Multiple lives of the products: An investigation of products’ journey in freecycle community

Abstract

In today's needs, it is not enough to imagine products who have only one owner in their entire lives. To create more sustainable futures, designers might increase their ability to imagine multiple lives for things. To enable it, scale is the matter of concern. By increasing the usage scale, and examining the exchange of second-hand products informs designers by imagining multiple scenarios related to things lifes. In this paper we focus on local freecycle groups on Facebook in the context of the second-hand product’s circulation. In the field research, we identify significant usage cases of second-hand products that have multiple owners. We classify them under four sections, which are student house, permanent house, families with a baby, and re-purposers according to their concerns, criteria and behaviors related to handed-over products. Finally, we present insights about users’ expectations and concerns that has decisive role in determining the life cycle of the product. We propose thinking for larger usage scales through examples that we provide, guide designers and companies in terms of products' journeys in circulation.