Target the Use Phase! Design for Sustainable Behaviour.

Paper in proceeding, 2013

One approach to further decrease the environmental impact of products is to target the use phase. According to the Design for Sustainable Behaviour approach different design strategies can be used to enable a more sustainable use of products by influencing the user’s behaviour. The strategies suggested include matching products to users’ current behaviours, enlightening users, spurring or steering the users towards more sustainable behaviours, and applying a force dimension to the products. Empirical studies demonstrate the feasibility of different strategies. However further knowledge is needed on which strategies to apply in which situations and for what problems.