Who Should Hold Control? Rethinking Empowerment in Home Automation among Cohabitants through the Lens of Co-Design

Recent HCI research has highlighted home automation’s potential in providing residents with technology-enhanced domestic autonomy. However, in the cohabitation context, the prevalent solutionist paradigm of automated systems introduces challenges to non-experts, paradoxically marginalizing specific members. This paper reports a co-creation initiative involving cohabitants, exploring a new understanding of empowerment in home automation. Participants collaborated to construct Trigger-Action Program (TAP) schemes using card-based tools during workshops. Our findings showcase how cohabitants engaged in collective ideations and embodied different negotiation patterns, which reveals the significance of more perceptible and participatory design. We frame home automation as "problematic co-design", arguing the universal overlook of collaborative resources. Furthermore, we examine how automation systems act as obstacles and sources of empowerment through the co-design lens. The paper concludes with pragmatic recommendations for designers and researchers, emphasizing the need to foster contestability for cohabitants in the evolving home automation landscape.