First Rule: Keep Pedalling. Co-Theorising with Food-Delivery Workers How to Make Digital Platforms Capability-Enhancing

Digital labor platforms can significantly impact workers' well-being, but their design often fails to enhance capabilities. This study identifies 'meaningful work' as a meta-capability that could guide platform development to better support riders' flourishing lives. Researchers combined covert auto-ethnography—where the author worked as a food-delivery rider in Verona—and dynamic public reflective equilibrium interviews with workers to co-theorize capability-enhancing design principles. The approach synthesizes philosophical and empirical insights, addressing the 'list debate' in capability theory while offering practical frameworks for platform redesign. Findings suggest that platforms designed around meaningful work could mitigate negative impacts on riders, balancing efficiency with human flourishing.

Ghirlanda, P. (2024). First Rule: Keep Pedalling. Co-Theorising with Food-Delivery Workers How to Make Digital Platforms Capability-Enhancing. Journal of Human Development and Capabilities, 1–28. https://doi.org/10.1080/19452829.2024.2380290