Designing value through less by integrating sustainability strategies into lifestyles

The article argues for a need to overcome a conventional notion of product design. In this regard, the article offers an integrative and systemic approach to sustainable design. Instead of focussing on objects, a user-centred perspective is adopted. A sustainable design of products and services requires the integration of production-orientated (efficiency and consistency) and consumption-orientated (sufficiency) strategies. The article introduces the concept of an indicator that is capable of comprehending a lifecycle-wide analysis of products and that favours the integration of existing sustainability strategies. The goal is not to design sustainable products but rather to design systems that manage to foster sustainable lifestyles. The article illustrates the usability of the introduced concept by showing examples of strategic integrative thinking in sustainable design from the Sustainable Summer Schools.1