Context and Empathy as Tools for Sustainable Design

Aaron Sklar, Designer, Human Factors, IDEO, USA

Velma Velazquez, designer, human factors, IDEO, USA

Bob Adams, Designer, IDEO, USA

Evolution of Human Centered Design Methods

As practitioners of human centered design, we find ourselves on the verge of a new way of approaching the challenges we face. Our journey to gain insight into the human psyche emerged from a culture of scientific validity and laboratory experimentation which is characterized by the quest to isolate variables so they can be measured one at a time. As part of the design community, those of us with a background in the human sciences acknowledge the importance of including contextual factors as an integral aspect of the exploration-not a set of variables to be ignored. Embracing the richness of context into our work has lead to real world solutions that not only meet people's needs, but also provide desirable experiences that are sought after. We have developed a varied set of methods which are used to achieve empathy with people and provide design solutions that meet and exceed their expectations. Our toolkit has grown out of ethnographic roots; we endeavor to see beyond people's stated needs and to connect our design concepts to people's latent needs which they may be unable to express directly.

Through our work in multidisciplinary design teams, we have developed methods to gather inspiration from human experiences and translate these insights into new design expressions. We connect with the stories of people as individuals by observing their behavior and engaging them in personal conversations about their lifestyle and goals. Seeking out the complexity of human emotions and individuality allows us to identify unique perspectives and opportunity areas for ideation. At the core of all of our methods are context and empathy. By going out into the world to meet real people in their relevant personal contexts (often their homes), we are able to gain a deeper understanding of their experiences and values. We focus our attention to what people say and do, and, in addition, we try to reach an understanding of what they are thinking and how they feel.

At IDEO, we have reached a high level of success through applying our human centered methods in the design of thousands of products. We work closely with multinational corporations and small startup companies. As our success and influence has grown, we are beginning to acknowledge the responsibility that comes with the realization that our decisions have global effects. Many of the products we design are used by the majority of the world (for example, we work closely with a major soda distributor on the shape and material of their beverage containers). Our work also has sometimes unintended consequences, as highlighted by a colleague's discovery of an IDEO-designed toothbrush washed ashore on a remote island beach.

One of the avenues we are exploring in addressing our responsibility and influence is to incorporate sustainable design thinking into our process. In addition to understanding the basic facts about materials and manufacturing processes, we are using our human centered design methods to achieve a deeper understanding of sustainability from the perspective of the individual people who participate in the life cycle of product from manufacture, to use, to disposal.

A second avenue of contribution is in promoting and sharing our human centered methods with the global design community. The intention of this action is to encourage designers in developing nations to create sustainable solutions that are appropriate for their communities as opposed to following the model of short term gains that tends to be utilized by industrialized countries.

While both of these directions are critical to creating a responsible design community, we are choosing to focus on the area where IDEO has the most power to cause change. With our current client base and the reach of the products we design, we realize that we can have the most impact through emphasizing critical design thinking with the aim of sustainability.

Exploring the Social Cycle

The growing movement towards sustainable design gives us an opportunity to apply our methods to a new set of challenges. As we take into consideration more and more of the larger context, we begin to explore and address the impact on larger systems and the world that we live in.

One way in which we are applying our methods is in an examination of a product's lifecycle from a human perspective. We explore people's understanding of where the products in their lives come from-and where they go. Most of us feel completely removed from the selection of materials and manufacturing processes and find it a challenge to consider the natural world as a factor in our daily decisions. Our empathic techniques result in a description of the participants' mental models of the perceived lifecycle of products in their lives. When these perceived lifecycles are compared to the actual lifecycle of a product, we can identify the gaps in people's understandings.

In order to ensure a variety of perspectives, and explore what impact these perspectives have, we are selecting participants who are intimately connected to various aspects of a product's journey through its life cycle. At every stage there is someone who understands - from the perspective of that stage-the demands and consequences (from a personal experience point of view). For example, someone who carries our trash away has a set of behaviors and decisions that have been affected by his experience in the world of trash. Compare his mental model of a product's lifecycle to that of someone earlier in the lifecycle who picks cotton for a living. In examining the behaviors and beliefs of these participants, we can discover how their personal awareness impacts the choices they make in the course of their daily lives.

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