Value Sensitive Design of Complex Product Systems

ITS832_Chapter_8.pdf

ITS 832 Chapter 8

Information Technology in a Global Economy

Professor Miguel Buleje

Introduction

• ComplexTechnology

• Smart Meters in the Netherlands

• Smart Meters as Complex Products

• Values in the Design of TechnicalArtifacts

• Conclusion

Complex Technology

• Common in today’s society • Many basic service infrastructures

• Collection of many smaller systems

• Technology is more than hardware and software • Implementing technology always has impact • To the surrounding environment

• Many stakeholders • Tech development driven by stakeholder needs

• Value sensitive design (VSD) • Incorporates impact on stakeholders

Smart Meters in the Netherlands

• Early smart meters were developed in the 1980s and 1990s

• The Netherlands identified benefits • Energy savings

• Lower utility bills

• Consumers were not included in research • Consumer concerns were not taken into account

• Public resistance led to a long delay • Required modification and marketing

Smart Meters as Complex Products

• Complex system characteristics • Systematic

• Multiple interactions

• Nondecomposable

• Competing standards

• Actor or Stakeholder analysis

• Networks of stakeholders • Standards organizations

Values in the Design of Technical Artifacts

• Smart meters and Home Energy Management Systems (HEMS)

• Overlapping technologies

• Some shared development milestones

• Value drives development and acceptance

• Value sensitive design (VSD) • Focus is moral and political implications

• VSD in Smart meter design

Summary

• Complex systems • Implementation impacts society

• Stakeholders are often unable to appreciate full impact

• Ignoring all stakeholders can delay implementation

• Smart meters in the Netherlands is a classic example