Nathan Shedroff and Experience Design

Nathan Shedroff,  pioneer of 'Experience Design', author and industrial designer, spoke as part of our Design Series lectures last week, discussing sustainability in business practices, along with the social consequences of design and its ecological impact. Shedroff poses two important questions for designers such as "What does a sustainable world look like?" and "What does a post-consumer world look like?"  While he admits we don't currently have any concrete answers to these questions, he did indicate several cultures with a greater sustainable index, such as cities in Cuba, India and Brazil.  While these countries certainly have their own share of crises, they are the least rated in consumption and most sustainable on the planet.   He also makes poignant insights about the current systems of sustainability which are often regarded for ecological impact, but often neglect to address the overall social and fiscal sectors.  Some frameworks are incomplete in their analysis, and others are simply not applicable or cost effective in the process.

 In his new book, Design is the Problem; The Future of Design Must be Sustainable, Shedroff emphasizes systems thinking and posits that most system frameworks are poor indicators of success.  One of the most relied upon models, the Gross National Product, for example, gauges economic progress through consumption and production but neglects to examine our social welfare, crime, resource depletion, health care. The GNP literally thrives off of disasters (natural, divorce, etc.) and while it may measure fiscal output, it's a horrible indicator of whether or not our nation is actually thriving, which clearly is not the case. On the other hand, the Genuine Progress Indicator (GPI) is a much more reliable system in measuring progress through household and community contributions, environmental damage, higher education, crime, dependence of foreign assets, income distribution and defense expeditures.

According to Shedroff, businesses are becoming more conscious in their practices, often after realizing the effect their actions will have once passed down to future generations of their own kin.  It's an important realization, that we're not the only ones who will suffer the consequences of our actions as a society, and that most of the effect of today's choices will take years, if not decades, to emerge.

Shedroff also had some great insights about our culture and consumption over the last 50 years.  Throughout the 40's and 50's, conservation was actually valued among Americans.  Saving, conserving resources and innovative uses of existing materials created a sense of pride.  Nowadays, our capitalistic society promotes consumption in an astronomical fashion.  We've adopted the mindset of careless abundance, and have created a sort of partnership with manufacturers, continually aquiring more unnecessary objects, products and services.  The information age has been somewhat of a blessing in this area;  Tech manufacturers are now producing products that serve multiple functions.  Think about what the typical cellphone has replaced: a watch, cd/tape player, alarm clock, answering machine, computer, calculator, daily planner, address book and camera. That's actually quite amazing if you think about it.  Since most of the impact occurs during the manufacturing process, this is an incredible reduction on transportation impact and natural resources.  In turn the final product also reduces waste to approximately 12 square inches.  Sweet.



One professor during the lecture asked what 3 things can we, as designers, do to help alleviate our current situation and create a more sustainable future.  Shedroff's answer was vague and didn't give any specific examples (other than following the systems framework), which struck me as odd.  I guess it just goes to show (like he mentioned to begin with) that we really don't have the answers just yet.  However, the more aware we become, the more we increase our capacity to respond to the current dilemma. It's really up to us to make a difference. Designers have a tremendous responsibility these days and have no other choice but to use our skills, talents and smarts wisely.