Abstract
For many years the primary representation of value has been money. However complex we perceive its material, social and symbolic characteristics, money is now undergoing significant change as it becomes data. This paper explores the implications for design as a series of technological and regulatory shifts are taking place that are changing the representation of money into data. The paper anticipates that it won’t be long before personal bank accounts will be better understood to be personal data stores, and monies held within them are connected to data-driven systems to ‘pay’ for services that we require. By charting the changes that are taking place, and introducing a series of design case studies that make tangible the design opportunities, the paper suggests an emerging design space in which designers should anticipate new forms of money as an entirely new design material.
Keywords
money, value, data, design
DOI
https://doi.org/10.21606/drs.2022.785
Citation
Speed, C., Rankin, J., Elsden, C., and Vines, J. (2022) The future of money as a design material, in Lockton, D., Lenzi, S., Hekkert, P., Oak, A., Sádaba, J., Lloyd, P. (eds.), DRS2022: Bilbao, 25 June - 3 July, Bilbao, Spain. https://doi.org/10.21606/drs.2022.785
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Research Paper
Included in
The future of money as a design material
For many years the primary representation of value has been money. However complex we perceive its material, social and symbolic characteristics, money is now undergoing significant change as it becomes data. This paper explores the implications for design as a series of technological and regulatory shifts are taking place that are changing the representation of money into data. The paper anticipates that it won’t be long before personal bank accounts will be better understood to be personal data stores, and monies held within them are connected to data-driven systems to ‘pay’ for services that we require. By charting the changes that are taking place, and introducing a series of design case studies that make tangible the design opportunities, the paper suggests an emerging design space in which designers should anticipate new forms of money as an entirely new design material.