Design for alternative ways of doing – explorations in the context of thermal comfort
Journal article, 2017

Inderscience Enterprises Ltd. To address seemingly non-negotiable resource-reliant behaviours where feedback is ineffective, we explored the possibility of enabling alternative ways of doing through design solutions and investigated how people engage with them. Focusing on residents’ need for thermal comfort, a technology probe with alternative tools for staying warm was assembled. How people engaged with these tools was then evaluated in-situ with 18 households. In follow-up interviews, most of the participants who used the tools with some regularity reported that they had increased their awareness, developed new heating strategies and/or carried out some kind of action concerning the heating system. The findings suggest that offering new ways of interacting with a system, such as a heating system, can lead to people changing the ways in which they fulfil everyday needs.

Author

Sara Renström

Chalmers, Product and Production Development, Design and Human Factors

Helena Strömberg

Chalmers, Product and Production Development, Design and Human Factors

Ulrike Rahe

Chalmers, Product and Production Development, Design and Human Factors

Journal of Design Research

1748-3050 (ISSN) 1569-1551 (eISSN)

Vol. 15 3-4 153-173

Subject Categories

Information Science

Human Computer Interaction

Information Systemes, Social aspects

DOI

10.1504/JDR.2017.089911

More information

Latest update

3/7/2018 1