Blockchain-powered Digital Ownership from Users’ Perspectives

Abstract

Digital ownership has gained attraction as a prospective domain for research and development of emerging technologies in recent years. A significant number of solutions, primarily blockchain-powered systems for digital ownership, have been developed and published aiming for widespread usage. However, the approach still appears uncommon to both digital creators and consumers community. While the majority of research in this field has been on technical aspects of implementing such solutions, there is an extreme deficiency regarding users’ viewpoints incorporated into the design and thus enlarging the barriers in mainstream adoption. This study picked the area of digital arts and shifted the focus to users’ perspectives in blockchain-based services for digital ownership in art. By adopting a qualitative approach to learn about digital creators’ behaviors and opinions, the study findings revealed various concerns about contemporary services that hinder creators’ use, their actual needs and expectations in a blockchain-based system for powering digital art products. Based on the study results, three design implications were identified to enhance the level of acceptance from the digital creator group.

Keywords: User-centered approach, digital ownership, provenance, blockchain technology

DOI: 10.54941/ahfe1002584