Published

2020-01-01

Surveying the Perception of the Environmental Advantages of an Adaptable Product

Investigando la percepción de las ventajas medioambientales de un producto adaptable

Keywords:

survey research, product lifetime, sustainable consumption, adaptable designs (en)
investigación mediante encuestas, tiempo de vida de los productos, consumo sostenible, diseños adaptables (es)

Downloads

Authors

  • Marta Royo González Assistant Professor at Universitat Jaume I
  • Elena Mulet Universitat Jaume I
  • Vicente Chulvi Universitat Jaume I
  • Julia Galán Universitat Jaume IUniversitat Jaume IUniversitat Jaume IUniversitat Jaume IUniversitat Jaume I

The aim of adaptable design is to create products that can easily adapt to different needs. The objective if this study is to analyze the effectivenes in communication to promote an adaptable baby stroller, in order to know the user perception of the advantages derived from its adaptability, as well as the environmental ones, and if there is correlation between them. It is also intended to determine whether age or previous experience with this type of product can influence this perception. To this effect, a study with 54 participants has been conducted. Results show that users percieve the advantages and find the adaptable design interesting. Valuation of the advantages of the product is affected by previous user experience with the need for adaptability. Valuation of the environmental benefits is independent from the degree of experiense, as well as from the age of the participants (between 30 and 45 years old).

El diseño adaptable tiene como objetivo crear productos que puedan adaptarse fácilmente a diferentes necesidades. El objetivo de este estudio es analizar la efectividad en la comunicación realizada para promover un cochecito de bebé adaptable, en aras de conocer la percepción que tienen los usuarios tanto de las ventajas derivadas de su adaptabilidad como de las medioambientales y si existe una correlación entre ambas. También se pretende determinar si la edad o experiencia previa con este tipo de productos influyen en esta percepción. Para ello, se ha realizado un estudio con 54 participantes. Los resultados muestran que los usuarios perciben las ventajas y consideran interesante el diseño adaptable. La estimación de las ventajas del producto se ve afectada por la experiencia previa del usuario con la necesidad de adaptabilidad. La estimación de los beneficios ambientales es independiente tanto del grado de experiencia como de la edad de los participantes (entre 30 y 45 años).

References

Allwood, J. M., Ashby, M. F., Gutowski, T. G., & Worrell, E. (2011). ‘Material Efficiency: a White Paper’. Resources, Conservation and Recycling, 55(3), 362-381. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.resconrec.2010.11.002

Appadurai, A. (1986). The Social Life of Things. Commodities in Cultural Perspective. New York, NY: Cambridge University Press.

Bakker, C., Wang, F., Huisman, J., & den Hollander, M. (2014). Products That Go Round: Exploring Product Life Extension through Design. Journal of Cleaner Production, 69, 10-16. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2014.01.028

Bartlett, J. E., Kotrlik, J. W., & Higgins, C. C. (2001). Organizational Research: Determining Appropriate Sample Size in Survey Research. Information Technology, Learning, and Performance Journal, 19(1), 43-50. http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/download?doi=10.1.1.486.8295&rep=rep1&type=pdf

Boks, C., Lilley, D., & Pettersen, I. N. (2017). The Future of Design for Sustainable Behaviour, Revisited. In: Matsumoto M., Masui K., Fukushige S., Kondoh S. (Eds), Sustainability Through Innovation in Product Life Cycle Design. EcoProduction (Environmental Issues in Logistics and Manufacturing). Singapore: Springer.

Ceschin, F. (2013). Critical Factors for Implementing and Diffusing Sustainable Product-Service Systems: Insights from Innovation Studies and Companies’ Experience. Journal of Cleaner Production, 45, 74–88. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2012.05.034

Chamberlin, L., & Boks, C. (2018). Marketing Approaches for a Circular Economy: Using Design Frameworks to Interpret Online Communications. Sustainability, 10(6), 2070. https://doi.org/10.3390/su10062070

Cooper, T. (2005). Slower Consumption Reflections on Product Life Spans and the “Throwaway Society”. Journal of Industrial Ecology, 9(1-2), 51-67. https://doi.org/10.1162/1088198054084671

Cooper, T. (Ed.) (2010). Longer Lasting Products: Alternatives to the Throwaway Society. Surrey: Gower.

