the products that we engage with strongly influence our lived experience and, in turn, our abilities to meet our aspirations. We, the authors of this piece, are members of the first cohort of scholars to receive doctoral training from the founders of VSD at the University of Washington. We do not claim to represent an officially authorized account of VSD from the University of Washington’s VSD lab. Rather, we present our informed opinions of what is compelling, provocative, and problematic about recent manifestations of VSD. We draw from contemporary case studies to argue for a condensed version of the VSD constellation of features. We also propose a set of heuristics crafted from the writings of the VSD lab, appropriations and critiques of VSD, and related scholarly work. We present these heuristics for those who wish to draw upon, refine, and improve values-oriented approaches in their endeavors and may or may not choose to follow the tenets of value sensitive design.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    For a more detailed account of VSD, we recommend Friedman et al. (2006a) overview.

  2. 2.

    We did not find any published work describing VSD projects prior to 2006 that did not involve researchers with strong links to Batya Friedman and the development of VSD (e.g., Helen Nissenbaum, Peter Kahn, Alan Borning).

  3. 3.

    However, it is a strand that has become a brand.

  4. 4.

    Indeed, we, the authors, have questioned the grounds on which Friedman et al. (2006a) exclude usability from the realm of moral values while including values such as calmness and courtesy (Friedman et al. 2006c, p. 4).

  5. 5.

    Regarding the other four features listed in the 2006 article, we claim that three help distinguish VSD from other approaches, but are neither unique to VSD nor essential for this scholarship: (1) VSD enlarges the design arena beyond the work place, (2) VSD enlarges the scope of human values beyond those of cooperation and participation and democracy, (3) VSD distinguishes between usability and human values with ethical import. (4) The last feature, adherence to the proposition that some values are universal, is a contested position (Borning and Muller 2012) addressed earlier in this chapter.

  6. 6.

    See, for example, Steve Krug’s books Don’t Make Me Think (2005) and Rocket Surgery Made Easy (2010), which introduce software developers to usability principles and practices.

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Acknowledgments

We thank Batya Friedman for suggesting that we write an overview of value sensitive design for this volume. We also thank Batya, along with Alan Borning, Nathan Freier, Peter Kahn, Shaun Kane, and many former lab-mates, for invigorating discussions of VSD. Finally, we wish to thank all those we cite – and particularly those who have so thoughtfully criticized VSD – for joining the discussion and advancing the state of research on design for human values.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Computer Science, Grinnell College, Grinnell, IA, USA

    Dr. Janet Davis

  2. University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, Canada

    Dr. Lisa P. Nathan

Authors
  1. Dr. Janet Davis
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Correspondence to Janet Davis .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Philosophy Section, Delft University of Technology, Delft, The Netherlands

    Jeroen van den Hoven

  2. Delft University of Technology Dept. Philosophy, Delft, The Netherlands

    Pieter E. Vermaas

  3. Department of Philosophy Sch. of Techn. Policy & Management, Delft University of Technology, Delft, The Netherlands

    Ibo van de Poel

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Davis, J., Nathan, L.P. (2013). Value Sensitive Design: Applications, Adaptations, and Critiques. In: van den Hoven, J., Vermaas, P., van de Poel, I. (eds) Handbook of Ethics, Values, and Technological Design. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-6994-6_3-1

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