Legibility as a Design Principle: Surfacing Values in Sensing Technologies. (September 2021)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Robbins, Holly; Stone, Taylor; Bolte, John; van den Hoven, Jeroen
• Other Names: Henry Emmanuel guest-editor.; Thomas Valentin guest-editor.; Aguiton Sara Angeli guest-editor.; Déplaude Marc-Oliver guest-editor.; Jas Nathalie guest-editor.
• Is Part Of: Science, technology, & human values. Volume 46:Number 5(2021)
• Page Start: 1104
• Page End: 1135
• Publication Date: 2021-09
• Subjects: legibility -- value sensitive design -- design ethics -- sensing technologies -- chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD); Science -- Social aspects -- Periodicals; Technology -- Social aspects -- Periodicals; Humanities -- Periodicals; 303.48305
• DOI: 10.1177/0162243920975488
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0162-2439

Abstract

This paper introduces the design principle of legibility as means to examine the epistemic and ethical conditions of sensing technologies. Emerging sensing technologies create new possibilities regarding what to measure, as well as how to analyze, interpret, and communicate said measurements. In doing so, they create ethical challenges for designers to navigate, specifically how the interpretation and communication of complex data affect moral values such as (user) autonomy. Contemporary sensing technologies require layers of mediation and exposition to render what they sense as intelligible and constructive to the end user, which is a value-laden design act. Legibility is positioned as both an evaluative lens and a design criterion, making it complimentary to existing frameworks such as value sensitive design. To concretize the notion of legibility, and understand how it could be utilized in both evaluative and anticipatory contexts, the case study of a vest embedded with sensors and an accompanying app for patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease is analyzed.