Enviro 2010 - Social design for sustainability
by Zumio
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Slides and speaker notes from presentation to delegates of the Enviro 2010 conference in Melbourne, 22 July 2010. Explores some examples of, and the principles behind, harnessing social networks and ...
Slides and speaker notes from presentation to delegates of the Enviro 2010 conference in Melbourne, 22 July 2010. Explores some examples of, and the principles behind, harnessing social networks and design thinking with the aim of achieving sustainable outcomes.
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penny hagen
In this session I’m going to explore social design for sustainability, looking at some examples of, and the principles behind, harnessing social networks and design thinking with the aim of achieving sustainable outcomes
My presentation and associated notes, which includes links to further information, is available on the Zumio website – the URL will be listed at the end of the presentation.
How many of you have heard of Gus?
Gus says he is the designer for an accessories business. Gus runs the place - he doesn’t have an “owner” per se, he has his “hoomin” who kinda works for him.
Further information:
http://twitter.com/gustheboxer
Gus is a bit of a celebrity, you see...
Further information:
http://www.facebook.com/GustheBoxer
The captions for the calendar came, of course, from Gus’ Twitter and Facebook friends
The money he raises goes to the Lort Smith Animal Hospital
Gus is the mascot for Fitzroy-based accessories company, Haul...
Further information:
http://www.gustheboxer.com/
While not particularly “world changing”, I put forward this example of clever marketing by a sustainably-minded small business as a light-hearted introduction to how social networks are being used in pursuit of sustainability goals
These tools, which include Facebook & Twitter, which I’ve just mentioned, and others with names like Flickr, YouTube, wikis and blogs, among others, are being put to use for a variety of ends, including...
Further information:
http://haul.com.au
Quirky is an example of crowd-sourced product development company – where members of the Quirky community put forward ideas which are then “influenced” – evolved and refined – by the community.
Some designs are then put up for sale and a proportion of proceeds are distributed to the person who submitted the product idea and any relevant influencers.
This example reflective of a broader DIY mentality that can be witnessed across the web and open source software communities, where people share information and skills, empowered by online tools.
Quirky and its ilk seek to leverage what academic and author Clay Shirky calls the “cognitive surplus” - that is the application of our collective abilities to activities outside of our traditional paid work, often at the expense of television viewership.
Further information:
http://www.quirky.com/
The Linked In professional networking site supports business people connecting with their peers, and the site hosts groups where people can exchange information and support each other around a variety of topics.
On-screen I’ve highlighted just three examples of groups within Linked In focused on sustainability, CSR and social innovation here in Australia:
The A&NZ Sustainability Circle: http://www.linkedin.com/groups?mostPopular=&gid=2379226
Social Innovation eXchange: http://www.linkedin.com/groups?mostPopular=&gid=117523 -- AU VERS?
and Corporate Social Responsibility Network, also known as “CORNA”: http://www.linkedin.com/groups?mostPopular=&gid=2787647
The Linked In professional networking site supports business people connecting with their peers, and the site hosts groups where people can exchange information and support each other around a variety of topics.
On-screen I’ve highlighted just three examples of groups within Linked In focused on sustainability, CSR and social innovation here in Australia:
The A&NZ Sustainability Circle: http://www.linkedin.com/groups?mostPopular=&gid=2379226
Social Innovation eXchange: http://www.linkedin.com/groups?mostPopular=&gid=117523 -- AU VERS?
and Corporate Social Responsibility Network, also known as “CORNA”: http://www.linkedin.com/groups?mostPopular=&gid=2787647
They use this space primarily in support of their graduate program. They announce new intakes and career nights, as well as answer questions about the application process. They also provide videos highlighting the culture of the company and what it’s like to work there.
Further information:
http://www.facebook.com/eycareers
Myself and others believe that these networks are representative of a deeper shift in the way people, businesses and civic institutions connect with one another, resulting in deeper socio-political implications.
In his book “Here comes everybody”, Clay Shirky describes how these technologies reduce the “transaction cost” of organising, which is changing the organisational models we use to co-ordinate collective effort.
Ezio Manzini notes these changes too, suggesting these technologies are an important component of social innovation and sustainability, helping to facilitate the connection of small & local communities into larger, more open & distributed networks.
So, what’s some examples of the types of connections that can be made?
