sharing ideas

final thesis

2009-05-22T06:43:00.000-07:00

http://dl.getdropbox.com/u/915237/thesis_4%20DRAFT.doc

http://dl.getdropbox.com/u/915237/Thesis.pdf

Thesis_ draft 4

2009-05-12T01:29:00.000-07:00

http://dl.getdropbox.com/u/915237/thesis_4%20DRAFT.doc

in the impagination have changed the fonts yet....it follows though:
http://dl.getdropbox.com/u/915237/Thesis.pdf

2009-04-10T03:50:00.000-07:00

http://dl.getdropbox.com/u/915237/2%20nd%20Draft%20Thesis.pdf

Thesis_ 3rd draft

2009-05-02T16:00:00.000-07:00

Thesis: http://dl.getdropbox.com/u/915237/thesis_%203%20DRAFT.doc

Book: http://dl.getdropbox.com/u/915237/Thesis.pdf

presentation 2nd final

2009-04-17T02:58:00.001-07:00

http://dl.getdropbox.com/u/915237/Presentation%20finals%202.ppt

Thesis _ first draft

2009-03-11T10:14:00.000-07:00

Intro:
How can the obsolescence of digital communication and information devices (DCID) become an opportunity for design?

Nowadays, many different DCID 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, averages users take for granted their obsolescence and tend to look forward to the next new model, in order to get better technology. Furthermore, DCID are very polluting and as, after their use, we don’t know how to dispose them, thus Western countries export them elsewhere in order not to face the problem.

There is a design opportunity in “modular design”, as it can bridge the gap between technology, people/users and environment, to make functions perceptible and to provide an open system. In this way, DCID development will be integrated in units that adapt to the needs of people over time. I think that such a change of direction in DCID design is necessary because, as the “eighty percent of the environmental impact of the products, service, and infrastructures around us is determined at the design stage”[1], the obsolescence of DCID is a problem of design.

Chapter 01: The intrinsic paradox
No one does wrong willingly, but it’s unwillingly that all who do wrong do wrong. (Socrate, The Georgias)

Why the so called convenient lifestyles, which are supposed to simplify our lives, tend to deeply damage the only world where we can live as well as to wide human rights differences amongst people?

During my research, I’ve found very interesting to discover that such a practical problem is hard to address even on a philosophical level, because the world of means of communication doesn’t speak the same language of communication, as it makes use of different connection. Thus, communication devices struggle to “get along” with each others (device with device), with users (who get stressed out by using them) and with the environment (pollution) in the sake of cheap competitive production. Indeed, those devices are not compatible with each other; therefore, they don’t cooperate with each others. Basically, technology, discipline which evolves all the time, designs DCID as closed systems, which cannot be up to dated on a physical level; at the same time, DCID are designed for people, who evolve all the time as well as technology does. This contrast generates the obsolescence of DCID…funnily enough, human beings created it!

01. A_ DCID as catalysers of human relationship
In the 1967 Jerome Agel published the first edition of “The medium is the massage” by Marshal McLuhan, where he wrote:
“All media work us over completely. They are so pervasive in their personal, political, economic, aesthetic, psychological, moral, ethical, and social consequences that they leave no part of us untouched, unaffected, unaltered. The medium is the massage. Any understanding of social and cultural change is impossible without a knowledge of the way media work as environment.”[2]

In the era of communication, what do people matter and how do they tend to relate to DCID? how has our environment evolved?

In order to understand nowadays environment and behaviours, I have been sending out questionnaires to ten people/users that can be categorized in two groups by age: the first one is between 22 and 30 years while the second one is between 55 and 60 years. This is in order to have a wider vision of the use of technology as well as to explore possible developments and changes of human habits.

One of the questions I have addressed in my questionnaire was wondering which device of communication they use the most:

“Mobile phone, this is because I work in a Multinational company within a distributed team, thus the use of the mobile phone is a need I cannot avoid”;

“The PC (the net), this is because it is communication and information at once”;

“The PC, this is because I can inform myself and hear from my friends, but this is only if I am at home and if the PC is already on, otherwise I use the mobile phone in order to hear from my friends”;

“The PC, this is because it is the extension of my memory, container of documents and deferred mean of communication”;

“I would love to be romantic, but I cannot help it! The mean of communication I use the most is the telephone, both the fixed one and the mobile phone… either weather it is a normal chat with a friend or a chain of information or a discussion about something…wherever I am, I stop much longer to think or to highlight something while I am speaking on the telephone rather then when I read or see it somewhere else”.

By those answers, I turned to understand that what people like most is to hold human relationships. Because of that, digital devices tend to be very popular by shortening space and time amongst people. Furthermore, those which give the sense of allowing and increasing human contacts are the most used as well as the most popular.

“I use with most enjoyment the telephone because I speak to people and I feel I have more human contact” someone of my young user reported.

However, those sorts of devices are also likely to become obsolete faster because people are willing and happy to switch their electronics, as long as they give them the feeling to increase human contact.

“I stopped to use my fixed telephone to communicate with people abroad since I use Skype, because it is for free and, through the webcam, it gives me the chance to interact visually as well” one of my young users wrote.