Cox, J., Griffith, S., Giorgi, S., & King, G. (2013). Consumer Understanding of Product Lifetimes. Resources, Conservation and Recycling, 79, 21-29. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.resconrec.2013.05.003

Crilly, N. (2011). Do Users Know What Designers Are Up To? Product Experience and the Inference of Persuasive Intentions. International Journal of Design, 5(3), 1–15. http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/download?doi=10.1.1.712.2100&rep=rep1&type=pdf

Dobbs, R., Oppenheim, J., Thompson, F., Brinkman, M., & Zornes, M. (n.d.) Resource Revolution: Meeting the World’s Energy, Materials, Food, and Water Needs. Retrieved from: https://www.mckinsey.com/business-functions/sustainability-and-resource-productivity/our-insights/resource-revolution

European Economic and Social Committee. (2016). I LLC study. The Influence of Lifespan Labelling on Consumers. Retrieved from: http://www.eesc.europa.eu/resources/docs/16_123_duree-dutilisation-des-produits_complet_en.pdf

Evans, S., & Cooper, T. (2010). Consumer Influences on Product Lifespans. In: Cooper, T. (Ed.). Longer Lasting Products: Alternatives to the Throwaway Society. Surrey: Gower. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781315592930

Gu, P., Hashemian, M., & Nee, A. Y. C. (2004). Adaptable Design. CIRP Annals. Manufacturing Technology, 53(2), 539–557, https://doi.org/10.1016/S0007-8506(07)60028-6

Gu, P., Xue, D., & Nee, A. Y. C. (2009). Adaptable Design: Concepts, Methods, and Applications. Proceedings of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers, Part B: Journal of Engineering Manufacture, 223(11), 1367-1387. https://doi.org/10.1243/09544054JEM1387

Hebrok, M. (2014). Design for Longevity: Taking Both the Material and Social Aspects of Product-life into Account. Journal of Design Research, 12(3), 204–220. https://doi.org/10.1504/JDR.2014.064232

Laschke, M., Diefenbach, S., & Hassenzahl, M. (2015). Annoying, but in a Nice Way: an Inquiry into the Experience of Frictional Feedback. International Journal of Design, 9(2), 129–140. Retrieved from: http://www.ijdesign.org/index.php/IJDesign/article/viewFile/2099/689

Levandowski, C. E., Jiao, J. R., & Johannesson, H. (2015). A Two-stage Model of Adaptable Product Platform for Engineering-to-order Configuration Design. Journal of Engineering Design, 26(7-9), 220–235. https://doi.org/10.1080/09544828.2015.1021305

Luo, J. A. (2015). Simulation-based Method to Evaluate the Impact of Product Architecture on Product Evolvability. Research in Engineering Design, 26(4), 355–371. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00163-015-0202-3

McDonald, S., Oates, C., Thyne, M., Alevizou, P., & McMorland, L. A. (2009). Comparing Sustainable Consumption Patterns across Product Sectors. International Journal of Consumer Studies, 33(2), 137-145. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1470-6431.2009.00755.x

Montalvo, C., Peck, D., & Rietveld, E. (2016). A Longer Lifetime for Products: Benefits for Consumers and Companies. Directorate general for internal policies. Policy Department A: economic and scientific policy. European Parliament. Retrieved from: https://www.europarl.europa.eu/RegData/etudes/STUD/2016/579000/IPOL_STU(2016)579000_EN.pdf

Mugge, R., Schoormans, J. P., & Schifferstein, H. N. Design Strategies to Postpone Consumers' Product Replacement: The Value of a Strong Person-product Relationship. The Design Journal, 8(2), 38-48. https://doi.org/10.2752/146069205789331637

Muranko, Z., Andrews, D., Chaer, I., & Newton, E. J. (2019). Circular Economy and Behaviour Change: Using Persuasive Communication to Encourage Pro-circular Behaviours towards he Purchase of Remanufactured Refrigeration Equipment. Journal of Cleaner Production, 222, 499-510. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2019.02.219

O’Connell, M. W., Hickey, S. W., & Fitzpatrick, C. (2013). Evaluating the Sustainability Potential of a White Goods Refurbishment Program. Sustainability Science, 8(4), 529-541. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11625-012-0194-0

Ozkaramanli, D., & Desmet, P. M. (2012). I Knew I Shouldn’t, Yet I Did It Again! Emotion-driven Design as a Means to Motivate Subjective Well-being. International Journal of Design, 6(1), 27–39. Retrieved from: http://www.ijdesign.org/index.php/IJDesign/article/view/1027/401

