Thesis outline

How can the obsolescence of digital communication and information devices DCIDs become an opportunity for design? Nowadays, many different DCIDs exist, even though many have the same components and functions. They allow us to interact with each other and to entertain ourselves, thus we recognize them as necessary. However, they are not designed in order to have a long life because they are closed systems. Thus, average users take for granted their obsolescence and they tend to look forward the next new model. Furthermore, they are very polluting and as, after their use, we don’t know how to dismiss them, thus we export them elsewhere in order not to face the problem.

“The world is consuming more and more electronic products every year…This has caused a dangerous explosion in electronic scrap (e-waste) containing toxic chemicals and heavy metals that cannot be disposed of or recycled safely.”[1]

Why the so called convenient lifestyles, which are supposed to simplify our lives, tend to deeply damage the only world where we can live? It is also a problem of design. The way in which we tend to perceive, relate and use objects is dictated and addressed by their design itself in the whole lifecycle of products.

“He (Thamus) knows that the uses made of any technology are largely determined by the structure of the technology itself.”[2]

A possible solution that design could offer to this complex problem is in the combination of the whole lifecycle of the product with the development of the attachment of people to the devices. It’s not just a physical matter but also an emotional one. The way in which we tend to perceive and relate to them is indeed a crucial point for a different approach in their use.

In order to reach my purpose, I’ve been contacting personally professional people in the field of technology; at the same time, I’ve been sending out questionnaires to ten people/users. This is in order to have a wider vision of the field of technology as well as to explore possible developments and changes of human habits.

“Electronics products often have a hierarchical modular structure organized in a tree like manner …One of the characteristics of such structures is that the common modules and components together with other modules and components can be used to form new products with completely different structures”[3]

Perceiving each component as a system which interacts with a bigger system, which interacts with an even bigger system, allow me to think that it’s possible to design more sustainable devices through the personalization of function and use.

To conclude, I would say that a different structure of the system, could lead to a more interactive, democratic and rational use of the devices, because of the more rational use of resources that it involves. Indeed, the act of letting the people understand the way in which devices work would provide a platform which will help people to perceive better their effective needs.

[1] Greenpeace, Eliminate toxic chemicals, [online],
http://www.greenpeace.org/international/campaigns/toxics, [Accessed 18 October 2008]

[2] Postman, N., 1993, Technopoly, 2nd, Vintage Books, New York, p.7.

[3] Lambert, A.J.D., and Gupta, S.M., 2002, Demand-driven disassembly optimization for electronic products, Journal of Electronics Manufacturing, 11 (2), p. 121.