This sense of belonging, that appliances feed, deals very directly with the fast performances that they can provide, because they can work almost as fast as our brain, providing different opportunities and fields of action at the same time.

“I use with most enjoyment my PC, because it allows me to open several windows on the world at once”;

“I use with most enjoyment the telephone, because it is immediate”;

“I use with most enjoyment my PC, because of internet and e-mails. Indeed, the e-mail is the mean of communication that I use with most enjoyment because it allows me to share a big amount of information’s with several people at once and quickly as well as to keep the shared information’s. While internet is the mean if information that I use more often because of the easy access as well as the quickness of answering”;

Thus, we have the feeling to be free, to have the chance to choose, to express ourselves in our complexity as well as to share it all, if we feel like it. Moreover, the active presence of those devices in our lives is due to the fact that they are human-sized, thus we can carry them around. Therefore, also on a physical level, they turn to be closer and closer to ourselves.

“When I go out I carry along my mobile phone and my I-pod and I usually place them in my bag”

“When I go out I carry along my mobile phone and my MP3-player and I usually place them in my pockets”

“When I go out I carry along my mobile phone I place it in my pocket”

“When I go out I carry along my laptop and my mobile phone. Usually, I place the first one in my bag and the second one in my pocket”

We allow DCID to follow us, in order to have entertainment as well as to be linked to the surround world. This doesn’t happen only when we go out, but also at home, where we tend to place the portable devices close to us or in places where we pass often through.

“When I am at home, I place my mobile phone on the fridge or in the corridor”

“When I am at home, I place my laptop in my storage closet, while my mobile phone…wherever”

“When I am at home, I place my MP3-player on my desk as well as I do with my mobile phone…which often I also place next to the fixed telephone, in the corridor”

“When I am at home, I usually place my I-pod in the draw of my desk and my mobile phone next to my bed…but I have to admit that I tend place them wherever, according to the day”

This shows that, also at home, we tend to rely on their portable size. Indeed, it is the action the real feature that links us to them; they are the extenctions of our body, as McLuhan pointed out in the ‘60ies as well as one of my user defined the PC an extenction of his memory; thus, we tend to consider them participating links to the world. Therefore, we need them in order to have the feeling to be part of it. In particular, this is a tendency much stronger in the younger people rather than in the mature ones’, because adults seem not to rely so deeply to digital devices:

“There is no DCID I enjoy to use…while I do love walking with my dog and free mind”

“When I go out I carry along my mobile phone, but it’s usually off”

This makes me wonder if this sense of independency that DCID provide in young generations tends instead to provide the opposite as well as the incapability to be in silent on our own for a little while.

According to that//Furthermore, as the use of DCID is becoming more and more rooted in daily Western people’s lives, I guess that it is also interesting to wonder until which extent this process ends up being more a “friend” or more an “enemy” to people, to use Neil Potsdam’s words. Indeed, in the introduction of “Technopoly”, he describes technology as a friend as “it makes life easier, cleaner and longer”, and at the same time as an enemy as “it undermines certain mental processes and social relations that make human life worth living”. However, in today’s context, Postdam’s definition of “friend” can be argued, as on a bigger scale, DCID generate pollution which tends to make life more difficult, dirtier and shorter.

01. B_ DCID as E-Waste
Greenpeace reports that “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”.

Nowadays, the problem of environmental pollution is louder and louder, as the natural consequences of it are becoming perceivable. However, those ramifications stay still hard to forecast, approach and manage. For these reasons, Western society is getting scared and its lifestyle attitudes are shifting toward more ecologically friendly approaches. In this regard, many companies are facing legislation changes which address different production methods, which include avoiding the use of toxic chemicals and encouraging recycling materials after their use.

In particular, electronics are considered amongst the most polluting products, as they have been produced using dangerous “ingredients”. Indeed, production methods which avoid the abusive implications of toxic materials, in addition to the feasibility of disassembling processes after the use, are becoming more prevalent in today’s society due to their environmental impact. This is because it leads to easier and cheaper possibilities of recycling or reuse in order to have a more rational use of materials. Several designs show that it is already a reality.

“Cradle to cradle”

However, if the problem of pollution is also connected//determined to the fact that people tend to consume more and more electronics, the solution doesn’t lay only around the nature of materials, but also around the amount of products consumed as well as understanding better people’s behaviour in relation to DCID.

Chapter 02: Eros and Thanatos
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. For this reason, I think that there is a design opportunity in the field of DCID according to the paradox that people can grow much attached to their mobile devices, but they change them quite often in order to get better technology. The state of the art shows indeed that, while the devices are designed as closed frozen systems, people, as well as technology, are open systems that progress and evolve over time. This contrast causes the fast obsolescence of the devices according to the changeable needs of people and to the progress of technology.

02. A_ The lifecycle of DCID and people’s attachment
The first question I have addressed in my questionnaire was wondering which object they would bring with themselves and why, in case of an extreme situation such is fire. This was in order to understand the way in which they tend to apply value to objects. Of course, the answers were very different each others, like the following examples show:
“My cello, because it’s the most precious thing I own”.
“My blanket, because it can avoid burns, thus save my life”.
“My glasses, because thanks to them I won’t stumble and die in the fire”.
“My backpack, probably because it’s the closest object to the front door and it is where I always keep my documents, home keys (which even if it’s burning, you never know, they might still be useful), walkman and crayons”.
“My laptop, because it is the necessary tool I need for my job. Furthermore, it contains all the company’s and private information’s”.

