Lifelines

There is an imbalance across design disciplines in how the user is theorised, represented and ultimately configured. It is suggested that normative user-centred design, as practiced in product design and human-computer interaction (HCI), can lead to a lack-based approach which, when applied in a health and wellbeing context, tends to align unreflexively with a medicalised view of the person. In contrast, the use of self in research is a concept well-developed in health care ethics and care professions, while the interpersonal relationship is valued and analysed in psychotherapy and counselling research and practice. Inspired by these, this article presents a discussion on the sometimes deeply relational nature of doing design with users when viewed through the lens of the Person-Centred Approach (PCA) (Rogers 1961/1967). A case study is used to illustrate an encounter of relational depth as experienced by students working directly with individuals to design prosthetics. Lifelines is a creative project brief developed by Jivan Astfalck (2008; 2011), which asks students to represent ten significant moments in their own lives through the creative use of materials and found objects. In this case, the brief was altered so that another person (the ‘user’) would be represented. The aim was that the student designers would experience moving beyond implicit conceptions of the user as defined by a need or perceived (dis)ability, and that the intimate and personal nature of identifying and representing significant moments would raise questions about expectations of objectivity in design and research.  The case study demonstrates that working in this way can be experienced as profoundly moving, with powerful moments of personal transformation and interpersonal growth. In discussion, it is suggested that through such moments of encounter, it becomes possible to examine the qualities of the relational in action, and to analyse not only problematic processes of othering, but also their converse - meetings at relational depth. The Lifelines brief is proposed as a transformative way for designers to re-engage with the whole person, as both substantial (self-realising) and relational (in time, with others and the world), and as one creative exercise in a potential suite of tools for the strengthening of the “ethical reflex” necessary in Design and HCI (Vandenberghe and Slegers 2016, 514)

Developing Interventions for Scaling Up UK Upcycling

open access articleUpcycling presents one of many opportunities for reducing consumption of materials and energy. Despite recent growth evidenced by increasing numbers of practitioners and businesses based on upcycling, it remains a niche activity and requires scaling up to realise its potential benefits. This paper investigates UK household upcycling in order to develop interventions for scaling up upcycling in the UK. Mixed methods were used in four stages: (a) Interviews to gain insights into UK upcycling; (b) a survey to discover key factors influencing UK upcycling; (c) intervention development based on the synthesis of interviews and survey; and (d) use of a semi-Delphi technique to evaluate and develop initial interventions. The results showed approaches to upcycling (e.g., wood, metal and fabric as frequently used materials, online platforms as frequently used source of materials), context for upcycling (e.g., predominant use of home for upcycling), factors influencing UK upcycling with key determinants (i.e., intention, attitude and subjective norm), important demographic characteristics considering a target audience for interventions (i.e., 30+ females) and prioritised interventions for scaling up (e.g., TV and inspirational media and community workshops as short-term high priority interventions). The paper further discusses implications of the study in terms of development of theory and practice of upcycling

Novel derivatives of sporopollenin for potential applications in solid phase organic synthesis and drug delivery

