[IxDA Discuss] Does Sustainable Interaction Design Exist?

[Nathan]

Gingerly stepping into this potential morass...

A good friend forwarded to me this discussion and I've subscribed to  
the list in order to respond. I've been an interaction designer for  
over 10 years and I'm finishing an MBA in sustainable management  
(graduating in June) so I feel like I can competently add to this topic.

For starters, sustainability means a lot of things to different  
people. Generally, however, it's not simply a replacement for "green"  
or "eco" but refers to human and financial issues as well as  
environmental ones. A great definition to start with is posted on the  
homepage of a new dictionary of sustainable management terms just  
launched here: http://www.sustainabilitydictionary.com

Development that meets the needs of the present without compromising  
the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.

One of the first things I learned about sustainability is that there  
is no one, right answer. Complex systems, by definition, connect to  
many issues and often create surprising interactions and conclusions  
and, often, unintended consequences. A simple questions like "paper  
or plastic" doesn't have a simple answer (one could adequately argue  
either side).

This said, two principles that one can almost always count on helping  
are: Less and Local. The less stuff created, consumed, or discarded,  
the better (though this can't be taken to the extreme). The more  
Local something is mode (and thus transported less), generally, the  
better it is for the environment. However, as great as both of these  
are for the environment, they can also have negative impacts on  
financial and social systems--particularly if these systems aren't  
ready for the change.

Other important developments in design include:
• Dematerialization (less)
• Transmaterialization (even less)
• Design for Environment (particularly in use of toxics and processes)
• Design for Disassembly (recyclable, etc.)
• Design for Reuse
• Take-back Programs
etc. (you can look up some of these in the dictionary)

It find it an interesting proposition to apply this approach to  
interaction design. In general, electronic/computer-based systems and  
services don't have nearly as big an impact as material ones though  
they obviously have both an initial impact as well as an ongoing one  
(power), as well as a disposal impact. Recently, there's been some  
fascinating comparisons, for example, of the life-cycle costs  
analyses of digital music downloads vs. buying CDs over the Internet  
vs. buying CDs in "bricks and mortar" stores. The former clearly has  
less impact than the latter two which are much more closely rated.

It's important to approach this subject with an appreciation of the  
complexity of systems and an open mind (sometimes, the answers can  
really surprise you and not seem intuitively "right"). it's also  
important to not try to force people's behaviors (like not allowing a  
Print function). Instead, education is usually a better route (and  
letting people make their own decisions about their behavior) since  
you can't ever know whether someone's intended use is better or not,  
good or not, etc. That doesn't mean, however, that we can't try to  
influence behavior for the better, just to be clear about our  
motives. You might look into the Captology Lab at Stanford and some  
of their projects as they have been specifically playing with  
persuasion, seduction, and influencing behavior: http:// 
www.captology.org

Lastly, Mike, you're right that product/industrial designers are a  
big part of the problem in that they create a lot of stuff and many  
don't have a clue (or desire) about sustainability issues (eco or  
otherwise). That's why programs like the ID program at CCA here in SF  
have made sustainability an integral part of their teaching, not just  
a separate class tacked-on somewhere along the way.

Sustainability really needs to be integrated into all parts of the  
process and discussions in order to be effective. I don't think that  
interaction designers can effectively correct or even just approach  
these concerns from their part in the process. It has to be addressed  
throughout all parts of the design and management and, especially, in  
the criteria. In other words, we can't "fix" product designers'  
design problems from our end. We need to help them reduce these  
problems in the beginning. Then, of course, we need to move further  
up the development chain to the marketing, engineering, and strategy  
departments of our clients to set the criteria at the beginning for  
how these solutions need to perform in these aspects.

Nathan
________________________________________________________

Nathan Shedroff                  WEB   www.nathan.com
Experience Strategist

22 Cleveland Street                  NET    nathan at nathan.com
San Francisco, CA 94103