Those answers let me understand that people tend to connect to objects which represent part of themselves or to those which guaranty them a sense of independency and safety.

“Design decisions shape the process behind the products we use, the materials and the energy required to make them, the ways we operate them on a daily basis, and what happens to them when we no longer need them.”[3]

DCID are participating links to the surround world, thus DCID tend to move in people//feed the necessary feelings to let them connect to objects. Indeed, DCID feed the sense of independency and security, because people can contact each others wherever they are.

At the same time, DCID represent part of our self as they memorize all our contacts and data’s, thus they acquire our environment, our context. However, as DCID don’t develop//grow, they end up to represent only a portion of time of people’s lives, being focussed on people’s past rather than on people’s evolution or future. Furthermore, technology developments tend to provide communications platforms closer and closer to natural human behaviours, which make new devices more and more desirable.

“I don’t use tapes anymore. I go for CD’s instead, because they are thinner and lighter; furthermore, they allow me to listen to the track I want when I want.”

Those are the reasons why people tend to switch their DCID even if they still, work, when it doesn’t matter anymore if it means to copy all the data’s they need from the elder device to the brand new one and to find the space to store the obsolete device or to give it away.

A possible solution that design could offer in order to suggest to people different behaviours toward DCID 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 prospective in their use.

According to that, I assume that an alternative approach to the design of DCID can lead to long their life as well as to different suggestions in their use.

02. B_ The personalisation of function and use
Nowadays, DCID are perceived as personal mass production pieces which tend to be personalised by their content (contacts and data’s) and audio and visual gadgets which can be added on. However, those gadgets don’t add any extra performance benefits, but instead usually duplicate functions. For example, people plug in their mobile phones headphones and microphone in order to let the device be more suitable to their needs, when the device is already equipped with them. In this regard, I suggest a different approach which could lead to the effective personalisation of DCID function and use.

My proposal is to combine the personalisation of functional parts of the DCID to the growth of the device. The result of this combination leads to the design of a “device in progress”. This means that the appliance evolves as an organic object, adapting to the changeable needs of the owner, carrying the cycle of the development of the person through the sum of the new performances. Furthermore, by progressing in this manner, the device will change itself, not only in its functionality but also in its perception, in order to communicate itself in a visual way. This feature is likely to address people, by making them more conscious about the parts which compose the device as well as the value of these parts in terms of their usability and performance.

In addition, as people “wear” portable devices and “the integration of wires and electronics into textiles (e-textiles) has many potential applications for wearable and pervasive computing”[4], my design will be made out of e-textiles. The combination of “electronics with textiles would enable pervasive computing to blend into the background so that the user can go about a normal routine”[5], as textiles are already part of our environment. This means that, potentially, this device is likely to respect the locality as in any place there are local textiles.

I believe that such an approach will lead people to have a more personal and intimate relationship with their devices in addition to a more rational use of resources on a universal level.

02. C_ A more rational use of resources
The idea of the design of a “device in progress” suggests considering the appliance as a system, composed by several components, rather then as one whole piece. According to that, people would perceive DCID as a composition.

Such a perception not only would allow avoiding repetitions of gadgets, but also not to throw away the whole device once it has become obsolete. Indeed, the systemic approach would rather lead to let people choose if to change or to add on units in order to physically up to date their DCID, instead of purchasing a brand new one. The consequences of such a shift in behaviours will drive towards a strong improvement in terms of waste, as any components can be kept and the performances can be improved or by adding dedicated parts or by substituting the single specific obsolete one.

Furthermore, the use of e-textile as support for DCID seems to be more environmentally friendly as well as more sustainable in terms of costs:

“Copper is the most common electrical conductor, but as with most metals, it can be heavy, expensive, and breakable. In contrast, conductive fibers provide a lightweight, flexible alternative to copper wiring…Conductive fibers can also reduce the cost of metal wiring…NASA partnership within the high-tech textile industry have advanced development and manufacturing processes, increasing output while reducing cost”[6].

Another very important factor is the portability of the device. Indeed, nowadays they are pocket sized, but they always need a location in order to charge them up and make them usable, thus they turn not to be portable for real. In this regard, many studies around “green” energies are being carried out in those days, which are very promising for future applications. Beside this, there are many studies also around wireless energy transfer, which are very likely to be soon applicable. According to that, my device could work like an animal, which feeds itself on its own.

In line with it, the “device in progress” is presumable to “get along” better with both, people and environment. This is possible thanks to the alternative structure which enables it to develop a different architecture of DCID’s which slows down the process of obsolescence while some pieces last longer.

Chapter 03: Modular design
“Electronics products often have a hierarchical modular structure organized in a tree like manner with roots that are connected to sub-roots and sub-roots connected to other sub-roots and leaves…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”[7]

03. A_ Interaction of a system with a bigger system, with a bigger system…
The research carried out with technical people has allowed me to know and comprehend limits and possibilities of components and systems. We can refer to systems, when more components are connected together in order to accomplish a certain task.

