Hello, my name's Chris Elsden, I'm a researcher in Design Informatics, at the University of Edinburgh.
My co-authors and I are interested in how emerging forms of Financial Technology or
'FinTech', and new kinds of digital currencies allow us to interact and relate to each other in new ways.
In this paper, we conceptualise Creative Transactions .
Creative transactions has a double meaning. It refers specifically to how we pay for creative
work; like buying a ticket for a gig, tipping a busker, or purchasing a vinyl record; and
it refers generally to finding more creative ways to pay.
In the paper we argue that studying how we pay for creative work, which is often very
difficult to value, is an excellent context to understand the broader ways we choose to pay for things in the ways we do.
Theoretically, we draw on Vivianna Zelizer s concept of Special Monies - which recognises
that there is considerable social meaning in how we practically pay for things.
While the economic model assumes that all monies are the same in the modern world, the
special monies model assumes that there is a plurality of different kinds of monies,
each special money shaped by a particular set of cultural and social factors and is
thus qualitatively distinct. So we can start to think about designing different kinds of money in different ways.
More recently, in the field of HCI, Kow et al. have extended this theory to describe
Special Digital Monies - to understand the features and experience of digital currencies
and payments on social media apps.
We use Kow et al's framework for Transactional Attributes to analyse a case study of 'creative transactions',
and develop new design proposals for more creative ways to pay.
As an example, the paper offers a case-study of 87 unconventional Kickstarter crowdfunding
campaigns which were designed to Break Kickstarter . These campaigns were specifically invited
to push the boundaries and rules of how crowdfunding on Kickstarter is supposed to work - and sought
to engage crowdfunding backers in new ways.
Building on Kow et al s work, we understood the many different pledges through which backers
could support a project, as forms of special digital monies .
In the paper, we describe how campaigns experimented with different kinds of pledges, to build
distinct relationships and experiences with backers - that go beyond a typical charitable donation.
Creative Transactions in these campaigns had various features:
Some transactions explicitly supported Membership and Community Building
Others engaged backers creatively. Several transactions led to ambiguous rewards
or outcomes, and made participating in fundraising a more creative project.
Lastly, some transactions supported Alternative measures of success
For example:
One podcast project set a nominal goal of $42, but sought 1000 backers as the main aim of the campaign.
They used small transactions to demonstrate broad levels of support rather than just aiming to reach a funding target.
"unlike any other Kickstarter, the victory condition here isn t dollars raised: the only
metric that matters is backers... Unless we get 1,000 backers in 30 days, this
campaign will fail and I ll get none of the money."
These features suggest new ways for creative practitioners and companies to raise funds
and solicit payment for their work.
However, more broadly, our analysis of these campaigns provides some further ideas about
designing more creative forms of payments and transactions - especially as we consider
emerging currencies, FinTech and programmable money .
We conclude our paper by offering a number of design provocations, to stimulate further
research and design in Creative Transactions .
How can transactions be used to express a preference or vote? And what can data about
our financial transactions say about us? How can transactions creatively shape a project
or outcome? What if transactions are no longer simply
an exchange for a product, but folded into the experience of a service?
And what kind of compelling stories, narrative and trajectories can be designed into different
kinds of financial transactions? In this fashion, we see Creative Transactions
as a rich context for designers and researchers to grapple with the challenges of emerging
financial technologies.