One of the topics that has become increasingly important to us and to our clients, is sustainability.
What can we do as product designers to have the most impact through our work? How can we influence our clients to follow best practices?
It’s a very complex subject and it can be hard to quantify the “ecological value” of our product design decisions in terms of true sustainability. For example, We often use plastics and silicone rubbers in the products we design. We chose these materials because they have the right physical properties for the product’s intended purpose and because they are extremely durable and will last the test of time under a large range of conditions, often protecting the valuable technology within.
Could we achieve the same results with more sustainable materials?
It’s a minefield trying to find balanced and actionable answers to best practices as the right decision is always very much down to context. We thought it would be interesting to do some desk research and document our initial findings to share.
We would love to expand this working document over time, so please let us know if you have experiences or suggestions to contribute. It would be great to hear from people who believe they have addressed sustainable design for a mass-market product. Maybe you have successfully used eco-friendly alternatives to polymers in your product? Are there any commercially successful modular, upgradable products that we are not aware of? Whatever it is, we would love to hear from you!
Want to know more?
Download our Sustainability Report below.