Project 2 Reflective essay

Project 2 details posted on Susanna Li's blog.

Reflective essay
Designing a product service system is different from designing a pure product. A product service system contains intangible service and tangible products. Designing a product service system, we should design the service too. Take our water station for example, we not only design the machine, but also design the payment system, how people put money into the account, a network for people to buy resuable bottles, and how and when our company replace the filters and CO2 box. Designing the products are important too. The resuable bottles and the machine at the apartment lobby should interact together and get more people use our system.

I think PSS is a good strategy for industrial designers. It encourage collaborative consumption and reduce the production of products. Designing a system that can reduce the manufacturing of  a lot of products can reduce the environmental impact greater. And I think it is changing the consumers behaviors and it is a way of sustainable consumption. Moreover, PSS can add value to product life cycle, which reduce waste. Manufactruing needs lot of energy and cause waste of materials, making less manufacturing is a better way to help the earth.

Designing a PSS take more effort than designing a product. Wheather it is beneficial and accepted by consumers, and wheather the PSS bring profits, these are questions that we are thinking when designing a product service system. I think the most interesting aspect of designing a PSS is thinking the way people interacting with the system, and also ways for behavior change. Just like our proposed PSS, we want to shape the users experience, so we are thinking ways to make the machine funny and have different ways of interacting with users. One concept is to have funny interface on the screen and tell people the importance of drinking water daily. Also, users can order resuable bottles online and choose their color and print funny logos on the bottle. This part of design is the part that I like most. What I like least about is designing the products that suitable for lot of users. Because it is used by group of people, there are lot of issues that we should consider. Like our PSS, the machine is located in the lobby and how it is suitable for children, adult and disable people is difficult. And also how to avoid the lekage of water that may result in slippery in the lobby is also issue that we are struggling.

The advantages of PSS design is that it brings more people into sustainable consumption and reduce the production of products. By making the service in the system accessible,effective and attractive, more and more people will get involved in and change people's consumption pattern. The disadvantages may be the wrong demand of products in the system and whether it is sustainable in the long run. Designing a PSS, the demand of the products that in the system is important for determining if it is sustainable or not. Like carsharing, if the company produces too much cars and exceeds the demand, there will be waste of production and result in environmental problems too.

This project is challenging and interesting, designing a PSS is difficult, but it is good to have a group and everyone can devote their ideas. I get better understanding of what PSS is and I think this will help me in the future design. I learned lot of techniques for behavior change, and also techniques for a good PSS. Through lot of research, I know more about how to be a responsible consumer and will take more action in the future. After this exercise, It is more clear that where I should pay attention to when I am going to design a PSS in the future.