Human-Centered Design and Sustainability: Are They Compatible?
A special issue of Sustainability (ISSN 2071-1050).
Deadline for manuscript submissions: 31 May 2024 | Viewed by 835
Special Issue Editors
Interests: human-centered design; sustainable design; life-centered design; biodesign
Special Issue Information
Dear Colleagues,
Human-centered design (HCD) approaches have emerged as a powerful force in shaping sustainable product development. By placing human needs, experiences, and values at the forefront of the design process, HCD can help ensure that products are not only environmentally friendly but also genuinely address the diverse requirements of users. On the other hand, by focusing on humans, HCD can result in unintended consequences for unrepresented stakeholders, including entire ecosystems. One potential significant benefit of human-centered design in sustainable product development is its potential to drive behavior change and promote sustainable practices. By involving users in the design process, through various research methods, such as interviews, contextual inquiry, and user testing, HCD should create a sense of ownership and engagement, empowering individuals to make environmentally conscious choices. By prioritizing user needs, sustainable behavior, extended product lifespans, and collaboration, HCD approaches have the potential to drive the creation of environmentally friendly products that not only meet consumer expectations but also contribute to a more sustainable and responsible future.
While HCD can bridge the gap between human needs and environmental concerns, it is crucial to recognize that it does not always result in sustainable design. This Special Issue aims to avoid unilaterally endorsing HCD and seeks to foster open discussions regarding its limitations. In light of this, the issue raises important questions about whether HCD adequately represents the needs of other stakeholders, including non-human entities such as ecosystems. Philosophically and ethically, this issue emphasizes the need to balance human-centered design with other approaches, such as life-centered design, multispecies design, and nature-centered design, which seek to harmonize human priorities with broader environmental stewardship objectives.
This Special Issue brings together research and case studies that showcase both the positive and negative impacts of incorporating HCD principles into the design process. It seeks to explore new approaches, challenges, and insights at the intersection of human-centered design and sustainable product development. By critically examining HCD and encouraging inclusive dialogue, the goal is to foster a deeper understanding of its implications and to encourage the development of more comprehensive and responsible design practices.
Dr. Brook Kennedy
Dr. Yoon Jung Choi
Guest Editors
Manuscript Submission Information
Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.
Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Sustainability is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.
Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2400 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.
Keywords
- human-centred design
- sustainable design
- design for sustainable behaviour
- life-centred design
- multispecies design
