A Review of the Recent Eco-design Education Initiative for Industrial Design and Technology Undergraduates at Loughborough University

During the last decade one of the authors has worked on numerous industrial design projects. During this time eco-design strategies were not implemented or were only used if they complimented what were perceived as traditional design activities. Recently, due to a number of internal and external stimuli, eco-design strategies are becoming core drivers in industrial design activities. This paper examines some of the drivers and barriers behind a number of British companies and why they are changing to encompass good eco-design strategies. To aid this change, companies and design consultancies are looking for industrial design graduates who have a sound knowledge of sustainable design strategies. Recently, an eco-design education initiative for industrial design and technology undergraduates at Loughborough University was undertaken to try to address this issue. This paper includes extracts from an undergraduate dissertation that reviewed this initiative. Some conclusions of the initiative from both a student’s and from a professional designer’s point of view are suggested and the current and future developments of the module are outlined

The use of sustainable design websites within design and technology education at AS/A2 Level

Websites have become key knowledge and information sources within design and technology education for students. This paper looks specifically at sustainable design websites, highlighting the current literature on sustainability, and also sustainability’s integration into design and technology education. This integration focuses on sustainable design schemes, such as Practical Action’s Sustainable Design Award (SDA), and its website. The paper progresses to describe some initial trials to identify website use within ‘designerly activity’ for students aged 16-18. It examines their use of websites, in particular sustainable design sites and the SDA website, and whether these are used during their design activity. Further research that will be carried out to aid an ongoing analysis of how effective sustainable design websites are influencing design decisions is also outlined in this paper

A review of the literature concerning website effectiveness: before, during and after use

principles into design and technology education. This paper describes current sustainable design initiatives in education which aim to achieve this integration of sustainability principles. Despite large investment into information communication tools such as websites, the impact that these websites have within education is rarely assessed. This paper outlines the key areas of the broad topic of ‘website effectiveness’ according to literature in this area. It also investigates the comprehension of website effectiveness within this context, and identifies three distinct phases of effectiveness: before use, during use and after use. The paper uncovers gaps in the research in two areas; primarily a need for further research concerning influence after a website has been used and requirements for ensuring a wide knowledge of the websites existence. The paper also discovers some conflicting ideas of importance between a websites’ usability and likeability

Understanding cooking behaviours to design energy saving interventions

People's behaviours play an important role in energy consumption, especially whilst dealing with high consumption, highly interactive appliances such as cookers. In a user observation study conducted among university students, participants were asked to perform a simple cooking task. Their behaviours were analysed and compared with a set of recommended practices. The electricity usage and time to complete the activity were also measured. The results show that participants performed in several different ways, presenting diverse energy usage. The determinants of these behaviours were also collected, and will help to inform the design of interventions to motivate people to change their behaviours whilst cooking

Cooking behaviours: a user observation study to understand energy use and motivate savings

Electric cookers are one of the highest energy consuming domestic appliances, and there are several aspects that can influence the amount of energy used when preparing a meal. Appliance characteristics are shown to influence consumption, but human factors play an important role in the overall electricity usage. A user observation study was conducted among uni-versity students to understand how they use electric cookers. They were asked to perform a specific cooking task, and the elec-tricity usage was measured. Participants’ behaviours were analysed and compared with a set of energy saving techniques. Ap-pliance characteristics that influenced how students use energy were also investigated. The results show that users performed the task in several different ways, presenting diverse energy consumption, the average being 3 times above the necessary to complete the task. This information is now informing the design of interventions to motivate people to change their behaviours whilst cooking

Cooking behaviours: understanding energy use to design persuasive applications

Electric cookers and kettles are often high electricity consumers amongst household appliances. Cooking requires several interactions with these appliances, and furthermore people’s behaviours play an important role in the energy consumption. This research is seeking to understand people’s behaviours whilst cooking and also identify the determinants of these behaviours. Energy monitoring, video recording and semi-structured questionnaires were used to gather this information. This knowledge will inform the development of an intervention aiming at reducing energy expenditure

Using social network games to reduce energy consumption

This research is investigating the potential role of online social network based life simulation computer games as a persuasive tool for encouraging users to reduce their domestic energy consumption. Games such as ‘Farmville’ which runs on the Facebook platform have attracted millions of users worldwide who create simple virtual worlds where they interact with others and carry out everyday activities to earn tokens to spend within the game. Applying a User Centred Design (UCD) and in particular persona based design approach, this research is investigating why users find these games so enticing, the characteristics of those who play them, and the context in which they are played. Through an iterative UCD process, a life simulation game will be designed with users who represent a number of key ‘gamer personas’ in order to research how this sort of game could be used to encourage domestic energy saving behaviours

An introduction to the development of a product Brand: an evidence-based template for use with first year undergraduate industrial designers

The manipulation of colour, form and texture within a commercial design activity is a core competency for an industrial designer. The job of the Industrial designer is to use colour, form, texture, temperature and movement to deliver a sensory experience that evokes a desired response. The core deliverables of an industrial designer are embedded within an evidence-based and user-centred approach to product design. Social functionality may often be most easily seen through the delivery of Brand. The aim of this paper is to provide education practitioners with a template to facilitate the introduction of Brand construction to undergraduate industrial design students through the visual and physical embodiment of a product. The objectives of this paper are to: provide signposting to the underpinning theories of the template; describe the template; show examples of student work that demonstrate the outcomes of template application; and, highlight where students have used the template within brand related design competitions to produce successful design outcomes

Communicating sustainable design

This paper outlines research undertaken at Loughborough University to investigate innovative methods of communicating the complex issues associated with Sustainability with post-16 students in the UK as part of their design and technology education. A series of posters articulating elements of sustainable design were developed by a team consisting of; sustainable design experts, two industrial designers and an undergraduate design student. The poster designs were presented to post-16 students and teachers in three iterative development cycles with the responses recorded using a mix of semi-structured discussion and a series of questionnaires. The research results indicate that posters can provide a useful and innovative method of communicating sustainable design issues to students in Design and Technology. However, the results also show that the content of posters must provide a balance of inspirational images and detailed information, with further resources available to enable more in-depth study. These findings are now being used to produce a final poster set which will be published by ITDG in the coming year and available for use by students when tackling sustainable design