The state of the art shows that it is both physical (the processor) and virtual (the software). The combination of the two allows the system to work, where the software is the flexible element which defines the function. This highlights the strong dependency that electronic appliances have towards technology developments. Indeed, this is what defines their design, performances, consumption, weight and dimensions and the reason why they tend to become obsolete easily. Nevertheless, their degeneration is also due to the fact that, nowadays, popular digital information and communication devices are structured on a hierarchic frame. Therefore, interchangeable modules are a valuable possibility to longer the life of electronics. Two of my consultants pointed me out the possibility to have a different, no-hierarchical architecture of those sorts of systems. A.J.D. Lambert described it with the metaphor of a foot-ball team, where there is not a central unit and the parts are programmed for one common purpose. Like the example shows, repetition is not always bad; the repetition of brains is good as well as of functions. The latest is the one which would define the scale of the system itself.

This means that a different way to represent the concept of “containing” as well as “connecting” can lead towards a more flexible conception of digital communication and information devices. 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 in individual and sharing contexts.

03. B_ A different approach in DCID use
Nowadays, DCID are perceived as personal portable pieces through which people receive, keep and share information’s. However, the way in which DCID work doesn’t reflect action and behaviours of people as DCID work according to their own vocabulary. In this regard, DCID could facilitate the understanding of their use to people by combining behaviours to DCID functioning in order to reflect people’s natural actions into visual communication. By doing that, DCID functions can be translated into use suggesting a language closer to people, bridging the distance between known and unknown.

On a practical level it means that, in order switch on and off the device, it’s possible, for example, to have two points to join or to attach to each other, while in order to loud or low down the volume there is, for example, something which goes up and down. As well as in sharing situation, the dimension of the out put can physically grow, thus that the sharing become more effective and enjoyable and the functions can more easily change according to the different situation people live

Further more, as when people use DCID, they wear them, then my device would propose a way to carry it around in a way which is more related to people needs. In this way, not only it would be harder to loose or to let it be stolen, but also it would suggest different way to carry it around.

Such a different way to deal with devices is likely to give a different view to people of what those devices are for us and for the community. Hopefully, it will result in a greater understanding of the effective value that they have for people in the individual as well as in a sharing context and in a lower production of waste.

Conclusion:
A cooperative world is possible
To conclude, I would say that I see design opportunities in a deeper understanding and portability of those devices. Indeed, people tend to change them so very often because they consider them only in pursuit of the activities that they allow to. Because of that, people find DCID easy to change.

Furthermore, I would say that a system such I have described above, could lead to a more interactive, democratic and rational use of the devices, because of a more rational use of resources and of the communication of functions and use 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 and reconsider devices through a deeper emotional attachment.
[1] Thackara, J., 2005, In the bubble: designing in a complex world, The MIT Press, Cambridge, p 1.

[2] McLuhan, M., and Fiore, Q., 1996, The medium is the massage, 3rd, Gingko press, Corte Madera,
p. 26.
[3] Thackara, J., 2005, In the bubble: designing in a complex world, The MIT Press, Cambridge, p 1.

[4] Lehn, D. I., Neely, C.W., Schoonover, K., Martin, T.L., and Jones, M.T., 2004, e-TAGs: e-Textile Attached Gadgets, pp 1.

[5] Lehn, D. I., Neely, C.W., Schoonover, K., Martin, T.L., and Jones, M.T., 2004, e-TAGs: e-Textile Attached Gadgets, pp 1.
[6] Nasa, Not-So-Heavy Metal: Electrical Conductivity in Textiles, [online], http://www.nasa.gov/vision/earth/technologies/electric_textiles.html
[7] Lambert, A.J.D., and Gupta, S.M., 2002, Demand-driven disassembly optimization for electronic products, Journal of Electronics Manufacturing, 11 (2), p. 121.

Thesis outline _ outdraw

2009-02-27T00:49:00.000-08:00

Intro

How can the obsolescence of digital 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 Western countries export them elsewhere in order not to face the problem.

As the “eighty percent of the environmental impact of the products, service, and infrastructures around us is determined at the design stage”[1], I can assume that the obsolescence of DCIDs is a problem of design.

Chapter 01: The intrinsic paradox
No one does wrong willingly, but it’s unwillingly that all who do wrong do wrong. (Socrate, The Georgias)

Why the so called convenient lifestyles, which are supposed to simplify our lives, tend to deeply damage the only world where we can live as well as to wide human rights differences amongst people? I’ve found very interesting to discover that such a practical problem is hard to sort out even on a philosophical level, where the world of means of communication struggles itself to “hold a constructive communication”/ “get along” with itself (device with device), with users and with the environment in the sake of cheap competitive production.

01.A_ DCID’s as catalysers of human relationships?
What people like most is indeed to hold human relationships. Because of that, digital devices tend to be very popular by shortening space and time amongst people. In particular, those which give the sense of allowing and increasing human contacts are the most used as well as the most popular. Thus, we tend to consider them participating links to the world. Therefore, we need them in order to have the feeling to be part of it. However, I am wondering if this sense of independency that they provide tends instead to provide the opposite as well as the incapability to be in silent on our own for a little while. Unfortunately, those devices which give the sense of allowing and increasing human contacts not only are the most used as well as the most popular but are also those which are likely to become obsolete faster because people are willing and happy to switch their electronics when they give them the feeling to increase human contact, as for example the webcam does.

