Sustainable Product Service Systems

The brief for this assignment requires the design of a sustainable product service system that would encourage the change towards environmentally positive and socially responsible behaviours within the community. For the topic of this assignment, I have decided to focus on the the theme of community gardens, where the behaviour of people can be influenced through a social activity where they are encouraged to participate for the benefit of a community.

I decided on three concepts, each allowing users to grow their own herbs within a community environment. This not only reduces the wastage of supermarket-herbs going mouldy in the fridge, but inspires a more environmentally friendly lifestyle choice, to become more self-sufficient.

My final choice of design concept that I wish to pursue is concept three, a composting herb garden unit that would be serviced by a third party company. The target audience for this particular design are people living within high-density residential areas such as apartment blocks. The units would be placed within a communal garden area, where the users are encouraged to compost their waste through the incentive of growing their own fresh herbs. 

The centralised compositor would have holes at the base to allow for composted juices to seep into the soil of the herbs surrounding it, acting as a self-fertilising unit. The service provided with this composting unit would include general maintenance, replanting new herbs when plants diminish, managing of compost waste (for example, compost needs to be maintained at appropriate conditions for maximum breaking-down efficiency), watering of herbs etc.

This design encourages a more sustainable lifestyle, reducing the amount of waste produced within the home, while creating an element of fun and social interaction through the garden component. For many residents who live in apartments, the landscape can seem like a concrete jungle. This composting garden unit can provide users with an instant garden, where the greenery is not only aesthetically pleasing, but provides a functional aspect whereby the herbs can be used by the community for cooking. More importantly, it encourages sustainability by allowing users to become more self sufficient.

Peer Reviews

James Chen
Jono Harley
Rebecca Womersley
Elizabeth Grayburn
Melinda Kingsland

PACKAGING: Final Design Solution

Available on the market today, sunscreen packaging does not represent the epitome of high innovation, or that of an environmentally friendly solution. “Little feet” is an exciting, new form of sunscreen packaging that demonstrates a more sustainable approach to the way that sunscreen is packaged.

Within the design, the pump head is intended to be reused through the purchase of a foil-sealed bottle. Being economically appealing, the pump-less bottles would be marketed at a less-expensive cost than those packages which contain the pump head, acting as an incentive for consumers to adopt the sustainable use of the packaging. As the pump consists of over half of the material of the entire package, being 50.5 percent, it makes sense both economically and environmentally, to reduce the amount of material and energy consumed within manufacture.

While being innovative through the design of a recyclable and reusable package, the product aesthetics also represent a unique form within the current sunscreen packaging market. Being targeted towards parents for use on their children, the package demonstrates a level of sophisticated aesthetics that appeal to both the parent and child. The clear material, Polyethylene Terephthyalate, allows the consumer to see the product, to add an element of excitement to ‘sunscreen time’ for children, as they are able to watch the contents make their way through the package while it is being operated.

The size of the package was resolved to be one that fits nicely both on a bench top and in the hands of a child. With full-time use, the contents would last for over a month. Being compact and spillage-free, the package can be transported around to children's outdoor activities, such as weekend sport, or just remain within the home as a more aesthetic package that other sunscreens.

  

    

Focus Group Analysis

In studio, we conducted a focus group to gain valuable feedback on our design.  Issues within the design were raised, with the aim of realising strategies that could be used to overcome these issues.

Issues, difficulties, problems found with the design and posters:

• Unsure where to hold packaging to operate it.
• Too big - not portable enough.
• Coloured packages not linked to a particular content.
• Poster fonts not bold and therefor difficult to read.

Strategies to address issues found:

• Design more portable by reducing the size.
• Create different colours specific to content, for example waterproof, babies, sport.
• Perhaps create an indent in the shape of the package to suggest where to hold it.

The focus group was an invaluable way of determining the weaknesses of the design that would lead to its misuse or misunderstanding of the intended use, with appropriate solutions to the problems that arose.