Health and wellbeing applications increasingly raise ethical
issues for design. User-centred and participatory design
approaches, while grounded in everyday wisdom, cannot be
expected to address ethical reflection consistently, as
multiple value systems come into play. We explore the
potential of
phronesis
, a concept from Aristotelian virtue
ethics, for mHealth design. Phronesis describes wisdom and
judgment garnered from prac
tical experience of specific
situations in context. Applied
phronesis
contributes
everyday wisdom to challenging issues for vulnerable target
users. Drawing on research into mHealth technologies for
psychological wellbeing, we explore how
phronesis
can
inform ethical design. Using a
case study on an app for self-
reporting symptoms of depression during pregnancy, we
present a framework for incorporating a phronetic approach
into design, involving: (a) a wide feedback net to capture
phronetic input early in design; (b) observing the order of
feedback, which directly affects value priorities in design;
(c) ethical pluralism recognising different coexisting value
systems; (d) acknowledging subjectivity in the disclosure
and recognition of individual
researcher and participant
values. We offer insights into
how a phronetic approach can
contribute everyday wisdom to designing mHealth
technologies to help designers foster the values that
promote human flourishing.