Digital platforms and responsible innovation: expanding value sensitive design to overcome ontological uncertainty
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ORIGINAL PAPER
Digital platforms and responsible innovation: expanding value sensitive design to overcome ontological uncertainty Mark de Reuver1 · Aimee van Wynsberghe1 · Marijn Janssen1 · Ibo van de Poel1
© The Author(s) 2020
Abstract In this paper, we argue that the characteristics of digital platforms challenge the fundamental assumptions of value sensitive design (VSD). Traditionally, VSD methods assume that we can identify relevant values during the design phase of new technologies. The underlying assumption is that there is only epistemic uncertainty about which values will be impacted by a technology. VSD methods suggest that one can predict which values will be affected by new technologies by increasing knowledge about how values are interpreted or understood in context. In contrast, digital platforms exhibit a novel form of uncertainty, namely, ontological uncertainty: even with full information and overview, it cannot be foreseen what users or developers will do with digital platforms. Hence, predictions about which values are affected might not hold. In this paper, we suggest expanding VSD methods to account for value dynamism resulting from ontological uncertainty. Our expansions involve (1) extending VSD to the entire lifecycle of a platform, (2) broadening VSD through the addition of reflexivity, i.e. second-order learning about what values to aim at, and (3) adding specific tools of moral sandboxing and moral prototyping to enhance such reflexivity. While we illustrate our approach with a short case study about ride-sharing platforms such as Uber, our approach is relevant for other technologies exhibiting ontological uncertainty as well, such as machine learning, robotics and artificial intelligence. Keywords Value sensitive design · Digital platforms · Emergent values · Responsible innovation · Value dynamism
Introduction In today’s society, digital platforms are ubiquitous, ranging from social media platforms to smartphone operating systems. Through digital platforms, organizations make their technologies, data and user base available to third parties (De Reuver et al. 2018). For instance, platforms allow consumers to find taxi drivers, or municipalities to share city data (Janssen and Estevez 2013). While digital platforms offer convenience and stimulate innovation, they also produce undesired societal consequences. For instance, mobile platforms such as Android and iOS have spawned millions of apps, which have positive implications (e.g. productivity apps to organize work more efficiently) but also negative ones (e.g. productivity apps negatively affect employees’ work-life balance) (Yun et al. 2012). Other scholars warn of * Mark de Reuver [email protected] 1
Faculty Technology, Policy and Management, Delft University of Technology, Delft, The Netherlands
the increased risks to privacy and security (Mineraud et al. 2016), and broader societal impacts on markets, democracy and social life (Dow Jones Newswires (2019). One approach to anticipate and account for the negative value
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