91丝瓜视频

Sarah Lebovitz

McIntire School of Commerce, University of Virginia

Between Data and People: Designing for Dignity in the Personal Data Nexus

Date: Friday, March 13, 2026
Time: 10:30 am - 12:00 pm EDT
Location: Bronfman Building, Room B045

All are cordially invited to attend.

About:

Organizations increasingly design, collect, and use personal data in ways that have implications for human dignity. While prior research has examined dignity in data collection and use, less is known about how concerns for dignity shape the design of personal data before any data are produced. Drawing on a year-long case study of a pronoun data design project at a U.S. university, we use the CARE theory as a framework to analyze dignity tensions across three project phases. We find that designing personal data surfaced opposing logics between data[1]centered and dignity-centered approaches, resulting in dignity disequilibria. A provisional dignity equilibrium was achieved only when the focus of design shifted from modeling data about people to configuring the linkages that connect data to the individuals they concern. We identify three such linkages鈥攕tability, authority, and alignment鈥攖he configuration of which enabled opposing logics to be reconciled, reaching a provisional equilibrium. On this basis, we conceptualize the personal data nexus, a site where the linkages between data and people are configured, maintained, and adjusted. Our study contributes to research on data design and personal data by shifting attention from designing data models about people to designing sites where data and people are connected, demonstrating how designing data for dignity can be carried out in practice.