vsd project photos

DESIGNING WITH MORAL & TECHNICAL IMAGINATION.

We are designers and researchers, thinkers and doers. We design toolkits and methods. We work on theory and practice. Throughout, we engage human values in the design of tools and technology to support human flourishing. Our lab is a gathering place—we welcome conversation and dialog, questions and new ideas.

For the definitive account of value sensitive design, see Value Sensitive Design: Shaping Technology with Moral and Technical Imagination (2019).






















VALUE
SENSITIVE
DESIGN

Tools and technologies are fundamental to the human condition. They constitute the infrastructure through which people from diverse communities and nations engage in dialog, educate their children, gain access to resources and systems of justice, conduct business, participate in government, relate to and shape the natural environment, and any number of other activities at the core of human society. At stake is no less than what people in their specific localities and societies experience as fair, as caring, as intimate or personal, as dignity, as property, as community, and so the list goes on. Such tools and technologies are the result of human imagination. Yet, with our limited view, it is not at all obvious how to design tools and technology so that they are more likely to support the actions, relationships, institutions, and experiences that enable all stakeholders — human and beyond human — to flourish.

Pioneered in the 1990s, value sensitive design seeks to provide theory, method, and practice to account for human values in a principled and systematic manner throughout the design process. Central to this approach is engaging our moral and technical imaginations.


NEWS!

The Future of Life Award. For pioneering work on value sensitive design, Batya Friedman was one of three leading researchers and scholars to be honored by the Future of Life Institute. Information School Story | Future of Life Award Press Release

Exciting Envisioning Cards update! The Envisioning Cards toolkit is now downloadable and printable: Print and make your set. Pre-made sets can still be purchased from the University of Washington Bookstore.

 

Announcing the Second Edition of Value Sensitive Design: Shaping Technology with Moral Imagination (available January 2026), with 40% new material including:

  • 8 new hands-on instructional studios
  • 16 Envisioning Cards
  • 5 new methods: Data Statements, Diverse Voices, Values Hierarchy, Metaphor Cards, and Security Cards (22 total methods) 
  • 3 new application domains: Bias in computing and information systems; Materials and imagination; and Tech policy (13 total application domains)
  • New theory

RECENT
PUBLICATIONS


 

About Designing Tech Policy: Instructional Case Studies for Technologists and Policy Makers

The UW Tech Policy Instructional Case Studies position students to consider the deeply interactional processes of human values and technology. Within pedagogical bounds, students engage both technical and policy elements and develop design solutions. For instructors, the instructional case studies have been written so that they can be revised and re-used for varied educational settings. Topics include: personal drones, IoT in smart homes, the sharing economy, and workforce management.

About A Guide for Writing Data Statements for Natural Language Processing

For those seeking guidance on writing their own data statements for language data types, A Guide for Writing Data Statements for Natural Language Processing provides the why, what, and best practices by schema element. In addition, general best practices are included for writing data statements. The guide will also be of use for those seeking to understand the construction of data statements and the definition of particular schema elements. In collaboration with the UW Tech Policy Lab.

About Resilience Grammar: A Value Sensitive Design Method for Resilience Thinking

A method for bringing a value sensitive design sensibility to resilience thinking. The Resilience Grammar provides a systematic process for researchers, designers, and policymakers to identify and trace resilience pathways in the context of real-world responses to stressors and obstacles. The grammar enables the expression and integration of diverse stakeholders, values, value tensions, and worldview into an account of resilience thinking.