Industrialization brought about the 1st consumer revolution (Hudson, 2008). Massproduced
consumer goods entered the marketplace (Achterhuis, 2011), and, since then,
people purchased their goods instead of making tools and other needs for themselves and
their relatives. Sector A (self-sufficient) communities changed into an industrial civilization
(mainly sector B: making for someone else) (Toffler, 1980). Consumption became routine;
in many parts of today’s world, people live in this culture of consumption. This
consumption society has (had) severe effects on sustainability (Ehrenfeld, 2008), because
nature suffers from the consequences of traditional mass-production and from the use and
disposal of consumer products. What’s more, passive consumption appears to be highly in
contrast to people’s aspirations and needs (Atkinson, 2006; M. a. E. R.-H.
Csikszentmihalyi, 1981; Press, 2007). In the past decade, technological developments were
the underlying basis for a growing influence by the enduser in the development of user
products, resulting in today’s revolutionary ‘user design’, also referred to as ‘Do-It-
Yourself product design’. User design, as ‘Do-It-Yourself’ (DIY) traditionally does
(Edwards, 2006), represents a convergence of production and consumption. Some
examples are ‘Shapeways.com’, or ‘TechShop’. User design seems, considering the above
mentioned, to bring forth a sustainable form of product design and creation. Sustainability
is considered to concern both domains of human and nature. Through analysis of both
literature and recent developments, this paper attempts to validate the assumption that user
design as true type of Do-It-Yourself, both as a practice and philosophically, answers
today’s urge for approaching product design and development in a sustainable way. The
paper will also address ways in which – and why - user design may have a negative impact
on sustainability, contrasting to the above mentioned. The paper is part of an ongoing
research program in which the stimulating factors and implications of user design are
examined.
DRS 2012 Bangkok
consumer goods entered the marketplace (Achterhuis, 2011), and, since then,
people purchased their goods instead of making tools and other needs for themselves and
their relatives. Sector A (self-sufficient) communities changed into an industrial civilization
(mainly sector B: making for someone else) (Toffler, 1980). Consumption became routine;
in many parts of today’s world, people live in this culture of consumption. This
consumption society has (had) severe effects on sustainability (Ehrenfeld, 2008), because
nature suffers from the consequences of traditional mass-production and from the use and
disposal of consumer products. What’s more, passive consumption appears to be highly in
contrast to people’s aspirations and needs (Atkinson, 2006; M. a. E. R.-H.
Csikszentmihalyi, 1981; Press, 2007). In the past decade, technological developments were
the underlying basis for a growing influence by the enduser in the development of user
products, resulting in today’s revolutionary ‘user design’, also referred to as ‘Do-It-
Yourself product design’. User design, as ‘Do-It-Yourself’ (DIY) traditionally does
(Edwards, 2006), represents a convergence of production and consumption. Some
examples are ‘Shapeways.com’, or ‘TechShop’. User design seems, considering the above
mentioned, to bring forth a sustainable form of product design and creation. Sustainability
is considered to concern both domains of human and nature. Through analysis of both
literature and recent developments, this paper attempts to validate the assumption that user
design as true type of Do-It-Yourself, both as a practice and philosophically, answers
today’s urge for approaching product design and development in a sustainable way. The
paper will also address ways in which – and why - user design may have a negative impact
on sustainability, contrasting to the above mentioned. The paper is part of an ongoing
research program in which the stimulating factors and implications of user design are
examined.
DRS 2012 Bangkok
