Sustainable by behaviour

Abstract

In this personal reflection, the author describes his path to finding his passion for designing human-powered products. The author discusses his experiences as a researcher exploring the benefits of human-powered products as a viable choice for sustainable living. It includes the investigation to measure both their environmental impact and long-term benefits, such as health. It discusses the research process of challenging the role of design in inducing a more effective use of human-powered products to achieve more significant outcomes, and the necessity for more research on their feasibility as an everyday energy source. The author also discusses his current work in the field of Design for Sustainable Behaviour, with a focus on offering a variety of design strategies for tackling a wide range of behaviour-related social issues. The author also draws attention to the challenges academics encounter in disseminating design research and shares his view on how speculative design might be used to influence sustainable behaviour more effectively in the future. The chapter concludes by proposing two remaining questions for further research: how to assess the effectiveness of design in influencing behaviour for long-term sustainability, and how to better forecast a future that encourages sustainable behaviour.