Emotions in design for values

Abstract

The contributions to this handbook show that technology is not value neutral, as is often thought. In this chapter, we argue that the inherent value-ladenness of technology evokes positive and negative emotions of the people who encounter or use it, by touching upon their personal and moral values. These emotions enable people to make concrete practical and moral judgments and to act accordingly. In this chapter, it is therefore proposed that emotions of users and designers alike should not be marginalized as being irrational and irrelevant, but instead be embraced as valuable gateways to values. Emotions reveal those values that matter to our well-being given a particular design or technology, and they are an important source of moral knowledge by being crucial to our capacity of moral reflection. This chapter discusses six sources of emotions in human-technology interaction and proposes how an understanding of user emotions can support design processes. In addition, the chapter discusses how emotions can resolve the lack of moral considerations in traditional approaches that assess the desirability of technology. It is argued that emotions do this by opening the gateway to moral considerations, such as responsibility, autonomy, risk, justice, and equity. This means that moral emotions can – and should – play an important role in the development of technology and can be considered to be indicators of success and failure in value-driven design processes.