Sustainability in HCI, Ubicomp, etc.

I made a quick survey of several HCI and Ubicomp papers in order to summarize the main topics and research questions, regarding sustainability, that have been considered the most important in the interaction design community.

In the recent past, the importance of addressing sustainability has permeated the interaction design field. Indeed, sustainability is now considered a competitive requirement and legitimate business concern beyond a mere social concern (Nathan, et al.).

The dichotomy presented by Mankoff, et al. is quite appropriate for grouping some of the HCI and Ubicomp community’s concern. The distinction between sustainability in and through design reminds me of Chris Ryan’s thoughts on the two way transformation between sustainability and design. In other words, sustainability can reconfigure design practice and the other way around is also true. Within these two domains I group research questions/topics, some of which show up on the ITP Sustainable Interaction Website in an alternate organizational scheme.

(1) Sustainability in Design, where sustainability is considered as a part of material design process (use, re-use, reduction, and recycling).

- How can sustainable practices be incorporated into the design process (Hasbrouk, et al.)?
- How can more sustainable Ubicomp models be designed (Hasbrouk, et al.)?
i.e. how can we move away from a model of obsolescence in the IT field?
- What new methodologies/criteria/evaluative tools are needed?

(2) Sustainability through Design, which concerns how sustainable lifestyles can be supported through design (this is broken down further in a scale approach, zooming out from the individual level to the greater societal level).

- How can interaction design and IT technology contribute to more sustainable
systems design? Well…Ryan talks a bit about how IT technology is an enabler of
distributed economies/networks model.
- How can design support and enable
more sustainable lifestyles (scripting, persuasion, goal-oriented support)?
- How can IT technology be harnessed to encourage activism/social
change/sustainable lifestyles through, i.e. social networking?
- How can IT technology help us “move beyond consumerism as a central driver” (Nathan, et al)?

I consider the first mostly related to environmental sustainability, i.e. LCA approach; the second relates to both environmental and social sustainability. Another possible dichotomy is between the material and behavioral dimensions of sustainability (Nathan, et al., 2008). However, everything is interconnected, and I think it is both more poetic and practical to think in terms feedback and co-transformation.

Finally, I find it encouraging to read that the CHI community is considering ways to “move beyond a framework of guilt…to designing IT interventions that help people experience the environment in positive ways,” (Nathan, et al). These thoughts are in line with Manzini’s words,

"transition towards sustainability must see the germination and consolidation of
a new idea of well-being and a new production system that will make it possible
to live better while reducing the weight of our activities on the environment
and regenerating the physical, social and cultural quality of places, and the
Planet as a whole." – from, A New Design Knowledge

The emphasis is on living better!


References

- Hasbrouck, J., Igoe, I., Mankoff, J., & Woodruff, A. (2007). Ubiquitous Sustainability.
- Mankoff, J., et al. (2007). Enviornmental Sustainability and Interaction. CHI 2007, April 28 – May 3. San Francisco, California.
- Nathan, L., Blevis, E., Friedman, D., Hasbrouck, J., & Sengers, P. (2008). Beyond the Hype: Sustainability & HCI. CHI 2008. April 5-10, Florence, Italy.