Bernd Carsten Stahl
Value sensitive design (VSD) is a well-established approach used to integrate considerations of ethical, moral, and other values into the development of digital technologies and information systems. It is based on the plausible assumption that an early awareness of values can help shape the development and design of technologies in ways that will be conducive to the realisation of such values in the use of the technology in question. This article reflects on the current state of VSD and highlights the view of digital technologies as integral parts of broader digital ecosystems. It suggests that a more comprehensive integration of this ecosystem perspective can strengthen VSD. It proposes a framework for the integration of the ecosystems perspective that is based on critical systems heuristics. This framework can help the design of technologies within digital ecosystems, offering a crucial contribution to overcome a potential blind spot of current VSD approaches.