Our interactions with energy systems tend to be one-directional and framed by particular models of centralised energy distribution. Increasing pressure towards renewables, however, is promoting new models of energy production and distribution, which present new complexities that open space for new possibilities for design. In Design Informatics, we developed different methods that employ physical-digital artefacts to discuss and such energy futures.

The GigBliss hairdryers, for example, present different levels of user control over the energy stored in a device, which vary according to the different actors and infrastructures behind them. The gigbliss plus, represents a model of user-centered design, where the user would have complete control over the devices’ energy storage and distribution, allowing them to trade energy according to fluctuations in prices. The GigBliss Balance, however, would allow relative control. They would be acquired cheaply or simply borrowed and returned to the GigBliss Corporation when no longer needed. In return, the corporation would utilise the devices to carry out energy transactions when prices were high. This means that, at times, users would not be able to promptly dry their hair. Finally, the GigBliss Auto represents a model where a third party would subsidise costs of both devices and electricity supply for the device for a particular group. In this case people, the user would have no control over the device which would turn on and off at will. Initially commissioned by the EU Policy Lab of the Joint Research Centre, European Commission, the hairdryers were used in drama and deliberation workshops to discuss autonomy and control in distributed energy systems.

The Karma Kettles invited people to experience a scenario where real-time information on energy availability is provided and where they are given some level of participation in energy transactions. By attempting to mimic a scenario of domestic energy storage and local distribution, the Karma Kettles allowed people to track how much energy is currently stored in regional batteries (e.g. their neighbourhood) and how much energy is currently available in the overall grid (peak or shortage of supply). It also allows people to a) store energy (pull), therefore contributing to increasing the amount of energy currently available in the regional storage, b) push it back into the grid, therefore making it available for others to use, or c) simply use the stored energy to boil water. A long-term study of the kettles demonstrated that people acted in ways that balanced the energy in the system even when they were considering individual benefits.

We also deployed the Karma Kettle prototypes in a game that explicitly used player profiles (based on census-like data) to show how algorithmic rules and allocation strategies can advantage or disadvantage groups — prompting reflection on fairness, surveillance and social justice in energy systems.

By embedding market/state data and control affordances in everyday devices (hairdryers, kettles), these projects transform abstract algorithmic transactions into bodily, experiential choices — so people can feel and deliberate about distribution choices. Furthermore, through design-led methods that include dramatisation, longer-term deployments and games we study how people negotiate control with algorithms and fellow users — producing empirical insight into acceptance, behaviour and design requirements.