Product Impact

Steven Dorrestijn - UT

Successful product creation requires informed predictions of future use practices. Predominant approaches in product design neglect the influence of products on user behaviour and use practices. Most often, future use is approached exclusively by exploring user demands and characteristics. However, when introduced, products will often change or reshape, routines, needs and attitudes of users. Design practices would greatly improve if they could anticipate this influence. This project therefore aims at making the concept of product impact useful in the context of design for usability. In order to realize this, the project focuses on (1) elaborating a framework to anticipate product influences on user practices; (2) translating this framework to the practice of design; and (3) systematically addressing ethical questions resulting from the explicit design of behaviour-steering products.

Main research question

How can the influence of products on the behavior and attitudes of users be taken into consideration in the design process?