Moving from value sensitive design to virtuous practice design

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to develop a critique of value sensitive design (VSD) and to propose an alternative approach that does not depart from a heuristic of value(s), but from virtue ethics, called virtuous practice design (VPD).

Design/methodology/approach

This paper develops a philosophical argument, draws from a philosophical method (i.e. virtue ethics) and applies this method to a particular case study that draws from a narrative interview.

Findings

In this paper, authors show how an approach that takes virtue instead of value as the central notion for aiming at a design that is sensitive to ethical concerns can be fruitful both in theory and in practice.

Originality/value

This paper presents the first attempt to ground an approach aimed at ethical technology design on the tradition of virtue ethics. As such, it presents VPD as a potentially fruitful alternative to VSD.

Citation

Reijers, W. and Gordijn, B. (2019), "Moving from value sensitive design to virtuous practice design", Journal of Information, Communication and Ethics in Society, Vol. 17 No. 2, pp. 196-209. https://doi.org/10.1108/JICES-10-2018-0080