ITR: Value Sensitive Design -- Integrating Values into the Design of Information and Computer Systems

University Of Washington, Seattle WA

Investigators

Abstract

Value Sensitive Design is an emerging approach to information and computer system design that seeks to account for human values in a principled and comprehensive manner throughout the design process. The purpose of this project is to extend and validate Value Sensitive Design on a large scale. Value Sensitive Design will be applied across five research strands: (1) personal robots in human lives; (2) plasma display technologies; (3) children and information systems; (4) large-scale computer simulation for urban environments ("UrbanSim"); and (5) industry contexts, specifically, Sun Microsystems, Microsoft, and Openwave. Along with stand-alone scientific contributions within each strand, the research will address the following hard but tractable problems for integrating values into the design of information and computer systems: handling diverse values, including privacy, intellectual property, civil rights, security, accessibility, physical health, freedom from bias, and trust; handling diverse populations and technologies; accounting for cultural diversity; developing an integrative and iterative methodology; adapting to an industry context; providing evaluation metrics; and providing means to transfer the methodology to others in academia and industry. This project aims to shape the IT design and development process such that the next generation of IT can pervasively enhance human lives, on the individual and societal level.