SYSTEMATEKS: Scalable interactive modular simulation (SIMS): Towards sustainable design

Abstract

Design, in the context of Sustainable Interaction Design (SID) is defined as “an act of choosing among or informing choices of future ways of being” (Blevis, 2007). The present paper introduces SYSTEMATEKS (SIMS) as an evolutionary design thinking concept that has been developed and practiced by the lead author on numerous successful and sustainable design projects for more than two decades. These physical products have a wide range of applications ranging from furniture, exhibitions and architectural designs that embodied ethical, sustainable and universal values and design principles. The overarching aim of the present paper is to document the process implicit in SIMS in a way that it can also be practiced by Sustainable Interaction Designers. The findings of this paper can be used as a guide to designers to ensure that the design process will lead to sustainable and “transfigurable” designs that could meet a wider range of user requirements and that also can shift application depending on the context of use. Furthermore, this process framework can be utilized as a method of evaluation to assess the sustainability of a user interface.