How do we avoid designing in the abstraction of organisational charts and system diagrams populated by text, symbols and icons to design for people, communities and the planet? To address this question, this paper discusses the integration of service design methods within a circular design process that encourages circularity thinking within product-service projects and enables students to: identify and communicate design opportunities from design ethnographic research; explore design opportunities as value propositions; identify and share the core values and proposed benefits of circular design opportunities; and to develop and present product-service concepts. Reflecting on product design engineering teaching practice within the context of current thinking in circular design and the circular economy, this paper presents an alternative perspective on visualising service-user journeys, stakeholder relationships and design propositions to enable design students to identify and explore innovative design propositions to circular design problems.
When designing for a circular economy, the focus is on reducing waste and pollution, keeping products and materials in use for as long as possible, and regenerating natural systems. We discuss how service design offers tools to help students visualise and understand complex systems while considering the numerous interactions and relationships between the various stakeholders involved. A product designed within a circular economy context requires more complex relationships to be considered within the product's lifecycle and it is essential to maintain sight of the people we are designing for and empathise with their needs and requirements to be able to identify innovative design solutions. Stakeholder and service ecology mapping, service journey maps and service blueprints can be integrated into the product design process to help students understand the key value propositions of their design and share and communicate the circular value propositions offered by the design.
Presenting students with open project briefs, rather than prescribed closed ones, has encouraged them to develop design ethnography skills, and provides them with the skills and confidence to engage with people to learn more about the core issues people experience; to understand their needs, desires, requirements, and behaviours. Students are then better equipped to generate insights that lead to innovative design solutions, and by incorporating circular design thinking, the product design solutions will be more appropriate to the planet as well as its inhabitants. When we consider the planet as a ‘persona’ we can change our perspective on a problem to see alternative design solutions. Designing with circular-based personas, rather than make-use-dispose, single-use personas, helps us keep in mind the circular design principles we are trying to achieve. By introducing product-service system and circularity thinking to product design engineering students early in their career, it is hoped that we will improve the circular economy credentials of future products. Among the benefits we have observed from introducing this approach to PDE postgraduate students have been: a better understanding of the wider socio-economic context they are designing within; improved ability to make sense of complexity and identify design opportunities using service design tools such as service journeys, blueprints, and relationship mapping; using service design tools to facilitate collaborative design practices across their design and engineering disciplines; and that they are better equipped to tackle problems within a circular economy context and apply a more planet-centred design approach.