Design for emotional durability: the case of household light design

Abstract

Designers’ hands-on experience in research through design process contributes them to produce and share knowledge from their own design practices. In this study, the primary purpose was exploring sustainable design concepts and developing solutions for improving the product lifespan of household light with research through design process. With a particular focus on “emotionally durable design”, “product personalisation”, and “localisation” were considered fruitful concepts. The do-it-yourself (DIY) approach, which means that users participate in production, and the halfway product rationale, which leaves space for users to complete the production, were the concepts used in personalisation. The outcome of the research through design process was a wall lamp manufactured with different scales of production, involving personalisation features facilitated by DIY and halfway product rationale. For “localisation”, different scales of production opportunities were explored, and a design kit as a halfway product was considered as a sustainable design solution. DIY approach was benefited for producing complementary lace lampshade. In the design for sustainability framework, it is seen that experimenting and engaging with locally available materials and manufacturing capabilities in the research through design process nurtured developing sustainable design solutions.