01.B_ DCID’s as E-Waste
“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.”[2]

Chapter 02: Eros and Thanatos
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.

02.A_ The lifecycle of DCID’s and people’s attachment
A possible solution that design could offer to the complex problem of the obsolescence of DCIDs is in the combination of the whole lifecycle of the product with the development of the attachment of people to the devices.

02.B_ A different approach in DCID’s use
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.

02.C_ A more rational use of resources
Nowadays, many companies are facing with legislation changes, addressing different ways to produce, which avoid the use of toxic chemicals in production and push to recycle materials after the use.

Chapter 03: Modular design
“Electronics products often have a hierarchical modular structure organized in a tree like manner with roots that are connected to sub-roots and sub-roots connected to other sub-roots and leaves…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”[i]

03.A_ Interaction of a system with a bigger system, with a bigger system…
A different way to represent the concept of “containing” as well as “connecting” can lead towards a more flexible conception of digital communication and information devices. 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.

03.B_ The personalization of function and use
Modular design allows to avoid the repetition of the common components, which instead would be shared amongst the dedicated parts, and to push towards a more rational use of materials, as people would have the chance to choose, change and upload only the components that they effectively need to.

Conclusion: A better world is possible
“Design decisions shape the processes behind the products we use , the materials and energy required to make them, the ways we operate them on a daily basis…”[3]

[1] Thackara, J., 2005, In the bubble: designing in a complex world, The MIT Press, Cambridge, p 1.
[2] Greenpeace, Eliminate toxic chemicals, [online], http://www.greenpeace.org/international/campaigns/toxics, [Accessed 18 October 2008]
[3] Thackara, J., 2005, In the bubble: designing in a complex world, The MIT Press, Cambridge, p 1.
[i] Lambert, A.J.D., and Gupta, S.M., 2002, Demand-driven disassembly optimization for electronic products, Journal of Electronics Manufacturing, 11 (2), p. 121.

Thesis outline_02

2009-02-16T14:54:00.000-08:00

Intro:
How can the obsolescence of digital communication and information devices DCIDs become an opportunity for design?

Chapter 01: The intrinsic paradox
DCID’s as catalysers of human relationship?
DCID’s as E-Waste

Chapter 02: Eros and Thanatos
The lifecycle of DCID’s and people’s attachment
A different approach in DCID’s use
A more rational use of resources

Chapter 03: Modular design
Interaction of a system with a bigger system, with a bigger system…
The personalization of function and use

Conclusion:
Perceiving effective needs

Thesis outline

2009-02-09T23:31:00.001-08:00

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.

Literature review

2008-12-07T14:18:00.000-08:00

In the 1967 Jerome Agel published the first edition of “The medium is the massage” by Marshal McLuhan, where he wrote:

“All media work us over completely. They are so pervasive in their personal, political, economic, aesthetic, psychological, moral, ethical, and social consequences that they leave no part of us untouched, unaffected, unaltered. The medium is the massage. Any understanding of social and cultural change is impossible without a knowledge of the way media work as environment.”[1]

Nowadays, James C. Scott claims: “The state had to create a certain kind of society that could then be manipulated. It had to create citizens with identities…I’ve worked out a critique of what I call modernist planning…The high-modernists claimed to know how…The hubris of the high modernist led them to believe in unitary and singular answers to all social problems and that solutions to them could be either imposed on the public nor a public could be persuaded that these schemes were in their own interest.”[2]

In the era of communication, digital communication and information devices are very popular in the Western society. They are cheap and convenient, plus they allow us to interact with each other and to entertain ourselves. Indeed, we use them in both private and social life, and the whole surround environment is overwhelmed by them. Thus, they play a key role in our lives and we recognize them as necessary.

Paradoxically, the state of the art shows that users tend not to develop affection towards those devices as they don’t know them deeply. Therefore, often tend to be stressed out by using them as well as to relate to them as mere status symbol, feeding consumerism and dumping places.

Greenpeace reports that “The world is consuming more and more electronic products every year” and also that “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. But this problem can be avoided.”[3]

There is to wonder then if this process is a political matter for real. 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. Nowadays, many companies are facing with legislation changes, addressing different ways to produce, which avoid the use of toxic chemicals in production and push to recycle materials after the use.

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 prospective in their use.

Production which avoids the abusive implication of toxic materials is a must as well as the feasibility of disassembling processes after the use, because it leads to easier and cheaper possibilities of recycling in order to have a more rational use of materials. Several designs show that it is already a reality.

“Electronics products often have a hierarchical modular structure organized in a tree like manner with roots that are connected to sub-roots and sub-roots connected to other sub-roots and leaves…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”[4]

This means that a different way to represent the concept of “containing” as well as “connecting” can lead towards a more flexible conception of digital communication and information devices. 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. This concept allows to avoid the repetition of the common components, which instead would be shared amongst the dedicated parts, and to push towards a more rational use of materials, as people would have the chance to choose, change and upload only the components that they effectively need to. Indeed, through a more flexible devices’ architecture, the process of obsolescence slows down while some pieces last longer. This process is likely to create a more persistent relationship between some parts of the device and the user, thus it would increase the attachment of people toward devices. Furthermore, if this system is linked to a sharing platform, the life of the discharged parts would be longer lasting as they could be either reused by users with lower updating necessities or physically up loaded, where the degenerated parts could be reused in for other functions in other dedicated parts.

