Designing systems that satisfy users is difficult:

failure is common, and even successful designs often overrun time and cost.

• This motivates user-centered design methods.

But users often don't know what they need or cannot articulate it (due to tacit knowledge),

and they are often not aware of key organizational context impacts on how they work.

• This motivates ethnographic methods.

But these can be slower and more expensive, and can still fail.

• We argue that values are key to effective design.

Algebraic semiotics gives rigorous notation and calculus for representation and is explicitly value sensitive

Compassion supports better analysis and better ethics in design.

With discourse-based value discovery methods and iterative design, these enable value-centered design.

Some case studies are also discussed.