In this thesis the opportunities for designing products that are less resource intensive during use, in different cultural contexts is investigated. The research was divided into four phases: an extensive literature review, an online scoping study, an intensive qualitative study on laundry behaviours, and an international design competition. The research drew on the background of design for sustainable behaviour, a relatively new field of enquiry concerned with reducing the social and environmental impacts of products during their use. Despite the increasing development of theories to change user behaviour through design, there is a lack of understanding of how different cultural contexts affect behaviour. An extensive literature review established the current thinking on culture, development, and behaviour. The diverse nature of everyday household behaviour from different cultures and the effect it has on household resource consumption was uncovered and was investigated further in an online scoping study. In the study, participants from the UK, Brazil and India answered questions related to the themes of food, water, energy, materials and government schemes. The findings helped to highlight the differences in household behaviours and led to more detailed investigation of laundry behaviours in three sites in the UK, Brazil and India using in-context interviews, observations and household tours. From these findings a series of culturally significant and culturally independent factors were established that can aid designers in understanding behaviours in a given context. A set of design guidelines were also created to facilitate the design of less resource intensive products during use. These were then tested with designers in an international design competition answering a brief to design a less resource intensive laundry process. The research suggested a range of benefits for designers studying other cultures. The guidelines and cultural factors created can help designers to build empathy with users in a given context and boost creative thinking for more sustainable solutions. The research also offered insights into the possibility of, and application for, transferring behaviours between contexts as well as a new understanding of the aspirations of consumers in emerging markets, which could support other theories of sustainable development, such as leapfrogging.

This thesis is based in the research area of Design for Sustainable Behaviour (DfSB), a field which seeks to reduce the social and environmental impact of products in the use phase of their life cycle. There has been significant theoretical development in this area in recent years, leading to a proliferation of intervention strategies and design methodologies. However, there has been a recognised lack of a reliable means of selecting which intervention strategy to use in a given situation, and a lack of real world intervention case studies generating measurable medium-to-long term reductions in energy consumption. Addressing these gaps was a central focus of this research. This thesis documents four distinct research phases; an extensive literature review, an in-depth user study of existing energy consuming behaviours and motivations, the development and trialling of design interventions, and the evaluation of the generated theories as a tool for designers. Literature on domestic energy consumption, human behaviour, and approaches to changing behaviour was reviewed to establish the current level of thinking and to identify opportunities for further research. This guided the undertaking of the user study with a number of families in the East Midlands of the UK, which illuminated the relevant motivational goals, and highly routinized nature, displayed in many energy consuming behaviours. Over the course of this phase of the research journey a new conceptual model of behaviour in context was developed, and refined to create the Behavioural Intervention Selection Axis (BISA). These theoretical developments were then applied to the generation of DfSB intervention concepts, one of which was selected and developed to a functional prototype stage. These prototypes were trialled in situ in family homes for an extended period, and achieved a significant change in behaviour and related energy consumption. Further evaluation of the BISA as a tool to guide designers was performed through a series of workshops with design students, which ascertained its usefulness in this respect. Both the intervention development and trialling and the design workshops showed the conceptual model and BISA to be successful in providing designers with a reliable and useful means of selecting appropriate intervention strategies to change behaviour. In addition the intervention trial provided a wealth of qualitative insight into the way in which DfSB can effect behaviour, and the range of new motivational goals it can engender.

