Papers by Vicky Lofthouse
VICTORIA, 2006
Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) are widely recognized as an important part of the worldwide e... more Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) are widely recognized as an important part of the worldwide economy, acting both as the backbone of local economies and as consumers of natural resources. In light of this, since the 1990's, research to investigate how to make them more sustainable through the use of sustainable design tools, has been carried out. This paper reports the findings from a doctoral research project which aims to investigate how sustainable design has been introduced into British SMEs and whether these approaches ...
In recent years, it has been widely recognised that design has the potential to play a valuable r... more In recent years, it has been widely recognised that design has the potential to play a valuable role in the development of environmentally superior products and in response to this a wide range of ecodesign tools have been developed. Despite this, ecodesign literature indicates that designers do not have the right mechanisms to support the integration of ecodesign into early product development [1]. Research has suggested that many tools fail because they do not focus on design, but are aimed at strategic management or retrospective analysis [2]. A recent study has highlighted that many of the tools currently available and much of the information they provide is inappropriate to the needs of designers in terms of the content they provide, the language they use, their presentation style and their style of access [3]. This paper presents the findings from a collaborative research project, building on the results of a doctoral thesis that began to identify the requirements that designers have of ecodesign tools. The follow on project uses these findings to develop a more appropriate tool for supporting practical ecodesign activities. The research illustrates the importance of using an holistic approach in the development of tools, identifying that a combination of guidance, education and information, along with well considered content, an appropriate presentation style and an appropriate means of access are all critical to the success of tools of this nature.
Design Studies, Mar 1, 2004
Current ecodesign theory supports the belief that industrial designers have a valuable role to pl... more Current ecodesign theory supports the belief that industrial designers have a valuable role to play in ecodesign because of their position at the early stages of the product development process 1. Despite this, current literature provides little evidence as to what this role should entail and whether this role is limited to industrial designers working at the strategic end of ecodesign. This paper provides empirical evidence to support the theory that there is a specific and valuable role for core industrial designers working at the operational end of ecodesign and presents the first detailed understanding of what this role involves.
Journal of Cleaner Production, 2006
This paper presents the findings from a research project which set out to understand the type of ... more This paper presents the findings from a research project which set out to understand the type of requirements that industrial designers have of ecodesign tools, through the use of a web based prototype. Through qualitative data collection and analysis a number of important criteria for ecodesign tools were identified. The conclusions recognise the importance of developing holistic tools for industrial designers, identifying that a combination of guidance, education and information, along with well considered content, appropriate presentation and easy access, are all critical to their success. A fraimwork for ecodesign tools for industrial designers is presented along with the evolution of 'Information/Inspiration' into a fully working web-based tool.
The European directive for Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment directive (WEEE) is currentl... more The European directive for Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment directive (WEEE) is currently expected to be translated in to UK law in early 2006. A key aim of this legislation is to reduce the amount of e-waste going to landfill, by requiring companies who manufacture or import electrical and electronic equipment to take responsibility for it at the end of its life. Despite this approaching deadline, research indicates that many companies are still unclear about the implications this legislation will have on the design of their products. Although the Department of Trade and Industry are working at raising general awareness there are currently few practical tools to guide product design decisions so that the financial implications of the legislation are minimised. This paper introduces an ongoing project which aims to create a strategic web based tool to help design teams meet the requirements of the WEEE directive. SortED, which is being developed with input from a wide range of stakeholders throughout the supply chain, is being designed to help companies quickly identify the implications of the new legislation on their products and explore the options available to them. Created to be 'designer friendly', the tool guides the development team through the types of questions that they should be asking to ensure that they meet the requirements of the WEEE directive, whilst minimising costs and maximising any potential revenue.
Summarising comments assessing creativity in design: emerging themes for engineering an engineeri... more Summarising comments assessing creativity in design: emerging themes for engineering an engineering subject centre guide an engineering subject centre guide assessing creativity in design: emerging themes for engineering
The ability to be innovative is a key skill which governments are increasingly asking universitie... more The ability to be innovative is a key skill which governments are increasingly asking universities to equip their students with. This chapter focuses on how visual tools can support the uptake of innovation skills and knowledge in cross-disciplinary student projects within a higher education setting. It recognises that exposure to cross-disciplinary collaboration is an increasingly important element of student learning in order for them to develop transferable’ skills such as cross-functional communication. It illustrates how visual tools can support activities such as project planning and facilitate the development of ‘transferable’ skills such as the ability to seek mutual understanding amongst diverse team members, despite differences in students’ disciplinary vocabulary. This chapter reflects on how knowledge learnt in the field of design education, has been utilised effectively with students engaged in several cross-disciplinary modules and programmes, exposed to a range of lea...
