Methodology for sustainable product design

Abstract

The market growing saturation with products similar to the already existent ones or whose adaptation to a user revealed inefficiency, makes relevant the development of projects that effectively bring competitive advantage and consequently contribute to the development and wellbeing of the society and the ecosystem. Therefore, the propose of this research is to elaborate a methodology that enables the development of products, that present solution to the user needs, but considering also the environmental issues. Through an exploratory research and the redesign of a vacuum cleaner as a case study, a new methodology divided into two phases is presented where the: (i) recognition of the real needs of users, as well as problems associated with the product, through research and usability testing (N=120) and (ii) the environmental impact of the product are addressed. In this way, it was possible to defined the criteria to be incorporated into the product, with the aim of applying measures to improve the usability of the product, that are consistent with ecological solutions and therefore sustainable.