This last step will lead to an evaluation of your value sensitive design or prototype.

It is important to check whether all values that were identified in previous steps have been sufficiently taken into account in the design and/or whether this had led to a design that is acceptable and appreciated by end-users.

There are different ways to do this. First, you can look back to the values identified in step 3 and 4, the value conflicts and the solutions you developed for the conflicts in step 5, as well as the design requirements developed in step 6. Based on all these previous steps you can assess whether the eventually resulting design or prototype is acceptable.

But you can also do the evaluation with stakeholders. If the previous steps 3, 4 and 5 have been carried out without the participation of stakeholders, it is recommended to involve them in step 8. This is the best way to ‘check’ whether the values that you think are important for the stakeholders, conform to the values that these stakeholders consider important.

Note that Value Sensitive Design always includes an empirical phase. Therefore, it is important to actually include stakeholders and ask for their opinion at some point in the process. Below you will find an example of an interview protocol to evaluate the design of the product or service with users (see box 10).