Value Sensitive Design and power in socio-technical ecosystems

Abstract

Recent European policy papers call for the consideration of human values in the design of information technology.Value Sensitive Design (VSD) provides a framework for systematically accounting for values in the design of technical artefacts.This paper examines how the distribution of power within socio-technical ecosystems poses a challenge for the application of VSD.It identifies four crucial factors determining the effect of the distribution of power on VSD: the level of decentralisation of the ecosystem; if VSD is applied at the core or periphery; when power can be exercised (temporality); and the phase of VSD (conceptual, empirical, and technical) that power can be exercised in.Based on these factors, it outlines how the challenge of accounting for power can be addressed.

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