Perella, M. (2015). Communicating the Circle: Are Circular Economy Communication Strategies Starting to Connect? Retrieved from: http://www.maxineperella.com/uploads/5/0/6/3/50632287/communicating_the_circle.pdf

Pérez-Belis, V., Bovea, M. D., & Simó, A. (2015). Consumer Behaviour and Environmental Education in the Field of Waste Electrical and Electronic Toys: a Spanish Case Study. Waste Management, 36, 277–288. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.wasman.2014.10.022

Pialot, O., Millet, D., & Bisiaux, J. (2017). “Upgradable PSS”: Clarifying a New Concept of Sustainable Consumption/Production Based on Upgradability. Journal of Cleaner Production, 141, 538-550. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2016.08.161

Proske, M., Schischke, K., Sommer, P., Trinks, T., Nissen, N. F., & Lang, K. D. (2016) Experts View on the Sustainability of the Fairphone 2. In Electronics Goes Green 2016+(EGG), IEEE, Berlin, Germany, 6-9 September. https://doi.org/10.1109/EGG.2016.7829811

Royo, M., Mulet, E., Galán, J., Felip, F., and García-García, C. (2015). Analysis of the Perception of Future Designers about Usage Scenario Integration in Product Design (SIPD). DS 80-9 Proceedings of the 20th International Conference on Engineering Design (ICED 15). Vol 9: User-Centred Design, Design of Socio-Technical Systems, Milan: Italy. ISBN: 978-1-904670-72-8 https://www.designsociety.org/publication/38103/ANALYSIS+OF+THE+PERCEPTION+OF+FUTURE+DESIGNERS+ABOUT+USAGE+SCENARIO+INTEGRATION+IN+PRODUCT+DESIGN+%28SIPD%29

Royo, M. (2016). Incorporación de nuevos escenarios de uso en el proceso de diseño (SIPD): propuesta metodológica y valoración de la percepción de los usuarios (PhD thesis, Universitat Jaume I, Castellón de la Plana, Spain). https://doi.org/10.6035/14107.2016.6832

Sohn, M., & Nam, T. J. (2015). Understanding the Attributes of Product Intervention for the Promotion of Pro-environmental Behavior: a Framework and Its Effect on Immediate User Reactions. International Journal of Design, 9(2), 55–77. Retrieved from: http://www.ijdesign.org/index.php/IJDesign/article/view/1609/694

Stahel, W. R. (2016). Circular Economy: a New Relationship with Our Goods and Materials Would Save Resources and Energy and Create Local Jobs. Nature, 531(7595), 435-439. Retrieved from : https://www.nature.com/polopoly_fs/1.19594!/menu/main/topColumns/topLeftColumn/pdf/531435a.pdf

Van Nes, N., & Cramer, J. (2006). Product Lifetime Optimization: a Challenging Strategy towards More Sustainable Consumption Patterns. Journal of Cleaner Production, 14(15-16), 1307-1318, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2005.04.006

Wijkman, A., & Skanberg, K. (2015). The Circular Economy and Benefits for Society. Jobs and Climate Clear Winners in an Economy Based on Renewable Energy and Resource Efficiency. Retrieved from: https://pdfs.semanticscholar.org/5c8e/3b3ae3fe3f8ae28a6dbf29817b388460ee29.pdf?_ga=2.264866319.1603481552.1583472716-1662428343.1583472716

World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD). (1995). Eco-efficient Leadership for Improved Economic and Environmental Performance. Technical Report, Geneva, Switzerland: WBCSD.

WBCSD Leadership Program. (2016). Unlocking More Value with Fewer Resources A Practical Guide to the Circular Economy. Retrieved from: https://eco.nomia.pt/contents/documentacao/unlocking-more-value-with-fewer-resources.pdf

World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD). (2000). Eco-efficiency: creating more value with less impact. Technical Report, Geneva, Switzerland: WBCSD.

Worrell, E., Allwood, J., & Gutowski, T. (2016). The Role of Material Efficiency in Environmental Stewardship. Annual Review of Environment and Resources, 41, 575-598, https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev-environ-110615-085737

Young, W., Hwang, K., McDonald, S., & Oates, C. J. (2010). Sustainable Consumption: Green Consumer Behavior when Purchasing Products. Sustainable Development, 18(1), 20–31. https://doi.org/10.1002/sd.394

Zhang, J., Xue, D. P., & Gu, P. (2015). Adaptable Design of Open Architecture Products with Robust Performance. Journal of Engineering Design, 26(1-3), 1–23. https://doi.org/10.1080/09544828.2015.1012055