The outer coat (exine) of plant pollen grains and spores is composed of the material sporopollenin. Sporopollenin is exceptionally resistant to chemical and physical attack and is perhaps one of the most chemically resistant, naturally occurring organic materials known. Its stability to chemical and physical stress is illustrated by its survival in ancient sedimentary rock of around 3.7 billion years old.Sporopollenin from Lycopodium clavatum has been functionalised in the past for use in the preparation of peptides and for use in ion and ligand exchange. It was found that sporopollenin. had a number of advantages over the synthetic resins commonly used in solid phase synthesis which included a constant chemical structure, constant pore size, chemical and physical stability and commercial availability.Investigations into the isolation of sporopollenin using various procedures outlined in the literature were reviewed in order to find the most efficient protocol for sporopollenin preparation. Detailed studies of the sporopollenin were undertaken to establish its chemical and physical stability, swelling, filtering and hydration characteristics. Results indicated that sporopollenin would make a good alternative to other solid supports as it showed little swelling in organic solvents, was easily filtered through grade 3-4 sinters and the size of the sporopollenin was constant. Also, it could be dried efficiently and showed good chemical and physical stability, e. g. it can be refluxed for several days in strong acid and base and a variety of organic solvents without decomposition. It also can be stirred for several days with little degradation. In contrast, a parallel study with a commercial PS-DVB resin showed it to be considerably less stable, e. g. stirring for one day resulted in severe degradation of the resin. Also, most of the commercially available resins are found to have a variable particle size and variable loadings.An investigation into the types of functional groups present on the sporopollenin surface was undertaken to explain the types of functionalities present on sporopollenin and examine their reactivity. The objective was to assess the potential of sporopollenin for use as a solid phase support for synthesis and drug delivery. Studies indicated that ketone, acid and hydroxyl groups were present. Thus, in order to obtain uniformity of functionality sporopollenin was reduced with the objective of obtaining solely hydroxyl groups on its surface. Suprisingly the loading of hydroxyl groups varied between one batch to another (0.40-0.92 mmol/g). Attempts to halogenate the hydroxy groups with PCl5 and SOCl2 or condense them with amino acids to form ester linkages was only moderately successful. In contrast, chloromethylation of sporopollenin using dirnethoxymethane and SOCl2 with ZnCl2 as a catalyst gave consistent levels ofchloride loading from one batch to another (1.01-1.28 mmol/g). Such a form of chloromethylated sporopollenin could be compared to Merrifield resin. Preliminary attempts to substitute the chloride proved difficult due presumably to the attachment of chloromethyl groups to aliphatic sites rather than aromatic sites. Amination of different batches of sporopollenin with primary amines, e. g. n-butylamine gave loadings of around 1-2 mmol/g. An extensive study was undertaken to assess the stability of the amine attachment to acid, bases and organic solvents. In all of these a relatively robust attachment was found with no less than 70% of the amine still attached. This study encourages the use of diamines as linker groups with the intention that one primary amine would attach to the sporopollenin with the other being available for further substitution to attach either synthons or drugs

Adapting Darnton’s Nine Principles framework for behaviour change:The UK upcycling case study

open access articleDesign practitioners and academics have increasingly recognised the potential value of design for behaviour change. On the one hand, while existing studies address product or communication design as main interventions, there is a growing interest in design as a useful tool for policy development and service innovation. On the other hand, the interplay between social research, design, and policy development in behaviour intervention is not a new concept or practice, yet studies to suggest and evaluate particular general approaches to policy and design interventions are relatively new and rare. To fill this knowledge gap, this paper adapts Darnton’s Nine Principles framework as one promising generic approach, demonstrates how the adapted framework can be applied to the upcycling case study in the UK and evaluates the usefulness of the adapted framework. The study results show that the adapted framework is useful for exploring behaviour and developing interventions in small-scale, exploratory studies, and that it can be applied to other behaviour domains and contexts. The main contribution of this paper is the demonstration of the potential of Darnton’s original and adapted frameworks as a promising general approach useful for policy and design interventions

An exploratory study on the consequences of individual upcycling: is it worth making people feel attached to their upcycled products?

This work was undertaken in the Sustainable Consumption Research Group at Nottingham Trent University.Product attachment, the emotional bond experienced with a product, is an emerging concept for sustainable production and consumption. The logic behind it is that when people are attached to any product, they are more likely to postpone its replacement or disposal. Some types of product have been studied regarding product attachment in past research but the focus has been on manufacturers ’ perspectives rather than on consumers’ ‘everyday creativity’ activities such as ‘individual upcycling’. Individual upcycling, creation or modification out of used materials resulting in a higher quality or value product than the composition al elements, is particularly relevant to product attachment. This is because upcycling, as a creative, engaging user activity, may offer the experiences of self-expression, group affiliation, special memories and pleasure, all of which are possible product attachment determinants. In the meantime, recent evidence suggests that the number of people who upcycle things has increased, possibly as a response to the contemporary ‘Maker Movement’ and aided by physical and digital resources. Despite this growth, individual upcycling has not been investigated extensively, especially its relation to product attachment and product longevity. Acknowledging this, this study investigated the consequences of individual upcycling with respect to product attachment and the product longevity of upcycled products, and compared the results with mass-produced products with the same functions through an exploratory questionnaire with 23 UK-based upcycling practitioners. The results demonstrated that the attachment to upcycled products is positively correlated with irreplaceability, and irreplaceability with product care and expected product longevity. The results also showed that the expected product lifetime years of the upcycled product with attachment are longer than the estimated average product lifetime years of the mass-produced products with the same functions