Ask the Okala experts

Explaining the environmental benefits of product longevity is pretty simple. For instance, as long as the impacts of the product during its use phase stay constant, then doubling the product lifetime usually cuts the impacts in half. It is easy to run the numbers and produce the charts that demonstrate the reduced environmental impacts that result from extending product life. It is a bit more challenging to help a client realize how this approach might benefit their bottom line.

Designers have been helping clients understand the economic value of good design for decades. Since much of the work of extending product lifetime equates to good design, we can tap into our own experience when it comes to educating others about longevity.

For instance, many years ago, when I idealistically began my design career, I was involved in designing a multi-bit screwdriver. The client’s innovation allowed the bits to be securely organized in the handle without rattling. I confess to being a bit disenchanted to be working on something so, well….unexciting. I left to take another position before the first prototype came back from manufacture.

Several years later, I encountered the resulting product, and was forced to reassess my view of design, for here was a product that asserted simple quality. Someone had followed through on the manufacturing; the screwdriver was built to high tolerances, and from quality materials. The handle opened easily, and clicked shut with a satisfying thunk. The screwdriver had a solid heft, and didn’t rattle annoyingly, unlike other multi-bits of the day. I promptly bought them as gifts for all of my family. Eighteen years later, all of them still have and use this product (except for one brother, who lost his). Meanwhile, the client (MegaPro) and design firm (Karo and then White Box Design) developed an ongoing relationship that has since taken the product through several iterations – including the contractor’s version and the kitchen drawer version – which expand the product’s market reach without rendering prior models obsolete.

This simple product story illustrates how the timeless values of good design can translate directly to product longevity. Those timeless values include the use of appropriately durable materials, details that are meaningful and easy to use, loose parts that are secured against loss or damage, manufacturing that is completed to a high standard, and moving parts that work well. When handling a product like the MegaPro screwdriver, these values contribute to an immediate, felt sense that it will be reliable and durable – for a long time.

This is also one of many examples demonstrating how good design makes good business sense. In the case of the MegaPro, quality design generated consumer trust, helped a company access a market and supported an expanding line of products. Longevity was a natural byproduct of good design, and hence two points: 1. We already how to help clients understand the value of good design, and 2, Perhaps some longevity strategies can be advanced without overt discussion.

Of course, this is an example of a product without software. With digital electronics, the longevity challenges are more complex, and strategies to seed longevity must be correspondingly sophisticated. (For detailed information on these approaches, see Innovation, Winter 2008: “Here Today, Here Tomorrow”.) There is also more pressure to accept the doctrinaire equation of constant turnover with higher sales. I would suggest a frank and non-judgmental conversation with your client about this. By simply accepting that the underlying motivations of planned obsolescence are both self-serving and environmentally damaging, we open the door to new kinds of discussions that might someday lead to alternative product and marketing strategies.

Finally, I would encourage a survey of consumers about product obsolescence. Can I really be the only one who regularly hears people express anger that they might have to transition to Blu-ray, the latest version of Microsoft Office, or High Definition TV? Surely someone can produce statistics proving that there are many consumers who would prefer a product that can honestly claim: “Your great-grandchildren will be able to use this” or “Upgrading won’t mean replacing.” “This product will be useful for decades.” Once the data is there, the convincing is done.

These are any number of client approaches to product longevity that include working through our understanding of good design, open discussions about the real impacts of planned obsolescence, and finally, to finding the data that would inspire clients to develop long-lived products.

Image credit: WhiteBox Design