This thesis presents research carried out into the use of creative tools at the early stages of eco-innovation. Eco-innovation is a practical approach aiming to develop new products and processes which significantly decrease our impact on the environment. Designers are trained to develop profitable products that increase production and consumption. Eco-innovation is a new discipline in which designers can radically reduce the environmental burdens of production and consumption through the innovation of new types of products and services. The main aim of this research was to develop an approach that would promote significant environmental improvements whilst remaining a practical, design-focused discipline. Problems and under-investigated aspects of eco-innovation were identified: • Creative approaches at early stages of eco-innovation were under-investigated and few tools had been developed for use at the early stages. • Empirical design research techniques had rarely been used to assess new eco-innovation tools or to inform their subsequent development. The focus of the research work was the development and testing of tools to facilitate workshops at the early stages of eco-innovation. Not only was the goal to facilitate the generation of radical ideas but also to ensure that these were developed into appropriate solutions having the potential to be taken up in industry. The development of the tools was based on literature research, worked examples and interviews. The tools were tested in controlled workshop experiments and the results were analysed using various empirical techniques. First, an idea-recording technique to improve the efficiency of generating and harvesting ideas in a team design process was developed. This novel tool was called the Product Ideas Tree (PIT) diagram. The tool was tested for its ability to facilitate design workshops. Secondly, a structured approach to innovation - the theory of inventive problem solving (TRIZ) - was investigated. Worked examples using some of the tools from TRIZ were presented and a limited number of tools were selected and simplified for testing in team design workshops. The PIT diagram and TRIZ tools experiments established which attributes of the tools and approaches were most beneficial. The development and testing of these specific tools provided the following general contributions to eco-innovation: • A model for eco-innovation that describes the factors influencing the discipline and the attributes of good practice. • A recommended process to transform radical ideas into appropriate solutions to improve their potential to be taken up in industry. • General insights into the use of tools in early-stage workshops such as: tool selection, integration into existing processes, system-level problem solving and providing thematic information. • Suggested improvements for testing tools in controlled workshop experiments.

Författarna har haft ett samarbete med Panduro Hobby i samband med deras årliga miljökampanj. Syftet med examensarbetet har varit att med hjälp av befintliga produktutvecklingsprocesser och livscykelanalyser (LCA) ta fram en hållbar textil produkt med växtfärgning. Tanken var att konsumenter sedan själva skall kunna ta fram och växtfärga denna hållbara textilprodukt. Miljömedvetenhet och hållbarhet inom textilindustrin är ett aktuellt ämne. Trots det saknar dagens konsumenter förståelse för textilindustrins påverkan på miljön och har bristande kunskap om textila material för att kunna göra miljövänliga val ute i handeln. Både konsumenter och företag uttrycker att de gärna vill bidra till en mer miljövänlig textilindustri men att de saknar kännedom, resurser och verktyg för att göra det. Därför valde författarna av examensarbetet att undersöka hur en hållbar textil produkt kan tas fram med hjälp av livscykelanalyser, produktutvecklingsmetoden Product Ideas Tree (PIT) samt växtfärgning. Alla steg under produktutvecklingsprocessen valdes ur miljöhänsyn och efter de förutsättningar som krävs för att göra en så miljövänlig textil produkt som möjligt. Resultatet av undersökningen blev en växtfärgad tygkasse i 100 % lin. Efter framtagningen av produkten gjordes en livscykelanalys benämnd MET-matris för att analysera produktens miljöpåfrestning. Matrisen konstaterade att produkten inte har avsevärda miljöbrister. Med examensarbetet och den framtagna produkten vill författarna uppmuntra konsumenter och företag till att fortsätta visa engagemang och intresse för förändringar som gynnar miljön med förhoppningen om att få fler att agera mer hållbart. / The authors have had a collaboration with Panduro Hobby in addition to their annual environmental sustainability campaign. The aim of the thesis has been to develop a sustainable textile product with natural dye using existing product development processes and Life Cycle Assessment (LCA). The idea was that consumers later on would be able to produce this sustainable textile product and dye it themselves. Environmental awareness and sustainability in the textile industry is a topical subject. Nevertheless many consumers lack sufficient knowledge of textile materials to make environmentally friendly choices in the commerce. Both consumers and businesses express that they would like to contribute to a more environmentally friendly textile industry, but that they lack the knowledge, resources and tools to do it. Therefore, the authors of the thesis chose to explore how a sustainable textile product may be produced with the help of Life Cycle Assessment and the product development method Product Ideas Tree (PIT). All steps in the product development process were carefully chosen with consideration to the environment and the circumstances required to make the textile product as sustainable as possible. The study resulted in the development of a canvas bag made out of 100% linen dyed it with natural dye. After the product development a Life Cycle Analysis, referred to as MET Matrix, was done to analyse the product's environmental strain. The matrix noted that the product does not have significant environmental burdens. With the thesis and the produced product the authors would like to encourage consumers and businesses to continue to show commitment and interest in changes that benefit the environment, with the hope of getting more people to act more sustainably.