Image: mdezemery @ Flickr – http://www.flickr.com/photos/mdezemery/295687769/
To how we get loans and finance our lives
Kiva enabling business owners to take out small, low-interest loans to fund the expansion of their business – an approach known as “micro-credit”.
While the average loan size < $400 USD, Kiva reports that they have distributed loans to a total of more than $148 million USD, with a delinquency rate of <2%
These technologies are also impacting government policy development...
Further information:
http://www.kiva.org/
http://www.kiva.org/about/facts/
The site enabled a level of participation much greater than that achieved using more traditional consultation tools.
These tools are also having an impact on organisational transparency...
Further information:
http://www.futuremelbourne.com.au/
Thanks to Melissa Tagget and Dale Bowerman from City of Melbourne for their assistance in this case study.
Notable examples are the recent leaking of video showing evidence of a US Military attack that killed 12 civilians in Iraq, including two Reuters journalists
And closer to home, the site was host of a leaked ACMA “blacklist” that informed debate on the Government’s internet censorship plans
NGO and other advocacy groups are also using these tools to effect change...
Links:
http://wikileaks.org/
ACMA blacklist: http://wikileaks.org/wiki/Australia_secretly_censors_Wikileaks_press_release_and_Danish_Internet_censorship_list,_16_Mar_2009
Iraq video: http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/world/soldier-charged-over-iraq-video-leak/story-e6frg6so-1225889127062
Nestle’s sourcing of palm oil from suppliers linked to the destruction of gorilla habitat came under scrutiny with Greenpeace producing a dramatic video, campaign site and associated Facebook page for the campaign. Nestle didn’t do itself any favours, handling its response to both the video on YouTube and community interaction on Facebook poorly. But the campaign ultimately resulted in Nestle updating its policy in response to Greenpeace and the community’s demands.
Leveraging strong community support for a carbon emissions target, the campaign invited participants to come up with their own way of expressing support for keeping CO2 levels beneath the 350 ppm target
Organisers did not specify much detail - a day of action and providing the infrastructure to co-ordinate and promote events
And with more than 5200 events in 181 countries - this demonstrates one of the key tenets of social media – giving up control for influence...
In this model, we can exert more control over the conversations closer to us – our own blogs, press releases, websites, advertising and the like
However, an interesting thing occurs as those messages disseminate out into conversations between peers
The less control we have over the conversation, the more influence those conversations have in an individuals decision making
I want to take a moment to explore why is this so...
Over the past few years, “someone like me” – people that we personally relate to - rank high in our level of trust.
Intuitively I think we get this - if we’re after a recommendation on a restaurant or music, we are likely to trust our friends. Well, the ones we think have good tastes anyway.
Research into behaviour change also re-enforces the role of peers and social norms in effecting change.
This can be seen in Les Robinson’s research into sustained voluntary behaviour change, which highlights the role of peers as both a catalyst for, and as an important factor in achieving ongoing, behaviour change.
This is important because, while often the emphasis of sustainability discourse is focused on the technical aspects, such as “eco-efficiency” and “eco-design”...
Image: victoriapeckham @ Flickr - http://www.flickr.com/photos/victoriapeckham/164175205/
Illustrated by HermanMiller’s Mirra chair – designed with 96% recyclable parts
Image + further info: http://www.treehugger.com/files/2007/08/herman_millers_1.php
For example, Levis determined that about 50 percent of the energy consumption of a pair of their jeans occurs after they are purchased - hot water use in washing and the use of electric clothes dryers being significant contributors
Changing such behaviours requires thinking beyond the delivery of a product and into use, factoring in cognitive biases and heuristics, concepts that are being examined in behavioural economics.
Label image + further information:
http://greeninc.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/10/27/with-new-consumer-care-tags-levi-strauss-aims-to-reduce-its-carbon-footprint/
Jeans image: http://www.levis.com.au/
In other words, they focus on the “Self” and “Activity” areas represented in this diagram
However, in a socially networked world, this is no longer sufficient...
Note: I’m not sure of the origin of this diagram - I noted this down during Christian Crumlish’s “Social Design Patterns” Web Directions South workshop but have been unable to identify the source. Any pointers much appreciated...
