Sustainability by Design. How to Encourage Users to Choose Energy-Saving Programs and Settings when Washing Laundry

Abstract

One way to counteract anthropogenic climate change, is to reduce individual energy consumption. An especially energy-intensive everyday practice is doing the laundry. In Germany, laundry accounts for about 5% of domestic electricity consumption. In part, this is because users do not make use of the energy-saving programs offered by modern washing machines. Based on different principles of behavior change, we created four concepts for washing machine interfaces to encourage users to choose energy-saving programs and settings. These concepts were implemented as functional prototypes. An online experiment (N=400) showed that all concepts increased the choice of energy-saving programs compared to a standard machine. Especially effective was to interrupt impulsive actions and suggest alternative choices (concept B) and to restructure the entry of settings (concept E). This demonstrates how small changes in a standard interfaces can significantly increase the probability of energy conservation in a private setting.