ABSTRACT
Abstract: Value Sensitive Design is a theoretically grounded approach to the design of technology that accounts for human values in a principled and comprehensive manner throughout the design process. It employs an integrative and iterative tripartite methodology, consisting of conceptual, empirical, and technical investigations. We explicate Value Sensitive Design by drawing on three case studies. The first study concerns information and control of Web browser cookies, implicating the value of informed consent. The second study concerns using high-definition plasma displays in an office environment to provide a “window” to the outside world, implicating the values of physical and psychological well-being and privacy in public spaces. The third study concerns an integrated land use, transportation, and environmental simulation system to support public deliberation and debate on major land use and transportation decisions, implicating the values of fairness, accountability, and support for the democratic process, as well as a highly diverse range of values that might be held by different stakeholders, such as environmental sustainability, opportunities for business expansion, or walkable neighborhoods. We conclude with direct and practical suggestions for how to engage in Value Sensitive Design. Keywords: Computers and Society, Cookies, Design Methods, Ethics, Human Values, Informed Consent, Interface Design, Interaction Design, Privacy, Simulation, Security, Social Computing, Surveillance, Urban Development, Value Sensitive Design, Values in Design, Web Browsers
INTRODUCTION
There is a long-standing interest in designing information and computational systems that support enduring human values. Researchers have focused, for example, on the value of privacy (Ackerman and Cranor, 1999; Agre and Rotenberg, 1998; Fuchs, 1999; Jancke et al., 2001; Palen and Grudin, 2003; Tang, 1997), ownership and property (Lipinski and Britz, 2000), physical welfare (Leveson, 1991), freedom from bias (Friedman and Nissenbaum, 1996), universal usability (Shneiderman, 1999, 2000; Thomas, 1997), autonomy (Suchman, 1994; Winograd, 1994), informed consent (Millett et al., 2001), and trust (Fogg and Tseng, 1999; Palen and Grudin, 2003; Riegelsberger and Sasse, 2002; Rocco, 1998; Zheng et al., 2001). Still, there is a need for an overarching theoretical and methodological framework with which to handle the value dimensions of design work.
