Redesigning Digital Peer-to-Peer Payments for Social Connections

Abstract

My dissertation research explores how digital peer-to-peer (P2P) payments (performing one to one online financial transactions via a digital or mobile device) as an emerging financial technology affect people's everyday economic and social lives and seeks to redesign such technology for supporting both secure financial transactions and nuanced social interactions/connections through a sociotechnical approach. Specifically, my goal is to i) reveal and elaborate the multidimensional influences of digital P2P payments on interpersonal relationships in terms of both experiences of financial exchanges and everyday social interactions, ii) redesign and develop prototypes for future digital P2P payments platforms that highlight the importance of the interplay of financial transactions and social engagement. My research will not only contribute to better understanding new and more complicated social phenomena and dynamics emerging in today's digital economy but also benefit the HCI community by informing future research on computer-mediated communication through financial technologies.