Design in Society, Sustainability and Ethics
The designer's responsibilities
Design affects users, workers, communities and the environment. Candidates should discuss ergonomics, anthropometrics, accessibility and inclusive design, and the difference between designing for the average user and designing for extremes. Understand that products carry social and cultural meanings, and that fashion and planned obsolescence influence consumption.
Sustainability
Know the six Rs: rethink, refuse, reduce, reuse, repair, recycle. Understand life-cycle assessment: raw material extraction, manufacture, distribution, use and disposal. Know the difference between renewable and finite resources, between biodegradable and non-biodegradable materials, and between recycling and downcycling. Carbon footprint and embodied energy are useful measures. A frequent trap is calling a product 'sustainable' merely because one part is recyclable, without considering energy, transport or disposal.
Ethics and legislation
Consider fair pay, safe working conditions, child labour, animal testing, data privacy and planned obsolescence. Know that legislation such as health and safety law, consumer protection and environmental regulation sets minimum standards, and that standards and symbols (recycling marks, energy labels) inform consumers. Intellectual property includes patents, registered designs, trademarks and copyright; copying a patented mechanism without permission is an infringement.
Worked example: comparing two packaging options
A moulded pulp tray uses recycled paper, is biodegradable and needs little energy to form. A polystyrene tray is lightweight and protective but made from finite oil and rarely recycled. The pulp tray is preferable, but only if it protects the product adequately; a broken product wastes far more resource than the packaging saves.
Rule of thumb
Justify sustainability claims with a full life-cycle argument, not a single feature.