Design for sustainable behaviour: strategies and perceptions
Section snippets
Methodology
To generate documentary evidence of the process and results of the application of behaviour change strategies in sustainable design, primary research was required. To this end, a series of qualitative research studies were carried out within the framework of an overarching case study methodology which formed part of the doctoral research (Lilley, 2007). The case study explored the social impacts of mobile phone use in public and how the application of one or more of the strategies described in
Social impacts of mobile phone use
Mobile phones are, by design, free of spatial restrictions, allowing the user unlimited interaction in a range of situations and spaces. The rapid assimilation of mobile phones into everyday life has modified cultural norms and practices, altering society's definition of socially acceptable behaviour within the public domain (Lasen, 2004). Despite an abundance of etiquette guides and voluntary codes of conduct, society has yet to develop any effective methods by which to deal with emergent
Pilot design exploration: MA/MSc industrial design project
When considering the strategies, most of the students found eco-feedback easy to understand and apply but questioned its effectiveness in changing ingrained user behaviours due to the potential for the user to ignore the feedback provided. Behaviour steering was generally understood, but some students found it difficult to distinguish from persuasive technology. The application of persuasive technology took two forms; mechanistic e.g. limiting or prescribing functionality and emotional e.g. an
Main design exploration: collaborative design project
The intention of this design project was to create a ‘provocative’ concept which could be used as a vehicle to discuss and explore the acceptability and effectiveness of potential strategies (described in Figure 1) with design professionals, as well as the wider implications of design for sustainable behaviour.
Using Caller Hegemony (Hopper, 1992) as a starting point, this concept aimed to prevent inappropriate use at the outset by encouraging users to consciously reflect on whether an
Evaluation of collaborative design project
The concept was generally well received and its presentation provoked some interesting responses which are reported on in the following sections.
Discussion
The interviews with the designers revealed an interesting perception of the trade off between effectiveness versus acceptability. There was greater support for interventions which steer user behaviour towards more socially conscious actions without diminishing the user's ability to choose how to interact, such as eco-feedback. The level of acceptance of eco-feedback, however, was not matched by its perceived effectiveness in prompting and sustaining changes in user behaviour. Indeed although
Conclusions
There is not, as yet, a clear consensus of what is an acceptable level of intervention, or how to rate the severity of consequences enacted by different behaviours. The consequences of use differ from one product to another, therefore, to enable manufacturers to identify and rate product specific impacts and put measures in place in the product design to prevent potential or foreseeable consequences resulting from use, they must observe how people use and misuse existing products.
The
Acknowledgements
Many thanks to Dr Tracy Bhamra, Dr Vicky Lofthouse, Garrath T Wilson and all the design professionals who generously gave their time, opinions and expertise.
References (27)
From motivation and cognition theories to everyday applications and back again: the case of product-integrated information and feedback
Energy Policy
(2006)The de-scription of technical objects
- Arroyo, E, Bonanni, L and Selker, T (2005) Waterbot: exploring feedback and persuasive techniques at the Sink, in: CHI...
- Lilley, D (2007) Designing for behavioural change: reducing the social impacts of product use through design, doctoral...
- Lilley, D, Bhamra, T and Lofthouse, V (2006) Towards sustainable use: an exploration of designing for behavioural...
- et al.
Sustainability appraisal: a social perspective
- et al.
Towards an ethics of persuasive technology
Communications of the ACM
(1999) - Bhamra, T and Lofthouse, V (2007) Design for sustainability: a practical approach Gower,...
- Bhamra, T A, Lilley, D and Tang, T (2008) Sustainable use: changing consumer behaviour through product design, in:...
- Colantonio, A (2007) Social sustainability: an exploratory analysis of its definition, assessment methods, metrics and...
Ethics and the complexity of technology: a design approach
Philosophia Reformata. International Scientific Journal of the Association for Reformational Philosophy
Cited by (224)
Get rid of the eco-button! Design interventions to steer sustainable use of washing machines
2023, Cleaner and Responsible ConsumptionImplementing circular economy strategies during product development
2022, Resources, Conservation and RecyclingFrom fashion to farm: Green marketing innovation strategies in the Brazilian organic cotton ecosystem
2022, Journal of Cleaner Production