Abstracts

Designingfor sustainable grocery shopping : A conceptual design to encourage sustainableshopping

by Sam Andr Rashidi




Institution: KTH
Department:
Year: 2017
Keywords: interaction design; design; sustainability; shopping; LCA; grocery; Media Engineering; Mediateknik
Posted: 02/01/2018
Record ID: 2168822
Full text PDF: http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:kth:diva-204618


Abstract

Climate change is one of the biggest issues that the world faces today, and one of the biggest contributors to climate change are groceries. This paper aims at using digital artefacts to create a product or design that will encourage the user to shop more environmentally friendly. To achieve this, I have tried to identify the major hindrances today that grocery shoppers are faced with through the user centered method Contextual Inquiry. I have then presented the results from the inquiry to students at KTH Royal Institute of Technology during workshops. During these workshops, the students have conceptualized ideas and designs for different solutions. Based on their results, I have created a prototype design that I call the SmartCart. This cart consists of a regular shopping cart with a screen similar to an iPad attached to the handlebars. This screen then delivers easily apprehensible information about different grocery products environmental impact in real time. The design has not been tested in a live environment, but initial testing indicates that a live application could give satisfying results in lowering the sales of grocery products with a high environmental impact, while the design also could simultaneously improve the shopping experience for the customers in the grocery store.