Are our design methods in need of an update?

Text and illustrations: Cecilie Liset, Senior design lead and sustainability advisor in NoA Ignite Norway.

The green shift affects most things around us, including our design processes and methods.?As designers and business innovators, we are used to negotiating between business needs, user needs, and what is feasible. However, we are not used to considering environmental measures in our tools and methods.?

How can we – as designers – update our methods to include the sustainability perspective, enabling us to contribute to the green shift? Let’s look at our most common design methods, why they need to be updated, how we can do this, and what the potential results can be.

The shift from a linear to a circular economy

First: a brief introduction to the green shift and how it affects our work. In short, the economic decisions we’ve made over the years have led to overconsumption and moe pressure on our natural capital. This overproduction has resulted in climate changes that have consequences for us and future generations. To achieve a more sustainable future, we must change from the linear take-make-dispose model to a circular model where we repair, reuse, recycle, and remanufacture.

Examples of changes that are happening

• The European Green Deal, by the European Commission, is a set of policy initiatives aiming to transform Europe into the first carbon-neutral continent.?
• Norway aims to have one of the best circular economies in the world. We are only about 2,4% circular now.?
• Capgemini’s research shows that up to 72% of consumers want to adopt circular practices, but organisations are not providing the convenience, access, information, and affordability to enable them to do so.

Result

Companies will have to follow new rules and legislations, and their end-users will choose businesses that have circular practices. Designers can stay relevant in the green shift by including circular principles in our work methods.?

The circular service blueprint

Before we look at how we can update our service design methods, we’ll go back to the well-known service blueprint.

As a designer, I have mapped many linear services and systems while also looking at customer experiences.?

A simplified example

Creating a service blueprint for a business selling tools to private customers. Let’s say the customer wants a new drill. He starts with evaluating the options before purchasing a product. Then he will use it, and somewhere down the line, it breaks. The tool will then be disposed of and replaced.

Here, we see that the company focuses on efficiency and profit when it sells products, and its support service reflects this.

The Ellen McArthur foundation states that “the average use-time of a drill in its lifetime is 13 minutes.” With this in mind, we must ask if the customer’s need is really to own a drill or simply to put a hole in the wall??

Updating the method

When working with service blueprints and customer journeys, designers must focus wider on all product life cycle stages.

While evaluating how the product is recycled, reused, repaired, remanufactured, and thrown away, we also have to challenge the existing business model by asking the right questions:

• Is it better to rent or borrow a drill when you need it??
• If you do own it, could you share it with others??
• If it breaks, could you repair it at a fair price??
• And when it is time to dispose of it, can you return it to the seller for reuse??
• Does the business that sells the drill need to own it?

Result

If we include the circular principles and challenge the linear business models when we work with service blueprints, we’ll be able to see beyond that linear service. We can still do this while keeping the value that traditional blueprints add, such as an overview, a common understanding of the situation, and enabling multidisciplinary collaboration. It will only be a more valuable method for the green shift.

The circular business model & the 3Ps

Another well-known tool is the business model canvas.?Traditionally, a company’s success has been measured based on its finances and profits (economic and financial measures). When we shift to a circular economy, we need to measure both profit and additional dimensions that evaluate the impact on people and the planet (social and environmental measures). This approach is called the triple bottom line, or the 3Ps.?

Example

Say we continue working with the business selling drills to explore circular opportunities.?Using the traditional business model canvas, we experience that it is missing the social and environmental aspects. Therefore, we have created our version of the business model canvas to include the 3Ps.

Updating the method by adding new fields

People: What are the positive and negative impacts your company has on:?

• Your employees and their families?
• Your customers and suppliers?
• Your community and any others influencing or being affected by your business?

We can measure impact by assessing the quality of life, sick leave, gender equality, income, etc.?

Planet: What are the positive and negative impacts your business has on your natural environment?

• What is your carbon footprint?
• What is your usage of natural resources??
• Do you handle any toxic material?
• Do you contribute with waste removal or reforestation and restoration of the harm done to nature?

We can measure impact by assessing air and water quality, energy consumption, amount of solid and toxic waste, land use, etc.

Result

With these updates to the canvas, we can easily identify potential opportunities and threats while iterating on a business model. It will enable us to see the bigger picture and the considerations needed to create a circular business model.

(There are other variations of the business model canvas available such as the circular business model canvas by the Ellen Mcarthur foundation or the circular canvas by Circulab.)

Adding sacrifices to services

When working with circular products and services, we encounter scenarios where the needs of the business, the customer, and the planet are conflicting. Here, a sacrifice is needed.

Example

Online shopping is an area where there has been a lack of sacrifice for the planet. People who buy clothes online are often ordering one item in more than one size to make sure one of them fits. They choose to do this because the business offers a simple and free return option, designed as a streamlined process with few pain points.

A good return offering is necessary for the business to keep up with its competitors.It’s also beneficial for sales as it lowers the threshold for purchasing. However, this growing market is not ideal for the planet as emissions will continue to rise.

• “According to SSB, 9 of 10 Norwegians were shopping online in 2021 ” -TV2
• “50% of the items purchased on Zalando are returned”- Zalando, TV2 hjelper deg
• “For long dresses purchased online, the return percentage is 90%” - Sharon Cullinane til TV2 hjelper deg?

Updating our way of working

Designers need to advocate for the planet’s needs just as strongly as we are used to doing for the users and the business. In this example, we need to ask ourselves if we have made it too easy to return? Are the customer’s satisfaction and the companies’ profit more important than the impact on the environment??

Result

We need to ensure that the planet isn't the one making all the sacrifices. There are several aspects where designers can improve these services, such as helping the customer choose the right size in the first place or changing how the return services are working. Or maybe we need to find a way to motivate people to choose the services that prioritise the planet over the ones that offer the simplest return option.

Updating our design methods

It is important for us in NoA Ignite to continuously iterate on our methods and ways of working to ensure we stay ahead and develop ourselves. We need to do this to be a valuable partner for our customers in the green shift.?

We are working on incorporating the sustainability aspect in all areas of our projects (not only the design methods). It is an ongoing process where we test and learn by doing. We are combining well-known design principles with our methods focusing on circular principles.?

We are always flexible and adapt our tools, methods, and ways of working to the project at hand. If you want to know how we can help you in the green shift, visit NoA Ignite's website or get in touch.