Design for Sustainable Behaviour (DfSB) is an emerging research area concerned with the application of design strategies to influence consumer behaviour during the use phase of a product towards more sustainable action. Current DfSB research has primarily focussed on strategy definition and selection, with little research into formalising a mature design process through which to design these behaviour changing interventions. Furthermore, understanding the actual sustainability and behavioural impact yielded through such investigations is limited in addition to the suitability and transferability of evaluation methods and results having seldom been discussed. This thesis investigated how DfSB models and strategies can be implemented within a structured design process towards a sustainable change in user behaviour. This was achieved by focussing a case study within the UK social housing sector with the aim of reducing domestic energy consumption through behaviour changing intervention, whilst maintaining occupant defined comfort levels. Following an in depth study of physical and behavioural control mechanisms as well as comfort and energy within the research context, a behaviour changing prototype was developed through an augmented user-centred design process, resulting in a physical manifestation of one specific DfSB strategy feedback; a user agentive performance indicator. In order to evaluate this feedback prototype, an evaluation framework was developed, targeted at the three fundamental questions that arise when faced with the evaluation of a DfSB strategy led intervention: (1) Did the produced design solution function for the specified context? (2) Has the user's behaviour changed as a consequence of the design intervention? (3) Is the change in user s behaviour sustainable? Applying these core questions in practice through focus groups and user trials resulted in an evaluation of unparalleled depth. The findings of this thesis illustrate the success of using this augmented design process and tripartite questioning strategy towards the design and evaluation of a DfSB strategy led intervention, building a vital knowledge platform for the formalisation of transferable DfSB theory, design and evaluation methods.

Denna studie utreder möjligheterna till design för ett hållbart konsumtionsbeteende i syfte att motverka matsvinn i hushåll. Med ett användarcentrerat fokus undersöks detta genom tekniker från Design for Sustainable Behaviour och Nudging. Kylskåpet används som fokusområde för att identifiera behov i användandet för att minska matsvinnet genom lösningar inuti och utanför kylskåpet. Genom metoder såsom Cultural probes, intervjuer, observationer och litteraturstudier anknutet till ett teoretiskt ramverk grundat i hållbar utveckling så presenteras designförslaget Food Members. Kunskapsbidraget består av insikten att det är möjligt att implementera kunskap om matens hållbarhetsbehov i kombination med användarnas behov inom ramen för en hållbar beteendeförändring i användarcentrerad design. / This study investigates the possibilities for design for sustainable consumption behavior in order to counteract food waste in households. With a user-centered focus, this is explored through techniques from Design for Sustainable Behavior and Nudging. The refrigerator is used as a focus area to identify needs for use in order to reduce food waste through solutions inside and outside the refrigerator. Through methods such as Cultural probes, interviews, observations and literature studies linked to a theoretical framework based on sustainable development, the design proposal Food Members is presented. The knowledge contribution consists of the insight that it is possible to implement knowledge about the food’s sustainability needs in combination with the users’ needs within the framework of a sustainable behavior change in user-centered design.

O comportamento do usuário afeta o impacto ambiental gerado durante a fase de uso das edificações e de produtos em geral. O Design para o Comportamento Sustentável (DCS) é uma abordagem que visa tornar o comportamento do usuário mais sustentável através do design do produto. Apesar de estar sendo estudada principalmente nas duas últimas décadas, poucos estudos examinam a eficácia dessa abordagem e a aplicam em edificações escolares. A aplicação de estratégias de DCS em edificações escolares pode trazer benefícios, uma vez que as crianças têm influência no ambiente em que estão inseridas e no comportamento dos adultos ao seu redor. O objetivo deste estudo é propor e avaliar uma solução desenvolvida a partir de estratégias de DCS para criar um ambiente escolar que torne o comportamento do usuário mais sustentável. Primeiramente, os comportamentos que afetam o impacto ambiental nas edificações escolares foram identificados. Após, um kit de adesivos para sanitários (EcoSticker) foi proposto e implementado em duas escolas. O consumo de recursos (energia, papel higiênico, papel toalha e sabão) antes e após a intervenção foi medido. Posteriormente, entrevistas, questionários e um workshop foram realizados para entender melhor os dados de consumo coletados e a percepção dos usuários sobre o kit. O consumo de energia diminuiu nas duas escolas, demonstrando que o EcoSticker pode alterar positivamente o comportamento do usuário. A partir deste trabalho foram obtidos os potenciais benefícios e limitações da aplicação de estratégias de DCS em edificações escolares. / The user behaviour affects the environmental impact generated during the usage phase of buildings and products in general. Design for Sustainable Behaviour (DfSB) is an approach that focus on influence users to behave more sustainably through the product design. Although it has received attention particularly in the last two decades, few studies examined the effectiveness of such approach and apply it on school buildings. The application of DfSB strategies in school buildings can bring some benefits, once children have influence on their environment and on how adults behave. The goal of this study is to propose and test an artefact developed according to the DfSB strategies to create a school environment that leads to a more sustainable behaviour. First, behaviours on school buildings that affect the environmental impact were identified. Then, a toolkit for washrooms (EcoSticker) was proposed and implemented in two schools. The resources consumption (energy, toilet paper, paper towel and soap) prior and after the intervention was measured. Afterwards, interviews, questionnaires and a workshop were carried out to further understand the consumption data collected and users’ perception of the toolkit. The consumption of energy have decreased in both schools, demonstrating that the EcoSticker toolkit can change user behaviour positively. At the end, the potential benefits and constrains in applying DfSB strategies on school buildings were discussed.

