Co-Design of Creative Products Embedding Recycled Fibers

Abstract

The involvement of designers in the sustainable transition from linear to circular economy is crucial since they significantly contribute to the realization of products and services. In the FiberEUse project, a multiple-step approach to co-design was employed, starting with the definition of a first and second design brief in order to clarify the task objectives for designers. This was followed by the description of the co-design process, which aims to engage designers to contribute innovative design concepts for recycled composites. By publishing design concepts in the feedback collection software module Idea Manager, designers and users were able to exchange information, insights, visions, and thoughts digitally. The Idea Manager comprises a feedback collection tool that supports a first assessment of design concepts. Depending on the design briefing and/or confidentiality agreements, the feedback collection and the assessment can either be done (stakeholder-)internally or publicly. A flowchart illustrates the multi-step approach of co-design within the FiberEUse project. The feedback collection process was aided by a progress analysis to detect new value chains for business cases. For the selection of product design concepts, a progress analysis partitioned into four main criteria, the following aspects are drawn on for assessment: (i) quantitative and qualitative production feasibility, (ii) closeness to market introduction, (iii) potential volume of the market, (iv) circularity, (v) type of market, (vi) service opportunities, and (vii) take-back/deposit systems. Aside from bringing out the advantages of co-design for consumers as well as production companies, this chapter also discusses general challenges of co-design and co-creation in a broader sense when intellectual property rights (IPR) are not respected appropriately. The participation in a publicly accessible co-design of concepts must be clearly communicated and accepted by each participant by agreeing to intelligible terms and conditions.