Open Book Teaching Design For Values: Concepts, Tools & Practices

The process of identifying, interpreting, and implementing societal values in university education is an essential part of responsible innovation and designing for equitable, inclusive, and sustainable societies. While there is now a well-defined and growing body of research on the theory and application of designing for values (or ‘value sensitive design’), at present the pedagogical dimension remains underexplored.

For the authors of this book, every design is value-based. Values are an essential dimension of design. The authors claim that we often forget that “values” are about “valuing” different alternatives, precisely what designers do when designing. In this sense, the questions are, whose values are represented in the design and how do we make values explicit in the design process?

The open book ‘Teaching Design for Values: A Companion’ is a resource for teachers of design-based disciplines who wish to foreground values more explicitly in their classes.

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The book is edited by Roberto Rocco (Urbanism), Amy Thomas (Architecture) and María Novas Ferradás (Architecture) and is available for free. You can download the book from Delft Open.