Ethical & Sustainable Responsibility
- Designers have a duty to consider the wider impact of their decisions.
- They should consider the client along with the community, the environment, and society at large.
- Responsible designers aim to create solutions that are sustainable, ethical, and inclusive.
1. Responsibility to the Client
- Meet the client’s needs through functional, cost-effective, and appropriate solutions
- Ensure the product aligns with the brief, but not at the expense of user safety or ethics
- Provide honest, professional advice, even when it conflicts with commercial goals
Example
Dyson Airblade™ Hand Dryer
- Dyson designed the Airblade to meet client needs for hygiene, efficiency, and cost savings.
- The product used HEPA filters, reduced drying time, and significantly cut paper towel waste, meeting both performance goals and operational cost reductions.
- Dyson balanced innovative technology with maintenance ease, ensuring long-term client satisfaction.
2. Responsibility to the Community
- Consider social impact: does the product serve or exclude people?
- Design for inclusion, accessibility, and cultural relevance
- Aim for local benefit, e.g. using local labour or solving community-specific problems
Example
IKEA’s Better Shelter
- IKEA partnered with the UNHCR to design flat-pack emergency shelters for displaced families.
- The shelter is weather-resistant, modular, and includes a solar panel, offering safer and more dignified housing.
- The design responds directly to the needs of vulnerable communities, showing how designers can positively impact society on a global scale.
3. Responsibility to the Environment
- Use sustainable materials and low-impact processes
- Design for reuse, repair, recycling, and longer lifespan
- Avoid unnecessary waste in packaging and manufacturing
Example
FSC-Certified Wood
- The Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) label guarantees that wood products come from responsibly managed forests
- Designers choosing FSC-certified materials support biodiversity, ethical labour, and long-term forest health
Common Design Challenges
- Balancing cost vs sustainability
- Navigating conflicting stakeholder needs
- Avoiding greenwashing (making sustainability claims without proof)
Examples of Positive Design Impact
| Product | Type of Impact | Explanation |
|---|---|---|
| KeepCup | Environmental & Client | Designed for reusable takeaway coffee use, reducing single-use plastic waste while aligning with café branding needs. |
| Tesla Powerwall | Community & Environmental | Allows homes and communities to store solar energy, promoting renewable energy use and energy independence. |
Examples of Negative Design Impact
| Product | Type of Impact | Explanation |
|---|---|---|
| Fast Fashion | Environmental & Community | Mass production of low-cost clothing encourages waste and exploits low-wage workers in poor conditions. |
| Plastic Microbeads in Cosmetics | Environmental | Common in facial scrubs; contributed to marine pollution before being banned in many countries. |
Tip
Apply ethical frameworks, such as the triple bottom line (people, planet, profit), to guide decision-making - explored further in C2.1
Theory of Knowledge
Who defines what is “ethical”, the designer, the client, or the community?
