Success-Oriented Eco-Ideation Sessions: Lessons Learnt From the Use of Ten Eco-Design Guidelines

Abstract

The fields of eco-design and design creativity have not found strategic synergies yet. This applies despite the fact that the paramount objective of eco-design, i.e. sustainable development, might benefit from the radical design changes creativity can engender. In parallel, those significant changes should also support the transformation of products towards designs that exhibit major success chances, which is still in line with the perspectives of sustainable development. The authors have developed ten guidelines to guide eco-design towards creative and successful outcomes and the present paper illustrates the first experimentation thereof. The results of the experiment show that the compliance with the guidelines determines a satisfactory trade-off between environmental friendliness and success chances, as well as fully increasing the novelty of ideas. The outcomes are however affected by a remarked misalignment between the views of the two evaluators, i.e. an industrial player and an academic expert in eco-design.