Title: Design for longevity: taking both the material and social aspects of product-life into account

Authors: Marie Hebrok

Addresses: National Institute for Consumer Research (SIFO), Sandakerveien 24C, P.O. Box 4682 Nydalen, 0405 Oslo, Norway

Abstract: The aim of this paper is to explore how knowledge provided by social science research on the dis-domestication of products can inform design for longevity. The research presented is an investigation into the dis-domestication of objects from the household. Dis-domestication is a concept developed by Hebrok (2010) and pertains to the process in which products go out of use and are being disposed of. The concept has been developed as an addition to the framework of domestication by Silverstone et al. (1992), which is also the starting point of the analysis provided by this paper. The product group that serves as a case for the analysis is furniture. Prolonging the lifespan of products is vital in order to decouple economic success from environmental impact. This paper explores the fruitfulness of applying methods from social science and the framework of domestication to the study of disposal behaviour in a design perspective.

Keywords: product longevity; product life; domestication; science and technology studies; STS; design research; dis-domestication; design for sustainable behaviour; product design; furniture design; social sciences; disposal behaviour; product disposal.

DOI: 10.1504/JDR.2014.064232

Journal of Design Research, 2014 Vol.12 No.3, pp.204 - 220

Received: 28 Feb 2013
Accepted: 18 Nov 2013
Published online: 30 Aug 2014 *

Full-text access for editors Full-text access for subscribers Purchase this article Comment on this article