Vol.:(0123456789) 1 3 Ethics and Information Technology (2021) 23:17–21 https://doi.org/10.1007/s10676-018-9476-2 ORIGINAL PAPER Twenty years of value sensitive design: a review of methodological practices in VSD projects Till Winkler 1  · Sarah Spiekermann 1 Published online: 21 August 2018 © The Author(s) 2018 Abstract This article reviews the academic literature (1996–2016) that emerged under value sensitive design (VSD). It investigates those VSD projects that employed the tripartite methodology, examining the use of VSD methodological elements, and illustrating common practices and identifying shortcomings. The article provides advice for VSD researchers on how to complete and enhance their methodological approach as the research community moves forward. Keywords Value sensitive design (VSD) · Literature review · Tripartite methodology Introduction Value sensitive design (VSD) can look back at over 20 years of constant development and is considered by many as the most comprehensive approach to account for human val- ues in technology design (e.g., Manders-Huits 2011; Davis and Nathan 2015). Against this background, the goal of this paper is to review the methodological practices in VSD pro- jects. We want to understand how VSD has been applied, especially in terms of the reported use of selected methodo- logical elements for design projects that employ the VSD tripartite methodology. To achieve successful incorporation of human values in the design process, VSD employs an integrative and iterative tripartite methodology, consisting of conceptual, empirical and technical investigations (Fried- man et al. 2006). In the conceptual investigation, direct and indirect stakeholders are identified, followed by an analysis of how these could be harmed by or benefit from a new technology. Additionally, values implicated by the use of technology are identified and defined (Davis and Nathan 2015). As soon as values are identified and discussed, value tensions can emerge (Friedman et al. 2006). Under empirical investigation, qualitative and quantitative meth- ods are employed to evaluate how stakeholders experience a technology with regard to the values they consider impor- tant (Manders-Huits 2011). One aim of the technical inves- tigation is to combine insights from the other investigations and explore how a technology might be designed to sup- port the values identified (Manders-Huits 2011). All three investigation types are interdependent and inform each other (Manders-Huits 2011). Burmeister (2016) shows how an identified value can be refined by empirical insights, which support its in-depth conceptualization and understanding. Due to the interdependency of the three investigations, we consider iterations between them as an important corner- stone of the VSD tripartite methodology. Method We conducted a literature review on VSD from 1996 to 2016, using the online libraries of the Association for Com- puting Machinery (ACM), the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) as well as Science Direct and Springer. We considered all peer reviewed journal publi- cations and conference proceedings with the term “value sensitive design”, “value-sensitive design” or “vsd” in the title, abstract or as a keyword. Furthermore, we included all papers that are listed at vsdesign.org, a website maintained by the Value Sensitive Design Research Lab and Batya Friedman, the pioneer of VSD (Friedman 1996). * Till Winkler till.winkler@wu.ac.at Sarah Spiekermann spiek@wu.ac.at 1 Institute for Information Systems and Society, Vienna University of Economics and Business (WU), Welthandelsplatz 1, 1020 Vienna, Austria