Another very important factor is the portability of the device. Indeed, nowadays they are pocket sized, but they always need a location in order to make them usable. Then, they turn not to be portable for real…As we move them around and in order to do that we make use of our own energy, it is possible to convert it into power for the devices’. It could be combined to the free surrounding renewable energy of the environment as well, in order to provide devices which are rechargeable where ever we are thus independent and effectively portable. In fact, the motor is the only part that all the components need.

To conclude, I would say that a system such I have described above, could lead to a more interactive, democratic and rational use of the devices, because of the communication of a 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] McLuhan, M., and Fiore, Q., 1996, The medium is the massage, 3^rd, Gingko press, Corte Madera, p. 26.

[2] Gerritsen, E., 2008, Seeing like a society, Volume, 16 (2), p. 11.

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

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

Bibliography:

Papanek, V., 1995, The green imperative, Thames & Hudston Inc., New York.

McLuhan, M., and Fiore, Q., 1996, The medium is the massage, 3^rd, Gingko press, Corte Madera.

McLuhan, M., 2003, Understanding media, 3^rd, Gingko press, Corte Madera.

Postmal, N., 1993, Technopoly, 2^nd, Vintage books, New York.

Pearce, P., 1990, Structure in Nature is a strategy for design, 5^th, The MIT press, London.

Paturi, F., 1976, Nature mother of invention, 2^nd, Thames and Hudson, London.

Gerritsen, E., 2008, Seeing like a society, Volume, 16 (2), pp. 10-12.

Lambert, A.J.D., and Gupta, S.M., 2002, Demand-driven disassembly optimization for electronic products, Journal of Electronics Manufacturing, 11 (2), pp. 121-135.

Greenpeace, Eliminate toxic chemicals, [online], http://www.greenpeace.org/international/campaigns/toxics, [Accessed 18 October 2008]
Greenpeace, Hi-tech: highly toxic, [online], http://www.greenpeace.org/international/campaigns/toxics/electronics , [Accessed 18 October 2008]
Greenpeace, The e-waste problem, [online],
http://www.greenpeace.org/international/campaigns/toxics/electronics/the-e-waste-problem , [Accessed 18 October 2008]
Greenpeace, Where does e-waste end up?, [online],
http://www.greenpeace.org/international/campaigns/toxics/electronics/where-does-e-waste-end-up , [Accessed 18 October 2008]
Greenpeace, How the companies line up?, [online],
http://www.greenpeace.org/international/campaigns/toxics/electronics/how-the-companies-line-up , [Accessed 18 October 2008]
Greenpeace, Solutions, [online],
http://www.greenpeace.org/international/campaigns/toxics/electronics/solutions , [Accessed 18 October 2008]
Greenpeace, Recycling of electronics waste in China and India: workplace and environmental contamination, [online],
http://www.greenpeace.org/raw/content/international/press/reports/recyclingelectronicwasteindiachinafull.pdf , [Accessed 18 October 2008]

People research report

2008-12-07T14:16:00.000-08:00

My people research is aimed to understand how electronics are build up and how they work as well as the way in which people tend to relate to them. In order to reach my purpose, I’ve been contacting personally professional people in the field of technology such as E.A., a computer scientist, L.M., a micro-electronic engineer, A.J.D. Lambert, a teacher of management technology, expert in disassembling of electronics devices, at the Technical University in Eindhoven and FabLab, a small scale workshop with the tools to make almost anything. At the same time, I’ve been sending out questionnaires to ten people/users that can be categorized in two groups by age: the first one is between 22 and 30 years while the second one is between 55 and 60 years. 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.

The research carried out with technical people has allowed me to know and comprehend limits and possibilities of components and systems. We can refer to systems, when more components are connected together in order to accomplish a certain task. It can be a circuit, a printed board, a mobile phone or a PC. In order to have an information flow, it is necessary a strong connectivity amongst the devices. The state of the art shows that it is both physical (the processor) and virtual (the software). The combination of the two allows the system to work, where the software is the flexible element which defines the function. This highlights the strong dependency that electronic appliances have towards technology developments. Indeed, this is what defines their design, performances, consumption, weight and dimensions and the reason why they tend to become obsolete easily. Nevertheless, their degeneration is also due to the fact that, nowadays, popular digital information and communication devices are structured on a hierarchic frame. Therefore, interchangeable modules are a valuable possibility to longer the life of electronics. Two of my consultants pointed me out the possibility to have a different, no-hierarchical architecture of those sorts of systems. A.J.D. Lambert described it with the metaphor of a foot-ball team, where there is not a central unit and the parts are programmed for one common purpose. Like the example shows, repetition is not always bad; the repetition of brains is good as well as of functions. The latest is the one which would define the scale of the system itself.

