The use2use design toolkit—Tools for user-centred circular design
2021 (English)In: Sustainability, E-ISSN 2071-1050, Vol. 13, no 10, article id 5397Article in journal (Refereed) Published
Abstract [en]
Recent research highlights that the important role users play in the transition to a circular economy is often overlooked. While the current narrative emphasises how to design products fit for circular (re-)production flows, or how to design circular business models, it often fails to address how such solutions can be designed to be attractive to people. As long as products and services are designed in a way that makes people prefer linear options over circular ones, the transition will not gain momentum. To further the understanding of how a user perspective can be valuable for circular design, this paper introduces the Use2Use Design Toolkit and presents initial experiences from using its five tools in design work. The tools were developed between 2016 and 2019 and subsequently applied in 30 workshops with professionals and students. Insights from the workshops suggest that the participants generally found the tools fun, instructive and inspirational. The tools enabled them to discuss circular processes from a user’s point of view and to identify challenges and design opportunities. The toolkit was considered especially relevant and meaningful by product and service designers who needed support to explore circular solutions from a user perspective. © 2021 by the authors.
Place, publisher, year, edition, pages
MDPI AG , 2021. Vol. 13, no 10, article id 5397
Keywords [en]
Circular consumption, Circular design, Circular economy, Design tools, Sustainable design, User-centred design, detection method, software, student
National Category
Natural Sciences
Identifiers
URN: urn:nbn:se:ri:diva-60871DOI: 10.3390/su13105397Scopus ID: 2-s2.0-85106583339OAI: oai:DiVA.org:ri-60871DiVA, id: diva2:1704582
Note
Funding details: Chalmers Tekniska Högskola; Funding details: Familjen Kamprads Stiftelse, 20160136, 20200190; Funding text 1: Funding: Both research projects were funded by the Kamprad Family Foundation, grant numbers 20160136 and 20200190.; Funding text 2: Both research projects were funded by the Kamprad Family Foundation, grant numbers 20160136 and 20200190. The toolkit presented in this paper has been developed by the authors. This would not have been possible without the valuable contributions of a number of people: Helena Str?mberg and Sara Renstr?m at Chalmers University of Technology; Stina Behrens, Kajsa Davidsson and Maria Bergstr?m at the service design firm Transformator Design; and Daniel Ekfjorden with colleagues at Hultafors Group. The authors would also like to thank the students, professionals, and organisations that have taken part in trying out the tools and provided valuable feedback.
2022-10-182022-10-182023-04-28Bibliographically approved