Stakeholder Tokens

Central to a value sensitive design approach is identifying key stakeholders and providing a rationale for their inclusion in the design process. Stakeholder analysis may require extensive conceptual and empirical work. Yet it is often unclear how to effectively do so. This paper introduces a new method for designers to better understand stakeholders and their dynamics -- the Stakeholder Tokens. Stakeholder Tokens present a playful and holistic approach to support stakeholder analyses by engaging hands-on design activities. The Tokens serve a multiplicity of purposes, including (a) generating a more complete set of stakeholders, (b) identifying key stakeholders, and (c) clarifying stakeholder dynamics. To illustrate the method, I report on a case study concerning contemporary issues tied to medical aid-in-dying in the USA, in which the Tokens were used to surface diverse (and often conflicting) stakeholders.