Designerly Ways of Entrepreneuring for a Sustainable Circular Economy - Envisioning a Smartphone Firm of the Future

Abstract

The smartphone industry is undergoing a slow transition towards sustainable design and circular business models in response to mounting social and ecological concerns. This paper discusses a smartphone concept regarding sustainable value creation over its entire lifecycle—thereby urging the creation of alternative designs and future-fit businesses. Hence, drawing inspiration from existing start-ups seeking to establish a sustainable smartphone market, a speculative business proposal is synthesised. It employs an analytical framework, with the three layers ‘agent-situation’, ‘product system’, and ‘business/venture’, custom-made to explore value creation in smartphone design, production, and consumption for both existing businesses and this study’s case. Through the simultaneous consideration of designing and business modelling, this case exemplifies a sensible navigation between sustainability values, regardless of whether trade-offs or even synergies emerge. The resulting cross-fertilisation of the two fields contributes to stretching notions of what is possible and desirable in an advanced circular society future.