As the internet thrives on the circulation of easily copied content, ensuring attribution is properly given has been a perennial challenge. Following the rise of synthetic media and generative AI tools, and corresponding technologies which enable detailed media provenance, the picture has become considerably more complicated. We present a design research project to consider the implications of these developments from the perspective of the public, everyday (non-professional) user and ‘mundane content’ creation. Through the design, exhibition, and study of a collaborative storytelling tool, ORAgen Fables, we introduce technologies which enable detailed attribution and media provenance and explore contemporary attitudes and concerns about attribution. Our findings suggest that attribution should be understood as relational and dynamic with users having the right to ongoing management of their attribution. This opens a design space for understanding how technical systems could be deployed to define and ascribe attribution for past and future interactions.

The proliferation of AI-generated digital content has intensified the user demand for accurate provenance information to ensure content authenticity.Technical advancements now provide tools to make the digital media content supply chain more transparent through the use of provenance data.This paper foregrounds the importance of understanding how the situated nature of user-content engagement influences perceptions and uses of this data.Insights from a workshop with experts in the creative media sector suggest that, as the adoption of provenance data becomes more common, users need richer and more nuanced information.We suggest that analyzing the increasing demand for content authenticity through the lens of multiple "authenticities", each reflecting different user needs and contexts, can help identify and address the needs for, and uses of, provenance data by creators and audiences alike.

This paper presents the design, deployment and qualitative study of a large-scale, public, generative art exhibition, through which passers-by could create artworks, and mint a non-fungible-token (NFT). Following the month-long exhibition, during which 229 anonymous participants produced artworks, 69 non-transferable NFTs were minted, we surveyed (33) and interviewed (14) expert and novice participants about their experiences. We explored contemporary challenges of owning digital things, and the extent to which NFTs, and 'Web3' technologies offer meaningful forms of ownership. Our findings describe how the inability to trade this NFT, and its unique circumstances of acquisition, made it meaningful in ways that extended beyond its immediate (limited) utility and offered participants something through which to construct identity. Reflecting on the aspirations, contradictions, and misconceptions of forms of ownership enabled by NFTs, we conclude with proposals for renewed attention in HCI to the nature of digital possessions, and the potential for 'ownership design'.

This article presents an annotated portfolio of projects that seek to understand and communicate the social and societal implications of blockchains, DLTs and smart contracts. These complex technologies rely on human and technical factors to deliver cryptocurrencies, shared computation and trustless protocols but have a secondary benefit in providing a moment to re-think many aspects of society, and imagine alternative possibilities. The projects use design and HCI methods to relate blockchains to a range of topics, including global supply chains, delivery infrastructure, smart grids, volunteering and charitable giving, through engaging public, exploring ideas and speculating on possible futures. Based on an extensive annotated portfolio we draw out learning for the design of blockchain systems, broadening participation and surfacing questions around imaginaries, social implications and engagement with new technology. This paints a comprehensive picture of how HCI and design can shape understandings of the future of complex technologies.

Smart contract systems could change the nature of last-mile delivery for the better through enhanced precision, coordination and accountability. However, technological complexity poses a challenge for end-users participating in the design process, making it hard to explore their experiences and incorporate their perspectives. We describe a case study where technological prototypes create smart contract experiences for professional couriers and receptionists, allowing them to speculate about emerging possibilities, whilst remaining grounded in their current practices. Participants enacted a series of deliveries, choreographed by smart contracts, and their responses were explored in post-experience, one-to-one interviews. Working with professionals to explore the potential impact of smart contract technologies, revealed the systemic webs of value underlying their existing work practices. This has implications for design of such technologies, in which increased automation, efficiency and accountability must be delicately balanced with the benefits of sustaining personal values, relationships and agency.

Distributed energy resources are expected to radically change the way energy is produced and distributed through decentralised generation and storage. Current distributed energy models tend to hide the complexity of these systems in order to improve ease of use, while restricting people's participation to predefined roles of passive users who can benefit from more reliable infrastructures, more competitive prices, and more access to sustainable energy. In this paper, we question these roles and present the Karma Kettle, an open-ended device that aims to explore perceptions of different levels of agency in distributed energy resources. A study of the Karma Kettle with 20 residents of a block of flats in the UK reveals strategies and values of these residents, the effectiveness of the Karma Kettle to inspire discussion on levels of agency, and how these systems could be designed to promote more participatory approaches in distributed energy systems.

This paper presents GeoPact, an assembly of technological objects that materialises location-aware smart contracts using internet of things and digital ledger technologies. Such contracts may facilitate the creation of distributed systems and services for transport and logistics that are locally constructed and adaptable, thus supporting specific community needs and sustainable objectives. However the technological infrastructures that underpin these systems are complex, making it difficult to engage publics in design processes. GeoPact grounds infrastructure in relatable physical activities, that are linked with holistic views of the system, and creates new experiences for public engagement. In these activities participants were invited to roleplay as couriers, and to progress through delivery scenarios which were governed by smart contracts. Participants and spectators were then encouraged to discuss their reactions, concerns and ideas. This paper illustrates the GeoPact assembly and reflects on our engagement activities.

Computational systems and objects are becoming increasingly closely integrated with our daily activities. Ubiquitous and pervasive computing first identified the emerging challenges of studying technology used on-the-move and in widely varied contexts. With IoT, previously sporadic experiences are interconnected across time and space in numerous and complex ways. This increasing complexity has multiplied the challenges facing those who study human experience to inform design. This paper describes the results of a study that used a chatbot or 'Ethnobot' to gather ethnographic data, and considers the opportunities and challenges in collecting this data in the absence of a human ethnographer. This study involved 13 participants gathering information about their experiences at the Royal Highland Show. We demonstrate the effectiveness of the Ethnobot in this setting, discuss the benefits and drawbacks of chatbots as a tool for ethnographic data collection, and conclude with recommendations for the design of chatbots for this purpose.

Technologies such as distributed ledgers and smart contracts are enabling the emergence of new autonomous systems, and providing enhanced systems to track the provenance of goods. A growing body of work in HCI is exploring the novel challenges of these systems, but there has been little attention paid to their impact on everyday activities. This paper presents a study carried out in 3 office environments for a 1-month period, which explored the impact of an autonomous coffee machine on the everyday activity of coffee consumption. The Bitbarista mediates coffee consumption through autonomous processes, presenting provenance data at the time of purchase while attempting to reduce intermediaries in the coffee trade. Through the report of interactions with and around the Bitbarista, we explore its implications for everyday life, and wider social structures and values. We conclude by offering recommendations for the design of community shared autonomous systems.

We are surrounded by a proliferation of connected devices performing increasingly complex data transactions. Traditional design methods tend to simplify or conceal this complexity to improve ease of use. However, the hidden nature of data is causing increasing discomfort. This paper presents BitBarista, a coffee machine designed to explore perceptions of data processes in the Internet of Things. BitBarista reveals social, environmental, qualitative and economic aspects of coffee supply chains. It allows people to choose a source of future coffee beans, situating their choices within the pool of decisions previously made. In doing so, it attempts to engage them in the transactions that are required to produce coffee. Initial studies of BitBarista with 42 participants reveal challenges of designing for connected systems, particularly in terms of perceptions of data gathering and sharing, as well as assumptions generated by current models of consumption. A discussion is followed by a series of suggestions for increasing positive attitudes towards data use in interactive systems.

In this paper we describe an investigation into linkages to multimedia content from individual items in photographs and other printed images. We describe prototypes for authoring and playing such "active photos", and give the results of informal trials. We conclude with lessons learned and next steps.