The study protocol was approved by our institutional ethics review board (IRB). All participants provided informed consent prior to participation. Each received $25 in compensation, either as cash or a gift card.

Our methodological design was guided by the goal of comparing how participants described ownership before and after being introduced to the framework, with a focus on understanding the coverage and utility of the framework's dimensions. To capture this contrast, we asked them to reflect on both a high-ownership and a low-ownership creative project, enabling comparison across contexts as well as within individual experience. We refer to these phases as the pre-webtool and post-webtool sections of the study.

We analyzed interview transcripts using thematic analysis. Each transcript was segmented into meaningful units (quotes or lines), which were then coded based on the core theme or idea expressed. Codes were iteratively refined and collapsed, with similar codes grouped together into broader categories that reflected shared orientations toward ownership. Through repeated reduction, these categories were distilled into a set of central themes that captured the most salient patterns across the dataset.

In the post-webtool phase, participants were introduced to the Creative Ownership Webtool, which asked them to evaluate each product across the nine subdimensions of the Person, Process, and System framework, resulting in a numerical value for each project. Finally, participants reflected on the framework outputs, discussing whether the results aligned with their intuitions, which dimensions resonated or felt less relevant, and what aspects of ownership they felt might be missing.

Interviews were structured into two phases. In the pre-webtool phase, participants first provided background information on their creative trajectory, education, and domain of practice. They then reflected on two creative products selected in advance—one associated with high ownership and one with low ownership—explaining the reasoning behind their classifications and the factors that influenced them.

We conducted semi-structured interviews lasting 45–60 minutes, guided by a shared set of questions and thematic prompts while allowing flexibility for participants to reflect on their individual experiences. This approach encouraged rich, situated accounts of ownership while maintaining comparability across interviews.

Potential participants were identified through a combination of referrals from the researchers' professional networks, publicly available sources, and local art communities in the Greater Boston area. To be eligible, participants were required to: (1) work or participate significantly in a creative field, (2) have at least two finished creative products—one associated with high feelings of ownership and one with low feelings of ownership, (3) be fluent in English, and (4) be over 18 years of age. We recruited 20 participants via word of mouth, email, and snowball sampling.

We conducted semi-structured interviews with 21 creative professionals across a diverse range of fields. We used a two-phase, within-participant protocol. Participants first described one high-ownership and one low-ownership project without the framework, then used our instrument to rate both works and reflect on the output.