A robot with human values: assessing value-sensitive design in an agri-food context

Value Sensitive Design (VSD) aims to take societal values on board in the design of innovative technologies. While a lot has been written on VSD and the added value of using it for technology development, limited literature is available on its application to the agri-food sector. This article descri...

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Main Authors: Else Giesbers, Kelly Rijswijk, Mark Ryan, Mashiat Hossain, Aneesh Chauhan
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Elsevier 2025-06-01
Series:Journal of Responsible Technology
Subjects:
Online Access:http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2666659625000162
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author Else Giesbers
Kelly Rijswijk
Mark Ryan
Mashiat Hossain
Aneesh Chauhan
author_facet Else Giesbers
Kelly Rijswijk
Mark Ryan
Mashiat Hossain
Aneesh Chauhan
author_sort Else Giesbers
collection DOAJ
description Value Sensitive Design (VSD) aims to take societal values on board in the design of innovative technologies. While a lot has been written on VSD and the added value of using it for technology development, limited literature is available on its application to the agri-food sector. This article describes a VSD case study on an agri-food robotic system and reflects on the insights into the added value of using VSD. This paper concludes that while VSD contributes to broadening the perspective of technical researchers about non-technical requirements, its application in this case is constrained by five factors related to the nature of the VSD approach: i) lack of clarity on dealing with conflicting values; ii) the ideal timing of VSD is unclear; iii) VSD lacks effectiveness when technology is outsourced; iv) VSD does not account for time and context specificness of values; and v) the operationalisation of values in VSD.
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publishDate 2025-06-01
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spelling doaj-art-5fce6b3752a24437aa3f17e6446ce5a82025-08-20T01:48:49ZengElsevierJournal of Responsible Technology2666-65962025-06-012210012010.1016/j.jrt.2025.100120A robot with human values: assessing value-sensitive design in an agri-food contextElse Giesbers0Kelly Rijswijk1Mark Ryan2Mashiat Hossain3Aneesh Chauhan4Wageningen Social & Economic Research, Wageningen University & Research, Droevendaalsesteeg 4, Wageningen, the Netherlands; Knowledge, Technology and Innovation Group, Wageningen University & Research, Hollandseweg 1, Wageningen, the Netherlands; Corresponding author.Wageningen Social & Economic Research, Wageningen University & Research, Droevendaalsesteeg 4, Wageningen, the NetherlandsWageningen Social & Economic Research, Wageningen University & Research, Droevendaalsesteeg 4, Wageningen, the NetherlandsWageningen Social & Economic Research, Wageningen University & Research, Droevendaalsesteeg 4, Wageningen, the NetherlandsWageningen Food and Biobased Research, Wageningen University and Research, Stippeneng 4, Wageningen, the NetherlandsValue Sensitive Design (VSD) aims to take societal values on board in the design of innovative technologies. While a lot has been written on VSD and the added value of using it for technology development, limited literature is available on its application to the agri-food sector. This article describes a VSD case study on an agri-food robotic system and reflects on the insights into the added value of using VSD. This paper concludes that while VSD contributes to broadening the perspective of technical researchers about non-technical requirements, its application in this case is constrained by five factors related to the nature of the VSD approach: i) lack of clarity on dealing with conflicting values; ii) the ideal timing of VSD is unclear; iii) VSD lacks effectiveness when technology is outsourced; iv) VSD does not account for time and context specificness of values; and v) the operationalisation of values in VSD.http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2666659625000162Value sensitive designAgri-food roboticsEthicsValueEthics in design
spellingShingle Else Giesbers
Kelly Rijswijk
Mark Ryan
Mashiat Hossain
Aneesh Chauhan
A robot with human values: assessing value-sensitive design in an agri-food context
Journal of Responsible Technology
Value sensitive design
Agri-food robotics
Ethics
Value
Ethics in design
title A robot with human values: assessing value-sensitive design in an agri-food context
title_full A robot with human values: assessing value-sensitive design in an agri-food context
title_fullStr A robot with human values: assessing value-sensitive design in an agri-food context
title_full_unstemmed A robot with human values: assessing value-sensitive design in an agri-food context
title_short A robot with human values: assessing value-sensitive design in an agri-food context
title_sort robot with human values assessing value sensitive design in an agri food context
topic Value sensitive design
Agri-food robotics
Ethics
Value
Ethics in design
url http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2666659625000162
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