This includes potentially unexpected responses and appropriations of solutions that are put forward – including so-called rebound effects
These trends have been growing for years – they’re not just a passing fad
Customers are redefining their relationships with business and institutions, seeking more meaningful engagement with both
This is triggering a rethinking of how we organise our resources to respond to customer needs, both inside organisations, where interestingly, these same social tools can assist
And outside, changing how we engage our customers to create value together – moving from models where “consumers” passively receive products and services, to what Ezio Manzini calls “enabling solutions”
Traditional approaches to organisation, product design and delivery are not well equipped to deal with this shift.
For the remainder of this talk I want to focus on what I believe is an invaluable method for supporting this re-alignment...
These trends have been growing for years – they’re not just a passing fad
Customers are redefining their relationships with business and institutions, seeking more meaningful engagement with both
This is triggering a rethinking of how we organise our resources to respond to customer needs, both inside organisations, where interestingly, these same social tools can assist
And outside, changing how we engage our customers to create value together – moving from models where “consumers” passively receive products and services, to what Ezio Manzini calls “enabling solutions”
Traditional approaches to organisation, product design and delivery are not well equipped to deal with this shift.
For the remainder of this talk I want to focus on what I believe is an invaluable method for supporting this re-alignment...
These trends have been growing for years – they’re not just a passing fad
Customers are redefining their relationships with business and institutions, seeking more meaningful engagement with both
This is triggering a rethinking of how we organise our resources to respond to customer needs, both inside organisations, where interestingly, these same social tools can assist
And outside, changing how we engage our customers to create value together – moving from models where “consumers” passively receive products and services, to what Ezio Manzini calls “enabling solutions”
Traditional approaches to organisation, product design and delivery are not well equipped to deal with this shift.
For the remainder of this talk I want to focus on what I believe is an invaluable method for supporting this re-alignment...
These trends have been growing for years – they’re not just a passing fad
Customers are redefining their relationships with business and institutions, seeking more meaningful engagement with both
This is triggering a rethinking of how we organise our resources to respond to customer needs, both inside organisations, where interestingly, these same social tools can assist
And outside, changing how we engage our customers to create value together – moving from models where “consumers” passively receive products and services, to what Ezio Manzini calls “enabling solutions”
Traditional approaches to organisation, product design and delivery are not well equipped to deal with this shift.
For the remainder of this talk I want to focus on what I believe is an invaluable method for supporting this re-alignment...
These trends have been growing for years – they’re not just a passing fad
Customers are redefining their relationships with business and institutions, seeking more meaningful engagement with both
This is triggering a rethinking of how we organise our resources to respond to customer needs, both inside organisations, where interestingly, these same social tools can assist
And outside, changing how we engage our customers to create value together – moving from models where “consumers” passively receive products and services, to what Ezio Manzini calls “enabling solutions”
Traditional approaches to organisation, product design and delivery are not well equipped to deal with this shift.
For the remainder of this talk I want to focus on what I believe is an invaluable method for supporting this re-alignment...
These trends have been growing for years – they’re not just a passing fad
Customers are redefining their relationships with business and institutions, seeking more meaningful engagement with both
This is triggering a rethinking of how we organise our resources to respond to customer needs, both inside organisations, where interestingly, these same social tools can assist
And outside, changing how we engage our customers to create value together – moving from models where “consumers” passively receive products and services, to what Ezio Manzini calls “enabling solutions”
Traditional approaches to organisation, product design and delivery are not well equipped to deal with this shift.
For the remainder of this talk I want to focus on what I believe is an invaluable method for supporting this re-alignment...
This method asks the question: what if we involved the people we’re serving in the design process?
What if, rather than considering our customers as just someone to spread our message or buy our stuff, we instead treated them as experts of their own domain that can contribute to solving their own challenges?
Today I want to explore some of the elements of social design, illustrated by examples of successful application of these concepts. The first of these is...
Image: foxspain @ Flickr – http://www.flickr.com/photos/foxspain/3293845578/
Our aim is to understand the motivations and barriers to customers using our services, and seek out opportunities to better support their needs
This approach may be applied to improve an existing offering, as service design agency Live|Work did with UK-based car-sharing service Streetcar...
