Taken from the O2 site, www.O2.org

Reprogram the user

We take the same route to work or school every morning. Without thinking, we turn off to the right or left and arrive unthinkingly at our destination. This automatic behaviour makes life feasible and bearable. We don't have to think or make decisions all the time. Unfortunately, many of these ingrained patterns and habits are unnecessarily damaging to the environment.

Can we alter inappropriate automatisms? How can we 'reprogram' the consumer? Research carried out at the European Design Centre and at the Eindhoven University of Technology indicates that products can stimulate or even compel consumers to make more environmentally sound decisions. A washing machine, for example, could have an interface that indicates the ecological impact (the amount of energy and water required) for different programmes, thus giving the user the option to select a more economical programme. The washing machine could alternatively automatically plan a programme using data gathered by its own sensors, e.g. the dry weight of the laundry, its relative dirtiness and the type of fabrics. In this system, the user only has to switch the machine on.

A car engine could cut out automatically at a red traffic light. A photocopier could make double-sided copies by default instead of single-sided as is universally the case at present. Home or office lighting could switch off automatically when no-one is present. A refrigerator could cool more intelligently according to its contents. There are countless opportunities for product designers to make products smarter and more economical than they are now.

However, there is a rebound effect to be considered. Savings on the monthly power bill are all too easily squandered on other energy-consuming activities, such as a midweek trip to a bungalow park with a subtropical swimming pool. A holistic approach is needed to cut the environmental impact of the overall consumptive pattern of a person or household. Eco-feedback on total consumption would at least give consumers a clearer idea of what they are doing, so that they can themselves take responsibility for modifying automatic behaviour patterns.

Miele washing machine display developed for the Interactive Eco-Feedback research project. It has been shown that feedback on loading results in a 10% average increase in load per wash, cutting the energy consumption of the washing machine by a corresponding 10%. The energy indicator on the display shown above does not result in any significant savings.

(Novem Report, 'Interactive Eco-Feedback' research programme, April 1999)
Renso Vonk, researcher for The Design Academy print this column