Colloquium Details
Value Sensitive Design
| Author: | Batya Friedman The Information School, University of Washington |
|---|---|
| Date: | January 31, 2002 |
| Time: | 16:00 |
| Location: | 220 Deschutes |
Abstract
In this talk, I will discuss the emerging field of Value-Sensitive Design. This approach seeks to design information and computer technology that accounts for human values in a principled and comprehensive manner throughout the design process. Value-Sensitive Design is primarily concerned with values that center on human well-being, human dignity, justice, welfare, and human rights. This approach is principled in that it maintains that such values have moral epistemic standing independent of whether a particular person or group upholds such values. At the same time, Value-Sensitive Design maintains that how such values play out in a particular culture at a particular point in time can vary, sometimes considerably.
Methodologically, at the core of Value-Sensitive Design lies an iterative process that integrates conceptual, empirical, and technical investigations. I will illustrate this methodology with a current project by myself, Edward Felten, and our colleagues that seeks to understand how to design web-based interactions to support users' informed consent. Our work entails the redesign of the Mozilla browser to include just-in-time mechanisms for information and management of cookies. I will also touch briefly on a range of on-going projects at the University of Washington that currently employ Value Sensitive Design methods, including the design, development, and evaluation of a large-scale software simulation of land use and transportation modeling for urban planning (UrbanSim), the development of health information systems in a rural county in Eastern Washington, and a psychological study of augmented reality of the natural world. Toward the end of the talk we'll devote a good deal of time for what I trust will be a vigorous discussion that explores connections between the Value Sensitive Design approach and research interests of those in the audience.
Biography
Batya Friedman is Associate Professor in The Information School and Adjunct Associate Professor in the Department of Computer Science and Engineering at the University of Washington. She received both her B. A. and Ph.D. from the University of California, Berkeley. Her research program has commitments to the areas of Value-Sensitive Design, social-cognitive and cultural aspects of information systems, and human-computer interaction. Her publications have appeared in such journals as ACM Transactions on Information, Journal of Systems Software, Communications of the ACM, and Computers in Human Behavior. In 1997 she edited Human Values and the Design of Computer Technology (Cambridge University Press). She is currently funded by the National Science Foundation for several projects including (a) Network Browser Security and Human Value, and (b) Augmented Reality of the Natural World and Its Psychological Effects: A Value Sensitive Design Approach. She is also co-Director of The Mina Institute.