Image: foxspain @ Flickr – http://www.flickr.com/photos/foxspain/3293845578/
Apple and Nike often highlighted for their design-driven approach
Both are focusing their efforts on sustainable measures
Nike+ is an example of both companies working together providing value to their customers – taking their customers’ perspective to deliver an innovative Product Service System
In seeking an understanding the customer’s perspective, they found that the biggest barrier was simply that customers found the service difficult to comprehend
So their response focused on communications – to explain the service more effectively via a simple 4 step process
Streetcar has gone on to become the largest car share service in Europe
In this example, social design is used to refine an existing offering...
Further information:
http://www.livework.co.uk/our-work/Streetcar
In many countries traditional water collection involves carrying 20 litre buckets of water from the local reservoir to the village.
This burden falls significantly on women and children, and can cause significant health issues.
The Hippo is pretty self-explanatory - not only does it reduce the burden on the person carrying the water, it increases the volume of water that can be transported to 90 litres
This product doesn’t try to change the system, it just looks at the challenge from a user’s perspective and seeks to find alternative ways of responding.
Sometimes, however, the best solutions can only be found by [Zooming out for context]...
Further information:
http://www.hippowater.org/
http://www.hipporoller.org/
This principle challenges us to take a step back and understand the context of use, not just the specific activity.
For example, rather than simply considering how to make a more sustainable /car/, we might instead consider the systems of /mobility/ that require cars in the first place.
In doing so, we may uncover non-obvious ways of meeting customer needs with potential to stand out from the competition.
Image: foxspain @ Flickr – http://www.flickr.com/photos/foxspain/3293845578/
Long charge times and low range are often highlighted as being a key barrier to the uptake of electric vehicles
Rather than thinking about how to improve electric car technology, they sought to overcome these barriers by re-thinking the “fuel tank” and service stations in the context of electric vehicles
Developing an innovative system of battery swapping approach and supporting infrastructure
While this research might include more traditional methods of quantitive surveys and focus groups, there is a growing recognition within the business and design communities of the role ethnographically-inspired observational research techniques can play
One such example of this process being applied to sustainability is...
Image: foxspain @ Flickr – http://www.flickr.com/photos/foxspain/3293845578/
This project saw members of the Live|Work team spending more than a year with the community of Castle Terrace in the UK.
This deep research uncovered numerous challenges, as well as opportunities to overcome them – with solutions ranging from the technical...
...an “energy dashboard” to make visible real-time of energy use and savings achieved by the energy efficiency measures. This dashboard was refined over time with input from the community.
To economic – creating what they called “SaverBoxes” to support more capital intensive energy efficiency measures – providing installation and products at no up-front cost, funded instead through the savings gained from increased efficiency
To the social – establishing a co-operative energy company
I want to quickly present another example of research providing subtle, but powerful, learnings to support behaviour change that revolve around...
Further information:
http://www.dott07.com/go/lowcarblane
http://www.livework.co.uk/our-work/low-carb-lane
Image: LoopZilla @ Flickr – http://www.flickr.com/photos/loopzilla/2203595978/
The idea was to leverage our bias towards meeting social norms to decrease energy consumption
Image: brendan.wood @ Flickr – http://www.flickr.com/photos/brendanwood/2161236298/
What perhaps isn’t as expected is that lower numbers lifted to meet the average – that is, a rebound effect resulted in higher energy consumption by people who were more efficient
Not good news, however the study also tested an alternative approach...
A smiling face = below average consumption, a frowning face representing above average consumption
And this did the trick: Higher energy consumers reduced their consumption
But importantly, lower energy consumers remained at the same level of consumption
Smileys image: //Amy// @ Flickr – http://www.flickr.com/photos/_-amy-_/2784838186/
I’ll jump in and expand on each of these through examples...
Image: foxspain @ Flickr – http://www.flickr.com/photos/foxspain/3293845578/
The organisers leveraged the [Jovoto platform]...
Further information:
http://www.thebetacup.com/
The competition resulted in solutions ranging from...
Jovoto: http://www.jovoto.com/
To the...
Further information:
http://www.jovoto.com/contests/drink-sustainably/ideas/4751
Further information:
http://www.jovoto.com/contests/drink-sustainably/ideas/4608
More at: http://collaborativeconsumption.com
“Here comes everybody” by Clay Shirky, which examines the implications of the lowering of transaction costs of organising
And Shirky’s new book “Cognitive Surplus”, which explores this theme in more detail
Health care
IBM were interested in how their smart city technology systems could be used to provide “overlays of information [that] could help guide residents toward making better personal decisions for the good of the city.”
