A service design toolkit for a more inclusive energy transition

A service design toolkit for a more inclusive energy transition

van Eck, Eva (TU Delft Industrial Design Engineering)

Mulder, I. (mentor)
Onencan, A.M. (mentor)
de Jong, Marlou (mentor)

Delft University of Technology

Design for Interaction

2021-07-09

In project Reyeroord Aardgasvij Service designers work together with the municipality and other stakeholders to stimulate the energy transition in the neighbourhood Reyeroord in Rotterdam. Their goal is to develop interventions in the form of neighbourhood meetings, campaigns, and other activities that aim to activate the residents of Reyeroord
in the discontinuation of natural gas in their homes. This thesis project set out to explore how the service designers can be supported in adopting a new approach to design more inclusively in this context.

It seems that currently the interventions by the designers attract only a select group of “early adopters”, but ultimately the energy transition takes place throughout the entire neighbourhood and thus influences all residents. Therefore, every resident needs to be aware of the changes to come and make choices about the changes that likely impact their home environment. It is a wish of the municipality is to include as many residents as possible in the transition.
In this thesis an adapted design process
is proposed for the service designers to contribute to a broader and more diverse participation in the neighbourhood. A three diamond approach is used to identify the problem, research possible solutions, and iteratively develop a solution.
The design goal of this thesis is formulated as: ‘To design a toolkit that enables service designers to practise a more inclusive design process when designing interventions in Reyeroord for a fairer energy transition.’

From the literature research, it is concluded that an inclusive design approach looks different depending on the applied
context. The complex context of the energy transition shows points for improvement and challenges that can be solved with an inclusive approach. A shared understanding is drawn up, in which an inclusive energy transition aims to include and integrate all people and groups in the activity of shifting residential homes from natural gas to a residual heating system while promoting the reduction of energy use and insulation in homes, especially those people who are disadvantaged.

During the idea finding phase, additional and relevant research supports the brainstorm for ideas. This explorative study focuses on the users of the toolkit and the essential elements for an inclusive approach. The design activities then lead to opportunities regarding the designers’ process, insights about building a toolkit and various components. The exploration leads to the discovery of eight solution spaces, which forms the basis of the final toolkit.

Finally, this study looks at what solution could enable the designers to implement
a more inclusive design process. In an iterative design approach, various ideas are then tested with students and designers
of Zeewaardig leading to the proposed inclusion toolkit. The final toolkit supports the designers with four different tools
that can be used during the design of interventions. Lastly, the toolkit is evaluated through a validation test which proves that the toolkit has multiple valuable additions to the current design process. Furthermore it provides relevant insights for future improvement.

To conclude, this thesis dives into the role of inclusion in the energy transition and what service designers can do to create a broader and more diverse participation in the energy transition as a whole. The final deliverable to the designers is a toolkit to reach this goal.

Participatory City Making
Delft Design Labs
Energy transition
Social innovation
Inclusion
Diversity
Inclusive design
Inclusive energy transition
Rotterdam

http://resolver.tudelft.nl/uuid:2dbec323-1946-45a2-bc07-4f9742c1e913

Student theses

master thesis

© 2021 Eva van Eck