Navigating ownership transitions: applying psychological ownership mapping for project handovers
File(s)
Author(s)
Cedeño, Michelle
Type
Thesis
Abstract
At the heart of the human experience lies a profound connection to what we claim as “ours,” spanning both tangible artifacts (e.g., reports or product designs) and intangible contributions (e.g., ideas or process improvements). This sense of mine-ness motivates care, creativity, and responsibility in how people engage with their work. Known as psychological ownership (PO), this phenomenon extends beyond material possessions to shape behavior and emotion across personal, collaborative, and organizational contexts. Despite its relevance, existing design methodologies offer limited support for systematically addressing ownership dynamics.
Building on foundational PO theory and subsequent work on ownership pathways, prior research highlights how ownership evolves over time through interaction and context. However, these pathways remain largely conceptual and lack methodological support for creating, tracking, and applying temporal ownership dynamics in practice.
This thesis formalizes a Psychological Ownership (PO) Mapping method and demonstrates its prescriptive, descriptive, and quantitative applications. Projects are used as the unit of analysis to examine temporal ownership dynamics within situated contexts while enabling broader methodological generalization. Guided by the Design Research Methodology (DRM), an iterative, mixed-methods approach was used to develop, test, and refine the method across multiple empirical studies.
Findings demonstrate the method’s generalisability across project-based contexts, including doctoral research projects and organizational project handovers. The results contribute a five-phase model that supports both immediate design decisions and longer-term strategic thinking. Overall, the PO Mapping method provides an intuitive and adaptable tool for design practice and a systematic means of tracking ownership over time, with future potential in contexts involving ownership transfer, divestment, or shared stewardship.
Building on foundational PO theory and subsequent work on ownership pathways, prior research highlights how ownership evolves over time through interaction and context. However, these pathways remain largely conceptual and lack methodological support for creating, tracking, and applying temporal ownership dynamics in practice.
This thesis formalizes a Psychological Ownership (PO) Mapping method and demonstrates its prescriptive, descriptive, and quantitative applications. Projects are used as the unit of analysis to examine temporal ownership dynamics within situated contexts while enabling broader methodological generalization. Guided by the Design Research Methodology (DRM), an iterative, mixed-methods approach was used to develop, test, and refine the method across multiple empirical studies.
Findings demonstrate the method’s generalisability across project-based contexts, including doctoral research projects and organizational project handovers. The results contribute a five-phase model that supports both immediate design decisions and longer-term strategic thinking. Overall, the PO Mapping method provides an intuitive and adaptable tool for design practice and a systematic means of tracking ownership over time, with future potential in contexts involving ownership transfer, divestment, or shared stewardship.
Version
Open Access
Date Issued
2025-03-28
Date Awarded
2026-03-01
Copyright Statement
Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International Licence (CC BY-NC)
License URL
Advisor
Baxter, Weston
Publisher Department
Dyson School of Design Engineering
Publisher Institution
Imperial College London
Qualification Level
Doctoral
Qualification Name
Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)