The research I developed with users offered to me a deeper understanding of what matters to people. People are social animals, however they also need their own privacy; this reflects deeply in their relationship with objects and digital information and communication devices. The most the people define objects, the most they are attached to them. This affinity articulates on two emotional levels: private and social ones or attachment and sense of surviving. According to that, people tend to connect to objects which represent part of themselves or to those which guaranty them a sense of independency and safety.

What people like most is indeed to hold human relationships. Because of that, digital devices tend to be very popular by shortening space and time. Furthermore, those which give the sense of allowing and increasing human contacts are the most used as well as the most popular. However, those sorts of devices are also likely to become obsolete faster because people are willing and happy to switch their electronics, as long as they give them the feeling to increase human contact, as for example the webcam does. This sense of belonging, that appliances feed, deals very directly with the fast performances that they can provide, because they can work almost as fast as our brain, providing different opportunities and fields of action at the same time. Thus, we have the feeling to be free, to have the chance to choose, to express ourselves in our complexity as well as to share it all, if we feel like it. Moreover, the active presence of those devices in our lives is due to the fact that they are human-sized, thus we can carry them around. Therefore, also on a physical level, they turn to be closer and closer to ourselves. We allow them to follow us, in order to have entertainment as well as to be linked to the surround world. This doesn’t happen only when we go out, but also at home, where we tend to place the portable devices close to us or in places where we pass often through. This shows that, also at home, we tend to rely on their portable size. Indeed, it is the action the real feature that links us to them; they are the extenctions of our body, as McLuhan pointed out in the ‘60ies as well as one of my user defined the PC an extinction of his memory, we tend to consider them participating links to the world. Therefore, we need them in order to have the feeling to be part of it. In particular, this is a tendency much stronger in the younger people rather than in the mature ones’, because adults seem not to rely so deeply to digital devices. I am wondering if this sense of independency that they provide tends instead to provide the opposite as well as the incapability to be in silent on our own for a little while.

To conclude, I would say that I see design opportunities in a deeper understanding and portability of those devices. We tend to lack of attachment towards them because we consider them only in pursuit of the activities that they allow us to. Because of that, we find them easy to change. However, as those functions are often much more of those we effectively use, if the performances turned to be personalized according to our needs, not only we might use resources more effectively, but we would reconsider devices through an emotional attachment which now we don’t nurture.

People research plan

2008-11-21T06:21:00.001-08:00

Research questions:
They will be aimed to understand both how electronics are build up and how they work as well as the way in which people tend to relate to them.

Experts:
Computer Scientist, E. A.;
Micro-electronic engineer, L. M.;
Computer recycler, E. A.;
People

People I design for, how to involve them:
At this stage, I am interested to understand the way in which people relate to electronic devices. Further, I will ask them to test my prototypes expressing their opinions about and asking them suggestions.

Research methods and motivations:
- Purposes: Understanding of
1) existing production, approaches and studies;
2) relationship that people hold with DCIDs .
- Methods:
Purpose 1) books, magazines and web-sites;
Purpose 2) interviews/questionnaire and testing prototyping.

Planning:
Throughout the rest of the first trimester I will get as much knowledge as I can about the topic I am addressing in order to develop my conceptual guideline.
During the second trimester I will prototyping and testing prototypes at first, in order to put into shape the conceptual guideline I have been developing during the first trimester. If necessary, I will contact external experts in order to let me help out in the prototyping process.

Abstract

2008-11-20T00:23:00.001-08:00

Nowadays, many different digital communication and information devices (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.

The consequences of this state of the art tend to affect users’ dependency and devices’ obsolescence on a physical, emotional and contextual layer. Indeed, DCIDs answer to functional, perceptive and economical expectations; however, they are not designed in order to have a long life because they are closed systems. Thus, average users keep for granted their obsolescence and they tend to look forward the next new model. This is because, during the whole life cycle of the device, the perception that people build up with and around DCIDs depends on users’ abilities and on the context where they use them. In most cases, only professionals of the field can appropriate them, but average users cannot.

There is a design opportunity in "designing for disassembling" in order to make functions perceptible and to provide an open system. In this way, DCID development will be integrated in units that adapt to the needs of people all the time, lowering the gap between technology, people/users and environment.

Midterms submission uploaded

2008-11-02T16:10:00.000-08:00

Abstract:
Nowadays, digital communication and information devices (DCIDs) are several and different, even if they have same components and functions. They allow us to interact with each other and to entertain ourselves, thus we recognize them as necessary.

According to that, the consequences of this state of the art tend to affect users’ dependency and devices’ obsolescence on several layers:
- physical: DCIDs answer to both functional and perceptive expectations, as they have to be easy to use, convenient and have a good look. However, they are not designed in order to be recycled and they are closed systems.
- contextual: users perceive DCIDs according to their abilities and to the context, during the whole life cycle of the device. Therefore, only professionals of the field can deal with them, but average users.
- emotional: users tend to invest them with value according to the relationship that they have build up with and around them. However, as DCIDs are easy to change because they are affordable, users keep for granted their obsolescence and they tend to look forward the last new model.

Design opportunity is in the "design for disassembling" in order to make functions perceptible and to provide an open system.

