DESIGN FOR SUSTAINABILITY – TRADE-OFF DILEMMAS FROM THE CONSUMER PERSPECTIVE
Year: 2015
Editor: Christian Weber, Stephan Husung, Gaetano Cascini, Marco Cantamessa, Dorian Marjanovic, Monica Bordegoni
Author: Shiu, Eric
Series: ICED
Institution: University of Birmingham, United Kingdom
Section: Design for Life
Page(s): 239-248
ISBN: 978-1-904670-64-3
ISSN: 2220-4334
Abstract
Product designers always look at the functionality and aesthetics aspects when deciding on the features and appearance of a new product. More recently, as the environmental issue becoMES increasingly a concern for an increasing number of consumers, sustainability is rapidly becoming another important aspect that product designers should also consider. To date, there is no published research in any English-written international journals that assess the trade-offs of all these three aspects in the product design process from any perspective including the consumer perspective. Considering that consumers have the final say in the market performance of any new product, this study attempts to fill the above research gap by assessing the trade-offs amongst functionality, sustainability and aesthetics from the consumer perspective.
Keywords: Sustainability, Functionality, Aesthetics, Trade-Off, Consumer