A large amount of pharmaceuticals are discarded by the public every year and a lot are flushed down the drain or disposed of in household garbage. This leads to negative effects on the environment, animals and humans. The negative effects on the environment are also the result of the pharmaceutical substances that are flushed out in manufacturing. The purpose of the study is to investigate how product designers can improve the handling of pharmaceutcals at an individual level in order to reduce the amount of disarded pharmaceuticals in the long run. The aim is also to investigate how product designers can create a more sustainable consumer society. The study focuses on pharmaceutical consumers’ relation to pharmaceuticals and what their behavior regarding purchasing, use and disposal looks like. The main target group is people with pharmaceutical prescription and the secondary target group are people who buys pharmaceuticals occasionally. By using theories about sustainable behaviour and methods in Design for Sustainable Behaviour, the aim is to understand why the individual’s pharmaceutical consumption is like this and how to make a positive change in the behaviour.    The methods used are user studies and workshop, tehese are followed by function analysis, idea generation and concept development to develop a design proposal.  It became clear during the course of the study that the problem is based on ignorance of the effects of pharmaceuticals and that it is important to shed light on what resources are required to research and produce prharmaceuticals. The final design proposal is an information station that informs pharmaceutical consumers about how their actions affect human health and the environment, to make them think about their use of pharmaceuticals. The design proposal also gives pharmaceutical consumers the opportunity to choose their actions by providing them with information that makes it easier to make more sustainable decisions. / En stor mängd läkemedel kasseras varje år av allmänheten, mycket spolas även ut i avlopp eller slängs i hushållssoporna vilket leder till negativa effekter på miljö, djur och människor. De negativa effekterna på miljön är även resultatet av de läkemedelssubstanser som spolas ut i samband med tillverkning. Studiens syfte är att undersöka hur man som produktdesigner kan förbättra hanteringen av läkemedel på individnivå för att på sikt minska mängden kasserade läkemedel. Syftet är även att undersöka hur produktdesigners kan arbeta för att skapa ett mer hållbart konsumtionssamhälle. Studien fokuserar på läkemedelskonsumenters förhållande till läkemedel samt hur deras beteende kring inköp, användning och kassering ser ut. Den huvudsakliga målgruppen är personer med receptbelagda läkemedel och den sekundära målgruppen är personer som köper läkemedel ibland.   Med hjälp av teorier kring hållbart beteende och metoder inom Design för Hållbara Beteenden är målet att förstå varför individens läkemedelskonsumtion ser ut som den gör samt hur man kan arbeta för att skapa en positiv beteendeförändring.  Metoderna som används är användarstudie och workshop, dessa följs upp med funktionsanalys, idégenerering och konceptutveckling för att få fram ett designförslag.  Det framkom under studiens gång att problematiken grundar sig i okunskap kring läkemedels effekter samt att det är viktigt att belysa vilka resurser som krävs för att forska fram och producera läkemedel. Det slutliga designförslaget är en informationsstation som upplyser läkemedelskonsumenter om hur deras handlingar påverkar humanhälsan och miljön för att få dem att tänka efter kring sin läkemedelsanvändning. Med designförslaget ges läkemedelskonsumenter även möjligheten att välja sina handlingar genom att förse dem med information som gör det enklare att ta mer hållbara beslut.