Midterms submission

2008-10-24T03:38:00.000-07:00

Research question:

How can the obsolescence of electronic devices become an opportuniny for design?

Abstract:
In the era of communication, electronic devices are the tools which allow us not only to interact with each other, but also to experience leisure times. Because of that we recognize them a special role in our lives, if not a very need.

According to that, the consequences of this state of the art tend to evolve on several layers, within a physical, a contextual and an emotional involvement. This deeply affects our dependency and the obsolescence of the object themselves, rising the complexity of the whole system: several components, repetition of the components thus of the functions in different electronics, fast dumping and not much recycling.

Indeed, we tend to invest them with value according to the relationship we have build up with and around them. Therefore, the way in which we perceive electronic devices changes according to the abilities of the user in the whole life cycle of the device. This process emphasizes the state of art it self as those popular devices are not known deeply by most of the users, who often tend to be stressed out by using them as well as to relate to them as mere status symbol, feeding consumerism and dumping places.

Bibliography:
Papanek, V., 1995, The green imperative, Thames & Hudston Inc., New York

McLuhan, M., and Fiore, Q., The medium is the massage, Jerome Agel

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

Greenpeace, Hi-tech: highly toxic, [online], http://www.greenpeace.org/international/campaigns/toxics/electronics , [Accessed 18 October 2008]

Greenpeace, The e-waste problem, [online],
http://www.greenpeace.org/international/campaigns/toxics/electronics/the-e-waste-problem , [Accessed 18 October 2008]

Greenpeace, Where does e-waste end up?, [online],
http://www.greenpeace.org/international/campaigns/toxics/electronics/where-does-e-waste-end-up , [Accessed 18 October 2008]
Greenpeace, How the companies line up?, [online],
http://www.greenpeace.org/international/campaigns/toxics/electronics/how-the-companies-line-up , [Accessed 18 October 2008]

Greenpeace, Solutions, [online],
http://www.greenpeace.org/international/campaigns/toxics/electronics/solutions , [Accessed 18 October 2008]

Greenpeace, Recycling of electronics waste in China and India: workplace and environmental contamination, [online],
http://www.greenpeace.org/raw/content/international/press/reports/recyclingelectronicwasteindiachinafull.pdf , [Accessed 18 October 2008]

People research plan:
Research questions:
They will be aimed to understand both how electronics are build up and how they work as well as the way in which people tend to relate to them.

Experts:
Computer Scientist, E. A.;
Micro-electronic engineer, Luigi Montotti;
Electronic engineer
Telecommunication engineer
Technology and Health expert
Computer recycler, E. A.
Customer Assistant
Dumping company
Workers in a Dumping place
People

People I design for, how to involve them:
At this stage, I am interested to understand the way in which they relate to electronic devices. Further, I will ask them to test my prototypes expressing their opinions about and asking them suggestions.

Research methods and motivations:
My research approach would be different according to the purposes:
- books, magazines and web-sites: in order to understand the approaches and the problems which have been already addressed and maybe sorted out;
- interviews and/or questionaire: in order to understand the way in which users and experts deal with electronics devices;
- prototyping: in order to develop a work in progress tangible feedback and understand more quickly what I am designing.
A multifaceted approach is necessary in order to understand deeply the complexity I am dealing with.

Planning:
Throughout the rest of the first trimester I will read, interviewing, prototyping and testing prototypes.
During the first half term of the second trimester I will prototyping and testing prototypes at first, and if necessary carrying on interviewing and reading.

sharing ideas: topic 03

2008-10-15T13:58:00.000-07:00

http://www.greenpeace.org/raw/content/international/press/reports/recyclingelectronicwasteindiachinafull.pdf sharing ideas: topic 03

topic 03

2008-09-22T02:04:00.000-07:00

STEP 01

How could we enjoy improvements of technology in an healthier way?

Technology improves every day making the market wider and products less valuable. This process increases pollution as well as fake needs, turning the environment to be unhealthier under a physical as well as psychological profile and I wonder around the concept of “progress” and how to combine technology and environment.

STEP 02

How can the obsolescence of electronic devices become an opportunity for design?

Electronic devices tend to be obsolete very quickly. According to that, as any device is composed by several components, we can assume not only that we tend to consider the device as one whole rather than a system, but also that only part of them are obsolete for real.

NEWS!

2008-10-13T02:47:00.000-07:00

Dear reader,

I am glad to let you know that I have decided the topic I will approach as graduation project. This is the topic 03. If you are interested to read what it is about, please scroll the page, it's placed at the bottom.

Thanks, Elena

topic 01

2008-09-22T02:51:00.000-07:00

How can blind and sighted people share more?

Visual communication is more and more involved in everyday life. However, blind people don’t take part to it. I wonder how could I avoid or low this uncomfortable difference in order to simplify their life or share more as the surrounding world is shaped for sighted extrovert people.

topic 02

2008-09-22T02:09:00.000-07:00

How could we allow people to be more critical and indipendent toward the surrounding world in order to be happier according to their real needs?

The surround world present itself according to given ideas of what is what.Those mental structures are rooted in ourselves and influence our whole life shifting values in order to create fake needs. Unfortunately, this process low the quality of our life and the amount of happiness as well.