Sustainability Awareness in Design
Bridging the gap between design
research and practice
Outi Ugas, Kausaali Oy
Cindy Kohtala, Aalto University
Trends and Future of
Sustainable Development
10 June 2011
Tampere
Introduction and motivation
The expanding role of design
Survey framework and initial findings
Discussion
Contents
Outi Ugas, Kausaali
Cindy Kohtala, Aalto University
Trends and Future of
Sustainable Development
10 June 2011
Tampere
The landscape of design
practice and design
education
(Source: NextDesign
Leadership Institute, GK
VanPatter and
Elizabeth Pastor)
DESIGN
4.0
Social
Transformation
Design
DESIGN
DESIGN
Product / Service
Design
Organizational
Transformation
Design
3.0
2.0
DESIGN
1.0
Traditional
Design
Typical statement
on design
2000s
Innovation &
competitiveness
“Global competition
and renewal”
“China phenomenon”
1990s
Brand building
“Total experience
design – from concept
to retail”
1980s
Design
management
“Our product
portfolio is
consistent”
1970s
The rise of
ergonomics
“The user (be it a
child or elderly) is the
most important”
1960s
Involving
industry
“Design as part of the
industrial product
development process”
1950s
Promoting the
nation
“We got a prize in
Milan”
The design process
Typical role for
designer
Vision
Design as
innovation driver
Strategy
Design for creating
experiences for
customers
Design as
coordinator
Roadmaps
Design for user
understanding
Product definition
The entire product
development
process
Product aesthetics,
styling
Design as part of a
team together with
mechanics and
marketing
Designer as a
creator
The various roles of
the designer and
representative
statements on
design
(Source:
Valtonen 2007)
Design Value in a Sustainable Society
Regenerative capacity
Safety (planet)
Community need(s)
RESPONSIBILITY
Accessibility
Resource productivity
User experience
User desire
Innovation driver
User need(s)
Brand building
USABILITY
Usability
Quality
TIME
BUSINESS
Safety (user)
Ergonomics
Aesthetics
Profit/revenue
Function
Traditional Design Value
Design Jurisdiction in a Sustainable Society
Societal need(s)
Safety (planet)
Dematerialization strategies
DESIGN 4.0
Creative fulfilment (user)
Ecosystem
Community need(s)
Product/service life cycle
Resource productivity
Product-service system
Regional and national brand building
DESIGN 3.0
Innovation driver
Brand building
DESIGN 2.0
Creative fulfilment (designer)
Company differentiation strategies
TIME
User need(s)
Safety (user)
Aesthetics
Profit/revenue
Function
DESIGN 1.0
Traditional Design Jurisdiction
Product/service
What is “good design”?
Five level framework for planning in complex systems:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
System
Success
Strategy
Actions
Tools & measures
>> Design is target-oriented action towards
some goal, conscious and/or unconscious.
How to define success in design?
Five level framework for planning in complex systems:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
System
Success
Strategy
Actions
Tools & measures
>> Design is target-oriented action towards
some goal, conscious and/or unconscious.
How to measure success in design?
Five level framework for planning in complex systems:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
System
Success
Strategy
Actions
Tools = measures
>> Design is target-oriented action towards
some goal, conscious and/or unconscious.
What are the characteristics of the
system that designers work within?
What does “good design” mean
in a sustainable society?
What is success in sustainability?
In a sustainable society, nature is not subject to…
1. … systematically increasing concentrations of
substances extracted from the earth's crust.
2. … systematically increasing concentrations of
substances produced by society.
3. … systematically increasing degradation by physical
means.
And in a sustainable society,
4. … people are not subject to conditions that
systematically undermine their capacity to meet their
needs.
(e.g. Robèrt et al, 2002; Robèrt 2009)
The survey:
How to measure success in design?
Dimensions
Survey Framework
1. Designer’s competence/capability in responsibility issues
2. Designers and ethics
3. Paying attention to the value chain
4. How designers consider the user’s fundamental needs
Initial findings
3. Paying attention to the value chain
Findings and conclusions
• The commonly acknowledged strengths
= the actual characteristics of design
• The gap between a sense of global responsibility
and the focus on the user
• PSS in design mainstream >> potential danger that
we will lose sight of products and production
• The designer’s own perceived jurisdiction smaller than it could
be (or should be)
Research challenges:
 strategic link between everyday business practice and
addressing the macro needs of both the ecosystem and the
society
 unpacking the meaning of social sustainability and the layers
of the social tissue in terms of user/community/society needs
Aminoff, Christian – Hänninen, Timo – Kämäräinen, Mikko – Loiske, Janne (2010) The
Changed Role of Design. Ministry of Employment and the Economy.
http://www.tem.fi/files/26881/The_Changed_Role_of_Design.pdf retrieved 9 July
2010.
Max-Neef, Manfred A. (1991) Human Scale Development: Conception, Application and
Further Reflections. New York: The Apex Press.
Robèrt, Karl-Henrik – Schmidt-Bleek, B. – Aloisi de Larderel, J. – Basile, G. – Jansen, J.L. –
Kuehr, R. – Price Thomas, P. – Suzuki, M. – Hawken, P. – Wackernagel, M. (2002)
‘Strategic sustainable development – selection, design and synergies of applied
tools’, Journal of Cleaner Production Vol. 10(3), 197–214.
Robèrt, Karl-Henrik (2009) Real change through backcasting from sustainability principles:
presentation of an international research programme built on a unifying Framework
for Strategic Sustainable Development (FSSD). Progress in Industrial Ecology, an
International Journal Vol. 6(3), 207-215.
Ugas, Outi (2011) Designers and responsibility – How to measure success in design?
(unpublished research report, forthcoming). Faculty of Information Technology,
University of Jyväskylä.
Valtonen, Anna (2007) Redefining Industrial Design: Changes in the Design Practice in
Finland. Doctoral Dissertation, University of Art and Design Helsinki, Finland.
Sources
Outi Ugas
Kausaali Oy
Helsinki, Finland
outi@kausaali.fi
Thank you!
Cindy Kohtala
Aalto University School of Art & Design
Helsinki, Finland
cindy.kohtala@aalto.fi
What is success in sustainability?
In a sustainable society, nature is not subject to…
System
(1) … systematically increasing concentrations of
substances
extracted from the earth's crust.
Success
(2) … systematically increasing concentrations of
substances
produced by society.
Strategy
Actions
Tools
(3) … systematically increasing
degradation by physical means.
And in a sustainable society,
(4) … people are not subject to conditions that
systematically
undermine their capacity to
meet their needs.
(e.g. Robèrt et al, 2002; Robèrt 2009)