Grounded Design in a Value Sensitive Context

Since the 1990s, Batya Friedman and colleagues have been developing Value Sensitive Design—a theoretically grounded approach to engaging with human values—such as autonomy, sustainability, and privacy—in a principled and systematic manner throughout the design process for technology. 1 To discuss experiences with and explore future directions for this design approach, a workshop entitled “Charting the Next Decade for Value Sensitive Design” was held at the Lorentz Centre in Leiden, The Netherlands, from 14—18 November, 2016. The workshop brought together some 40 researchers and designers from diverse fields, including computer science, design, ethics, human-computer interaction, information, law, philosophy, and the social sciences. Four conversations held throughout the week provided a range of perspectives on value sensitive design and stimulated discussion for the workshop. The series began with Lisa Nathan, University of British Colombia, who spoke about her long-term work with First Nations people and some of her insights and perspectives gained from having employed aspects of value sensitive design in that context. Then, Sarah Spiekermann, Vienna University of Economics and Business, discussed how she and her colleagues have been applying value sensitive design in their engineering work with management information systems, with a focus on integrating value sensitive design into waterfall models. Next, Alan Borning, University of Washington, who has been a key developer of value-sensitive design for close to two decades, reflected on some of