Functionality

How a product is designed affects how one goes about using a product. For example, the layout of a keyboard affects the movements of our hands as we attempt to type a piece of text. Using this principle, designers can also design products in ways that create affordances for people to use them in eco-friendly manners.

How this is done is very aptly shown in an ingenious namecard design for an environmental consultant Andrea Romani, designed by Marco Martins (Ng, 2010). A common impression of namecards is mass-produced pieces of small paper printed on hard glossy material that will be distributed an never to be used again. Martins totally cut down the need of paper to be used in the production process by designing the namecard to be in the form of a stamp. The “namecard” can then be stamped onto any piece of rough paper or unwanted material. This example goes to show how designers can affect the functionality of traditional products to orient them towards environmentally-friendly ways of usage.

However, not only does the design of a product affect how it is used, it also dictates what happens to the product after it has been used. One way the functionality of a product can contribute to this is through components that can be separated, so that each of these parts can be recycled, making the process more efficient.

However, consumers may not make the link between product functionality and it’s relevance to eco-friendliness. In some cases, familiar products are totally redesigned, such that some form of explanation on the part of the designer is needed to show how the product works. An example is the Shake Control designed by Seoul National University, which is a remote control works without batteries. The kinetic energy from hand movements both help the user to access different TV functions as well as to power the remote control. However, how it works is not intuitive from the start.

Also, we must keep in mind that what “functionalities” that a designed work can have lie in the hands and minds of the audience and users themselves. There are people who throw magazines away after reading, and there are people who use its pages to fold wastepaper boxes. It mostly depends on the consumers’ mindsets and attitudes towards the environment, and whether they see the need to reuse the product in another way.