Design with Intent | Environmental

User-centred design for energy efficiency in buildings: TSB competition

By Dan Lockton ⋅ December 10, 2009 ⋅ One comment

The deadline’s fast approaching (mid-day 17th Dec) for the UK Technology Strategy Board’s ‘User-centred design for energy efficiency in buildings’ competition [PDF] – there’s an introduction from Fionnuala Costello here.
This is an exciting initiative which aims to bring together (in a 5-day ’sandpit’) people from different disciplines and different sectors to address the problems [...]

Thoughts on the ‘fun theory’

By Dan Lockton ⋅ November 3, 2009 ⋅ 5 comments

The ‘Piano Staircase’ from Volkswagen’s thefuntheory.com
The Fun Theory (Rolighetsteorin), a competition / campaign / initiative from Volkswagen Sweden – created by DDB Stockholm – has been getting a lot of attention in the last couple of weeks from both design-related people and other commentators with an interest in influencing behaviour: it presents a series of [...]

Some interesting projects (Part 2)

By Dan Lockton ⋅ October 10, 2009 ⋅ 7 comments

Following on from Part 1, here are a couple more very interesting student projects linking design and behaviour. This time, both involve providing feedback on the impact or costs of everyday behaviours in order to get people to think.
Tim Holley’s Tio project, developed in response to a brief by Onzo, and described as ‘A Light [...]

‘Smart meters’: some thoughts from a design point of view

By Dan Lockton ⋅ June 18, 2009 ⋅ 9 comments

Here’s my (rather verbose) response to the three most design-related questions in DECC’s smart meter consultation that I mentioned earlier today. Please do get involved in the discussion that Jamie Young’s started on the Design & Behaviour group and on his blog at the RSA.
Q12 Do you agree with the Government’s position that a [...]

What is demand, really?

By Dan Lockton ⋅ May 13, 2009 ⋅ 2 comments

In a lot of the debate and discussion about energy, future electricity generation and metering, improved efficiency and influencing consumer behaviour – at least from an engineering perspective – the term “demand” is used, in conjunction with “supply”, to represent the energy required to be supplied to consumers, much as in conventional “supply and demand” [...]

Designed environments as learning systems

By Dan Lockton ⋅ February 11, 2009 ⋅ 3 comments

How much of designing an environment is consciously about influencing how people use it? And how much of that influence is down to users learning what the environment affords them, and acting accordingly?
The first question’s central what this blog’s been about over the last four years (with ‘products’, ’systems’, ‘interfaces’ and so on variously standing [...]

Heating debate

By Dan Lockton ⋅ February 1, 2009 ⋅ 10 comments

Central heating systems have interfaces, and many of us interact with them every day, even if only by experiencing their effects.
But there’s a lot of room for improvement. They’re systems where (unlike, say, a car) we don’t generally get instantaneous feedback on the changes we make to settings or the interactions we have with the [...]

Stuff that matters: Unpicking the pyramid

By Dan Lockton ⋅ January 14, 2009 ⋅ 5 comments

Most things are unnecessary. Most products, most consumption, most politics, most writing, most research, most jobs, most beliefs even, just aren’t useful, for some scope of ‘useful’.
I’m sure I’m not the first person to point this out, but most of our civilisation seems to rely on the idea that “someone else will sort it out”, [...]

London Design Festival: Greengaged

By Dan Lockton ⋅ September 18, 2008 ⋅ 7 comments

The London Design Festival always throws up some interesting events, especially involving clever people trying new things in design and sharing their experiences and expertise.
This year, the Design Council are running Greengaged, a “sustainability hub… developed and organised by [re]design, thomas.matthews and Kingston University with Arup and Three Trees Don’t Make A Forest”. It’s a [...]

‘Design | Behaviour: Making it Happen’ Seminar, 17th October – programme updated

By Dan Lockton ⋅ September 17, 2008 ⋅ One comment

Design | Behaviour: Making it Happen, mentioned a few days ago, now has a full agenda available [PDF] (thanks Debra) – here are the abstracts:

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