There is a growing recognition of the need to incorporate sustainability considerations early-on in the product development (PD) process (PDP). As part of a case study at an engineering consultancy firm, this paper identifies considerations that influence the integration of sustainable design practices into real-world PD practices. This is informed by the first author becoming embedded in the firm as an intern, and closely observing the PD workflow across various projects, conducting interviews and group discussions with a wide range of practitioners, and iteratively designing and testing various potential interventions. From the literature and observations, we find that designers and engineers often struggle to identify and apply the right sustainable design methods and tools (SDMTs) to tackle the environmental impacts associated with their products. Through a human-centered design process, we co-created a reusable, modular framework of practices that aids the selection of relevant strategies, based on the environmental hotspots, stage of the PD process, and the client’s sustainability priorities. Our prominent findings highlight the importance of: (a) co-creation in enhancing receptivity and retention, (b) the use of LCA iteratively to inform design decisions throughout PD, and (c) sharing case studies of successful application of the framework to promote sustainable design among employees and clients, alongside several other takeaways. The paper further presents insights related to the framework’s real-world application and impacts in the firm, based on results of longitudinal engagement with the firm.

With the topic of sustainability steadily gaining importance and public awareness, there is growing consensus about the need to incorporate environmental considerations in early stage product development (PD). This makes it imperative for PD practitioners to have access to methods and tools, including life cycle assessment (LCA), that support sustainability integration. This paper evaluates existing LCA tools on their ability to cater to the early-stage PD context, by having users apply the tools in practice and exploring their experiences. We find that the challenges to applying LCA in this context emanate primarily from the shortcomings of the tools themselves. Our evaluation metrics for tool critique are derived from a thematic analysis of user interviews we conducted, refined according to information and interaction design principles from human-computer interaction (HCI). This unique approach helps triangulate insights from users with literature, to produce design recommendations for the development of novel LCA tools tailored to the early PD context.

There is a growing recognition of the need to incorporate sustainability considerations early-on in the product development (PD) process (PDP). As part of a case study at an engineering consultancy firm, this paper identifies considerations that influence the integration of sustainable design practices into real-world PD practices. This is informed by the first author getting embedded in the firm as an intern, and closely observing the PD workflow across various projects, conducting interviews and group discussions with a wide range of practitioners, and iteratively designing and testing various potential interventions. From literature and observation, we find that designers and engineers often struggle to identify and apply the right sustainable design methods and tools (SDMTs) to tackle the environmental impacts associated with their products. Through a human-centered design process, we co-created a reusable, modular framework of practices that aids the selection of relevant strategies, based on the environmental hotspots, stage of the PD process, and the client’s sustainability priorities. The paper further presents insights related to the framework’s real-world application and impacts in the firm, based on results of longitudinal engagement with the firm.

How do employees perceive the impact of incorporating sustainability considerations into their product development practice? In this case study, we observe how these perceptions can be shifted by teaching workshops on how to apply sustainable design methods in practice. We compare the trends for different methods on various dimensions such as creativity, design process time, product marketability etc. Results show an overall shift towards positive perception for all the methods on a majority of factors, indicating a way to ease the adoption of sustainable design into industry practice.