Semiotics and Values 5a

Designing systems that embody community values should yield systems that users want.

But how values relate to future systems is not simple:

Values are situated, embodied, enacted - not abstract, disembodied, eternal.
Values relate to how artifacts are used.
Use is (nearly) always in a social context, interacting (perhaps loosely) with other people.

So design should be more than user-centered, or technology-centered, or value-sensitive:

Design should be socially oriented & value-driven.

Note: Previously used the term "value-centered design".

Value system of the relevant community plays a large role in design, the value systems of individuals much less so.

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