A Right Time to Give: Beyond Saving Time in Automated Conditional Donations

Abstract

Smart Donations is a blockchain-based platform that enables users to program and set conditions on charitable donations. Users set up contracts to donate in response to real-world events, e.g., whenever an earthquake is detected or an activist tweets about refugees. We designed Smart donations with Oxfam Australia, trialled it over 8-weeks with 86 people and qualitatively analysed questionnaires and interviews about their experiences. Temporal qualities emerge when automation enforces conditions that determine when donations are made. These contributed to participants' sense of immediacy in donating to humanitarian crises, ongoing involvement while awaiting conditions to be met, and awareness of events that are usually unconscious. We suggest that automation can reveal diverse temporal registers, in real-world phenomena, sociality, morality and everyday life, which contribute to experiencing a 'right time' to donate. Thus, we recommend adopting a sensitivity to right time in designing for multiple temporalities in FinTech more generally.

Blockchain and Cryptocurrency in Human Computer Interaction: A Systematic Literature Review and Research Agenda

“…[2,79]) as well as complementing other forms (e.g. [11,143]). • Lab studies include studies conducted in a lab environment in which rich data (e.g.…”

“…51 publications report use of a single data collection method whereas 24 publications made use of method triangulation [105] by combining two or more types. For example, conditional giving [11]; Jabbar et al used interviews and ethnographic observation to understand blockchain assemblages [62].…”

“…This was, for example, the case for publications surrounding interface prototypes (e.g. [11]) or design workshops (e.g. [32]).…”

“…Elsden et al 's paper [35] proposing the typology is not assigned as it discusses all categories equally. Trotter et al [129] Elsden et al [35] Jabbar and Bjørn [61] Baytas and Fjeld [9] Bidwell et al [11] Figure 9: Overview of publications assigned to the Blockchain: Specifc Application Use Cases theme.…”

“…Specifc applications for currencies included an early point-of-sale (POS) system for a cofee shop to accept Bitcoin by Eskandari et al [40], a browser plugin for tipping for educational resources [56], a prototype for mining cryptocurrency on mobile devices [60], and GeoCoin, an experimental platform enabling participants to interact with location-based smart contracts [100]. [11,128,129] explored the use of blockchain technologies and smart contracts to increase trust and transparency through higher levels of agency and control. The "Smart Donations" system enables donors to attach rules to their charitable gift and triggers pre-specifed pay-outs in response to real-world events that are validated through trusted third-party oracles [38,128].…”