Developers' Blind Spot: Designing Systems to Enable Stakeholders' Understanding of Ethical Qualities

A fundamental disconnection exists between system developers (who need concrete and measurable requirements) and other stakeholders like users and authorities (who, in various ways, seek to interact with the system). Users' ethical views are often subjective and contextual, while authorities must monitor and enforce regulations over systems. This gap creates a "developer's blind spot", where systems are not designed in a way that enables stakeholders to understand and evaluate their ethical qualities. The core issue is a lack of practical guidelines for operationalizing abstract ethical values into observable system characteristics. This vision paper addresses the issue by identifying key challenges and proposing a vision for future research. The goal is to support developers in designing systems that expose their ethical dimensions, allowing users and authorities to apply their own interpretations and make informed decisions. By enlightening this blind spot, developers can better satisfy the needs of all stakeholders, enabling personal ethical evaluations by users and proper oversight by authorities.