Tag: design for sustainability

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Connecting sustainable and well-being-enhancing behaviors: Reflections through daily practices of young adults

Publication

  • Kowalski, M. & Yoon, J. (2024). Connecting sustainable and well-being-enhancing behaviors: Reflections through daily practices of young adults. DRS: Design Research Society, Boston, MA. Download
  • Kowalski, M. & Yoon, J. (2024). Connecting Sustainable Behavior and Subjective Well-being: An Experiential Model for Design, Journal of Design Research (Under review)

An experience sampling study was conducted to further understand daily activities of young adults with implications for Environmentally Sustainable Behavior (SB) and Subjective Well-being (SWB) simultaneously. Studies on SB and SWB are pre- sent in established bodies of design research, though connection across these strands appears limited. Analysis of 209 survey responses from 27 participants showed that while many activities were reported with mutually positive outcomes for SB and SWB, when there was conflict, individuals were more likely to prioritize their own subjective well-being over environmental sustainability. Activities that included designed prod- ucts and environments that more readily supported SB and SWB without imposing an external conflict, and those that included social bonding and sharing of resources led to more mutually positive outcomes. The findings present avenues for design research- ers and practitioners in developing designs that can address individuals’ well-being and environmentally sustainable behavior in a more positive and complimentary manner.

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Factors of product attachment and their effects on sustainable product usage behaviors

Publication

  • Kowalski, M., & Yoon, J. (2022). I love it, I’ll never use it: Exploring factors of product attachment and their effects on sustainable product usage behaviors, International Journal of Design. 16(3), 37-57. Download
  • Cornell Chronicle (2023). Meaningful but unused products hinder sustainability. Link.

Research on product attachment has shown that users tend to retain emotionally meaningful products longer, and delay their disposal. This has been suggested to be more environmentally sustainable, though little empirical evidence of the actual long-term use of these products is available. Two studies sought to understand the factors of product attachment and their role in sustainable product usage behavior. Study 1 involved qualitative semi-structured interviews to understand users’ relationships with meaningful product possessions and how this connected to their long-term product use. Through an online questionnaire, Study 2 quantitatively investigated the relative roles of factors of product attachment in product usage behaviors. The results from both studies showed differing patterns of product use. While at times products of attachment are used actively for their practical utilitarian purpose, at other times they are set aside for more passive psychological reasons. In this passive use pathway, evidence was found of increased redundant product consumption to satisfy practical needs, contrary to expectations expressed in previous literature. Perceived irreplaceability of a product, while being most influential in stimulating higher levels of attachment, was associated with more passive use and redundant product consumption.

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[Canceled] Workshop “Design and Sustainable Development” with De Montfort University

  • Workshop: Design and sustainable development
  • Participants: Cornell and De Montfort University students
  • Location: Design+Environmental Analysis, Cornell University
  • Period: May 18 through 20
  • Participation fee: None

Update – March 12, 2020

We regretfully inform you that we are canceling our workshop, originally scheduled for May 18 through 20. 
Cornell University has issued new policies to minimize future community spread of COVID-19. All international events are strongly discouraged that bring outside guests to campus. We are following these policies, which unfortunately means we will not hold the workshop. Please understand this.

Thank you for your support and enthusiasm.

The purpose of the workshop is to engage Cornell students with high caliber design and research in the School of Design at De Montfort University in the United Kingdom. Participating students will have exciting and meaningful opportunities to take part in the research, design and action addressing the UN Sustainable Development Goals with a focus on SDG 3 (Good health and well-being) and SDG 12 (Responsible consumption and production).

The core activities will be special lectures and workshops delivered by professors and lecturers from Cornell, DMU and UNIST. The program will consist of three full-day workshops. The special lectures will be about design for the UN SDGs addressing a range of different issues. Each workshop will be related to the special lecture and based on pre-defined briefs regarding UN SDG 3 and 12.

Cornell students will be paired with students from De Montfort to work on each brief to understand how British (or De Montfort) students think and work, and learn about how to work effectively and efficiently as a team in an international setting. They will be expected to produce compelling design solutions and visual outcomes such as drawings, modeling, renderings, or prototypes as a response to each brief. At the end of the third workshop, the best performing pairs will be awarded with small prizes.

Application
A total of 15 Cornell students can participate. Priority for this opportunity will be given to junior and sophomore students, but those in their freshmen or senior year are also welcome to apply.

Canceled – Fill out online application here.

General inquiries
Dr. Jay Yoon (jy846@cornell.edu)

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Towards a holistic design for subjective well-being

Researcher: Roby Michelangelo Vota
Involvement: Research advisor (chair: Dr. Stella Boess)
Research conducted at ID-Studiolab (Delft, the Netherlands)
Publication:

  • Vota, R. M. (2015). Towards a holistic design for subjective well-being. Delft: Delft University of Technology.

In current approaches to Design for Sustainable Behavior (DfSB), the main focus is on “mitigating, controlling or blocking unsustainable or inappropriate behavior by users”. The concept of sustainability appears limited to restraining the environmental impact of behaviors, often at the detriment of people’s subjective well-being. However, personal and environmental well-being are not only compatible but even mutually supportive aspects of sustainability. Hence, a research was conducted to explore how design can address environmental sustainability and subjective well-being as complementary aspects of sustainability. Through observations of sustainability-related design activities, a series of key factors influencing the design approach emerged. Focusing on the factor ’empathy towards people’s positive experiences’, a design method and a set of design tools and techniques was developed to validate the effects of an experience-driven approach on the positivity of Design for Sustainability. The proposed method was built around three key points: (1) positive experiences as the focus of preliminary design explorations, (2) empathic understanding of the components and mechanisms underlying the experiences, and (3) exploration of short- and long-term effects of experiences on both personal and environmental well-being.