This thesis investigates the influence that cultural differences have in the designing of products and services that encourage sustainable lifestyles. This was researched through a case study of dishwashing practices in Mexico and the UK, and the development of a methodological framework for supporting designers working in cross-cultural contexts. Designers can shift user behaviour to be more responsible, and by doing this, reduce a product s impact on the use phase of its lifecycle. Nevertheless, designing products that successfully drive behaviour towards a more sustainable path can only be accomplished if they are conceived to fit the user and the specific context of interaction. In order to do so, designers must truly understand the users, and take into account the complex web of factors that lay behind individual behaviour. A comprehensive review of the literature established an understanding of human behaviour and the emergence and evolution of practices and routines. This brought to light the diverse behavioural patterns in different contexts; and was further investigated with a scoping study in two different locations (Mexico and the UK), exploring general water consuming practices in the home, specifically manual dishwashing practices. The preliminary findings shaped a study that aimed to deepen the understanding of these practices in the selected sites, involving the use of Cultural Probes and videoing people in their common kitchen environment. A robust and clear image of washing-up practices emerged with rich and detailed data presented in different media, ideal to be implemented in a design process. To this end, a series of multicultural Personas were created as the direct outcome of the Cultural Probes and the scoping study, giving way to the design studies phase of the project, carried out with industrial design students in Mexico and the UK. A design brief for sustainable washing up practices was delivered. Design experiments were used to provide interesting evidence of the influence in the design process of the designers understanding of the target user. The findings indicate that designers benefit from exploration and creativity tools tailored directly from the user-research findings in the early design process. This increases the level of empathy towards the user, particularly making it easier to design for users with different needs and contexts than the designers themselves. It also helps designers to better apply design for sustainable behaviour framework to their concept designs.

Using design methods, techniques and tools for developing interventions to tackle complex issues have been on the rise. One such area is designing for sustainable behaviour, where the role of the designer is crucial. Addressing the limited availability of information regarding design research for effectively inciting behaviour change, this thesis aims towards developing a comprehensive guidance framework for designers. This framework is intended to be used in the research phase and meant to act as a base for scouting relevant information that will contribute to the development of a relatively sensible intervention. The framework views behavioural determinants via 3 lenses – context, culture and intent. This paper primarily takes a theoretical approach with mostly qualitative insight obtained from the literature review and case-study meta-synthesis, eventually resulting in a framework and a supporting toolkit.

The current prevailing take-make-waste economy has caused the global climate crisis, operating outside the Planetary Boundaries of our planet (Rockström et al., 2009), disrupting nature's balance and affecting all life on earth (WWF and Global Footprint Network, 2019). Both the European Commission and the European Environmental Agency (EEA) sees the transition to a circular economy (CE) within the product category: textiles, apparel and fabrics as a priority to address the climate impact of the textile and clothing industry (Manshoven et al., 2019). Even though there is much research done on how design and products can help companies transition to a CE, there is still an unexplored dimension of the role that consumers play in this transition. Thus, this master thesis aims to fill this research gap by exploring consumer behaviour in different consumption phases as well as the role of consumers in the circular textiles economy and investigate how sustainable clothing companies can design to engage consumers in a circular behaviour and role. By doing so, it is hoped to contribute to a better understanding of the dimension of the consumer in the circular textiles economy and to identify ways to fulfill the CE principle - keep products and materials in use. The study was conducted through a novel implementation of Research through Design in combination with Interactive Research by using the Design Thinking framework as a research process. The research was executed in close collaboration with the Swedish outdoor clothing company Houdini Sportswear.  The results show that a number of Circular Consumer Behaviours are desired to be acted out in four identified phases of a Circular Clothing Consumption Process: Lifestyle Creation, Product Acquisition, Product Use and Product Dispossession. Furthermore, it was found that the role of the Circular Consumer is very complex and consists of various sub-roles on four layers: Functional, Emotional, Life Changing and Social Impact. On the basis of this knowledge, the theoretical concept of Design for Circular Consumers was developed. On the basis of this theory, the Design for Circular Consumers Tool was created as the key contribution of this thesis. This tool facilitates the design of experiences that engage consumers in the circular textiles system and subsequently support clothing companies in their transition to circular business models as a way to address the climate impact of the textiles industry.