The design agency Smart Design teamed up with biologist Mark Dorfman to use nature as an inspiration for an approach to enable better collective water management in an urban environment. Their creative response proposed ambient feedback systems that were a mix of high-tech and natural elements, mimicking nature’s own ecosystem feedback mechanisms.
Further information:
http://www.fastcompany.com/1648801/biomimicry-challenge-smart-design-ecosystem-approach-to-water-conservation-for-ibm
GreenXchange is one such initiative where Nike, Best Buy and Creative Commons have partnered to share patents related to sustainability
Participants aren’t necessarily giving things away – they can set licenses for the use of the IP they submit to the exchange and therefore earn revenue from sharing.
They can also choose not to license to direct competitors while still allowing non-competitive uses of the IP
Further information:
http://greenxchange.force.com/
The GreenXchange falls under Creative Commons’ Science Commons initiative, which also covers the [Eco-Patent Commons project]...
Further information:
http://creativecommons.org
Contributors to the project include IBM, Nokia, HP, Fuji-Xerox, Dow, Sony and others
Further information:
http://www.wbcsd.org/web/epc
BSR/IDEO report “Aligned for Sustainable Design” – http://www.bsr.org/reports/BSR_Sustainable_Design_Report_0508.pdf – highlights some best practices, which they collate into the “ABCD” framework – Assess, Bridge, Create and Diffuse
Social design techniques and social networking tools can also be used internally to help address these challenges and implement such best practices
Traditional project management techniques where process segments are separated – with design taking place, then moving to manufacturing, then to marketing in distinct steps – are ill-equipped to respond to both the pace of the competitive and legislative environment, nor to adapt to respond to learnings from our customers’ interactions with our products and services
Iterative management helps address these challenges...
Image: foxspain @ Flickr – http://www.flickr.com/photos/foxspain/3293845578/
Early iterations will likely focus on prototypes and pilots, but an iterative approach can extend beyond a product or service’s release to market
On a small scale, effective prototyping can help with refining products...
Where prototyping, along with observational research, transformed a product that was difficult to use, putting an unwieldy monitoring device out of reach/eye-site of most users and transformed it into a much better adapted form factor.
Case study and illustration in: Wever, R, Kuijk, Jv & Boks, C 2008, 'User-centred Design for sustainable Behaviour', International Journal of Sustainable Engineering, vol. 1, no. 1.
In April 2010, B-Cycle launched in Denver, Colorado
It is a state-of-the-art bike sharing program, a joint venture between health insurance company Humana, bike company Trek, and advertising and design agency Crispin Porter Bogusky (Buh-GUS-kee)
The system was first created and tested within Humana – with over 2500 staff signing up in the first few weeks.
Then the partnership was created to start testing the concept more broadly. Denver is the largest roll-out so far - the city wide service is the largest in America.
A Better Place’s incremental roll-out internationally is another example of large-scale piloting & prototyping.
More information:
http://www.collaborativeconsumption.com/archives/now_that_we_can_do_anything_what_will_we_do.html
http://thefuturewell.com/2010/04/23/bcycle-building-health-and-community-and-saving-some-trees-and-other-assorted-wildlife/
http://www.treehugger.com/files/2009/03/bcycles-big-bike-share-plans.php
I hope the examples I’ve presented outline how organisations are using the social design principles to not simply respond to, but further to harness and embrace, these trends to achieve business, social and environmental benefits
In addition, these methods can also reduce business risk – but that’s a topic for another conversation...
Image: foxspain @ Flickr – http://www.flickr.com/photos/foxspain/3293845578/
•As in design, Less is definitely more when considering sustainability
•First ask: “do we need it”? Make less “stuff”
•A real challenge in design - our job is often to “sell more stuff”
•Ask ourselves: Can we use online instead of paper materials? etc.
•Secondly ask: “look at the system in which this is used - are there efficiencies to be gained by changing the system”?
•For example, cloud-computing and software as a service (SAAS) has potential to reduce carbon emissions and resource usage when compared to desktop applications - this is a small systemic shift that could increase sustainability
Image: hooverine at flickr - http://www.flickr.com/photos/hooverine/2802881741/