Power Dynamics and Value Conflicts in Designing and Maintaining Socio-Technical Algorithmic Processes

How do power dynamics and value conflicts affect our ability to design and maintain socio-technical algorithmic processes? In this paper, we study the SIGCHI student volunteer (SV) selection process that uses a weighted semi-randomized algorithm to recruit a desired pool of volunteers. Our interviews with the community members showed that the process is complex and socio-technical; the algorithm's outputs are interpreted and adjusted by the conference organizers to reflect the community values while ensuring the selection of effective volunteers to help with organizing the conference. This provides a stage in which the power dynamics and value conflicts among the stakeholders play salient roles in determining how the process was perceived and envisioned. For instance, non-organizers of the conference found the algorithm used in the selection process to be a power-balancer that places a check on the organizers who oversee the process. However, even with a participatory process to elicit the algorithm's weights, the power dynamics and value conflicts between the participants made it difficult to reach a consensus on what the SV selection process should consider and prioritize. Our findings highlight the importance of value transparency - the type of transparency that focuses on explaining why a decision was made rather than how it was made - as a mechanism for resolving such conflicts. Based on our findings, we lay out design recommendations that can guide communities to better design and maintain algorithmic socio-technical processes over time in the face of power dynamics and value conflicts.