Addressing the obsolescence of end-user devices: Approaches from the field of sustainable hci

Abstract

The progress of technological development and the resulting rapid replacement of end-user devices has brought increasing issues of electronics waste upon our society. Interaction designers and researchers within the field of humancomputer interaction have begun to tackle issues of environmental sustainability in recent years, including the problem of obsolescence. By considering the experiential aspects of obsolescence and the ways in which interaction design could have an impact on experience, the field presents promising approaches with potential to contribute to and complement current materials-focused solutions. In this chapter, we report on a survey of sustainable human-computer interaction research that investigates or addresses issues of obsolescence, presenting challenges as well as opportunities for interaction designers to contribute to solving these issues.