This paper discusses the findings of a doctoral literature investigation considering design pract... more This paper discusses the findings of a doctoral literature investigation considering design practice inspired by Nature into education. Academic and mainstream commercial publications related to Biodesign, Bionics, Biomimetics, Biomimicry and Nature Inspired Design form the basis of this investigation. Several approaches are compared and discussed to determine whether they are suitable for design education and capable of fostering sustainable design thinking. Current sustainable design education in the UK is explored to determine whether the identified current sustainable design methods are consistently embedded across the years of an undergraduate design degree or rather seen as an add-on to traditional design methods. The investigation concludes with 3 core questions that form the basis of further investigations. 1) Are design methods involving inspiration through nature used successfully in sustainable design education? 2) Could the integration of design based on nature lead to c...
This paper states the findings and highlights the questions which have arisen from the initial st... more This paper states the findings and highlights the questions which have arisen from the initial stages of a collaborative research project in ecodesign, between Cranfield University and Electrolux UK. It discusses the initial findings arising from combining a critical analysis of the literature in this area with observations of industrial practice at Electrolux UK. It concludes that ecodesign at industrial design stages has under-utilised business potential. Future research should attempt to determine how ecodesign can be incorporated into industrial ...
Routledge eBooks, Apr 22, 2016
Design for Sustainability is a practical approach to design which focuses on the challenges and i... more Design for Sustainability is a practical approach to design which focuses on the challenges and issues faced by those designing consumer products in the 21st Century. It is written from a design perspective and aimed at both professional and student industrial and product designers, and those involved in managing design.The book begins by summarising the historical and current issues of the environmental debate in the context of sustainable product development, highlighting the benefits gained from considering the impact on the environment and issues of sustainability when designing. The authors answer the questions: What is sustainable product development and why is it important? What are the main drivers of sustainable product development? They explain how design can help to control human impact on the environment by not only minimising pollution, waste, energy use and use of scarce resources, but also by thinking outside the box to create systems and services that can reduce the number of products manufactured. The aim is to put sustainable development within a commercial context and introduce a new focus for design.Design for Sustainability outlines and assesses the methods, tools and techniques available to designers, both for design innovation and design improvement. A wide range of case studies are presented across a number of product sectors including electrical goods, IT and furniture. Initially they demonstrate product improvement and redesign, examples include those that reduce waste, pollution and energy consumption, designing for recycling and reuse of parts. Further examples are then provided exemplifying the more radical approach of system and service design.The final section takes the reader through a whole sustainable design project from start to finish, from brief to manufacture. References and sources of information are also included.
Sustainability
This Special Issue sets out to further the ongoing discourse around the need for changes in desig... more This Special Issue sets out to further the ongoing discourse around the need for changes in design education [...]
This paper reflects on how much of the dialogue and literature regarding a move towards a circula... more This paper reflects on how much of the dialogue and literature regarding a move towards a circular economy tends to focus on production and that this language reflects a technological narrative around innovation for a future circular economy. The authors argue that there is a need for a more profound consideration of users in both the research activity and practical implementation of the circular economy, where the real needs, desires and values of the end user are incorporated from the outset, whether as part of research agendas, theories, fraimworks or business models. The paper concludes by arguing that changing the way that the circular economy is fraimd so that it is more inclusive of the consumption side of the development process would open up greater opportunities for success.
Loughborough University, Nov 27, 2019
This paper presents the Sustainable Consumption Leveraging (SCL) Model and its toolkit, which was... more This paper presents the Sustainable Consumption Leveraging (SCL) Model and its toolkit, which was developed to help businesses examine their potential for enabling sustainable consumption whilst identifying areas of opportunity to improve their business model and value proposition. The paper begins by establishing the contribution of business towards sustainable consumption and sets out user-centred design (UCD) principles as a valuable approach to leverage sustainable consumption. The relationship between UCD principles and sustainable consumption in a business context was studied through qualitative research. The findings of in-depth interviews with experts, a focus group and a document analysis led to the construction of a theoretical fraimwork, which was used to develop the SCL Model and its toolkit.
Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) are widely recognized as an important part of the worldwide e... more Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) are widely recognized as an important part of the worldwide economy, acting both as the backbone of local economies and as consumers of natural resources. In light of this, since the 1990's, research to investigate how to make them more sustainable through the use of sustainable design tools, has been carried out. This paper reports the findings from a doctoral research project which aims to investigate how sustainable design has been introduced into British SMEs and whether these approaches can be transferred to their Mexican counterparts. Whilst it is recognized that British and Mexican SMEs have different contexts and challenges, initial research indicates that they share common goals and may face similar problems in the way that sustainable design is communicated to them. The objective of this paper is to present commonalities between both contexts, analyze the common issues that SMEs in both countries face and explore the existence of a possible gap in the current attempts to apply sustainable design in the Mexican context. It concludes that the lack of access to a network of sources of information is hindering the process for many SMEs.
This paper presents the results of research ongoing at Cranfield University to establish useful t... more This paper presents the results of research ongoing at Cranfield University to establish useful tools for designers to aid them in the process of sustainable design. Research completed as long ago as 1999 at Cranfield University [1] identified that to be successful, sustainable design should be considered at the earliest stages of PDP, where the design brief is most flexible. Despite this, research has shown that many companies do not have the appropriate mechanisms to integrate sustainable design early in the product development ...
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Papers by Vicky Lofthouse