CS 553 Fall 2015 
Questions on Readings about values in design 

A. Reading:  Human values, ethics, and design. 

1. What is meant by "Technological innovations implicate human values"? Give an example from a Internet Service of your choice. 

2. What are the qualitative differences in the  three positions of how values become embededed in a design? That is, what are the differences in the root causes of the positions? 

3. What are the axis of "Ethical Import" and "Usability"?

4. Create a 1 sentence definition of the author's concept of trust. 

5. Who are the authors, and what are their backgrounds? 

B: Reading: Will Security Enhance Trust Online, or Supplant It?

1. Describe the "traditional technological" definition of trustworthiness. 

2. Describe the Author's definition of trust, and how it is different from her definition of surety. 

3. What does the author consider the obstacles to online trust? In your estimation, which are the three most challenging to overcome? 

4. Explain why trust might be a preferable state of affairs, even if not strictly necessary. Give an example of a such a situtation, that is,where the parties might have low or no trust, but a high trust relationship is preferable. 

5. Give an example of a technological system where a high degree of trust is assumed, and a second example systen that embodies, little, if any trust. 

C. Class discussion questions: 

1. Where does the responsibility of the desiger/architect begin? 

2. What is the relationship of designers and engineers to policy makers?

3. What design issues rise to the level of      
     -leaving the organization?
     -whistle-blowing?
     -Sabotage - is sabotage even ever OK?

4. What is the difference between Google's 'Don't be evil' and 'do good'?