Design Values

= What values do we encode and reproduce in the digital objects and systems that we design?

Discussion

Sasha Costanza-Chock:

"We also have to explore the ways that values are reproduced in the affordances of the objects, processes, and systems that we design. Here we could turn to the literature on affordances (Gibson, 1977), and build on feminist and antiracist strands within science and technology studies to unpack recent examples of the ways that intersecting forms of oppression, including white supremacy, heteropatriarchy, capitalism, and settler colonialism, are constantly hard-coded into designed objects (Wajcman, 2010). This typically takes place not because designers are intentionally ‘malicious,’ but through unintentional mechanisms, including assumptions about the ‘unmarked’ end-user, the use of systematically biased datasets to train algorithms using machine learning techniques, and limited feedback loops. The increased visibility of ‘values in design’ (Friedman, 1997) is an important shift in design thinking and practice, and design justice further extends this approach. While values in design urges us to consider the ways that we hard-code oppressive values and norms into technological affordances, design justice adds an emphasis on the transformative potential of broader participation in the design process, as well as attention to ultimate ownership, stewardship, and accrual of benefits from designed objects and systems." ((http://bit.ly/DJZine3Mockup)

More information

• Design Justice

• Notes on Design Justice and Digital Technologies. By Sasha Costanza-Chock. [1]: an introduction to:
  • Design Pedagogy‎
  • Design Sites‎
  • Design Discourse‎
  • Design Accountability‎