Design for product care focusses on stimulating users to prevent early obsolescence of products, which is particularly valuable for electronic household products. One product care strategy is to create attachment and therefore care motivation by strengthening the product-user relationship. Currently, these strategies lack practicable design directions that designers can use easily, which is why little innovations occur. I propose to stimulate product care behaviour by improving the rela/onship between products and users through ambient interface implementa/on in design. Ambient interfaces embrace communication with a playful, unobtrusive, intuitive character and gradual presenta/on. The goal of this project was to create a tool that summarises the characteristics of ambient interfaces. This became the ‘Ambient Care-Interaction Index’, an online tool that contains informative text and inspiring examples. It can be used to learn about ambient interfaces and inspire designers to use the qualities to (in)directly stimulate care.

This thesis explored the company of Caffe Inc., their offerings and doings and the context that they work in. Caffe Inc. is currently taking the first steps in creating value from spent coffee grounds. They wish to grow as a company and to build the largest biorefinery for processing spent coffee grounds into colourants and oil. With the biorefinery they want to stimulate the circular economy and show to everyone what the possibilities for repurposing are, and to prove that waste does not have to exist. The need for the circular economy is high, due to our current linear economy valuable resources end up on the landfill, the climate is changing and resources are getting exhausted. In addition, the consumer awareness on sustainability is growing and they are pressuring companies into becoming more sustainable and transparent. Additionally, companies also start to care more about the impact they make. The products of Caffe Inc. can be a solution to these companies, providing a circular and sustainable alternative. The products that Caffe Inc. create offer many possible applications. The oil can be used for personal care products and the colourants to dye clothes. However, Caffe Inc. still needed to establish in market(s) their products are of value and how they should position themselves and their products there. To provide a relevant advice and strategy to Caffe Inc. the following research question was established: How and where should Caffe Inc. position their products in the market? The answer to the research question is found through extensive market and context research, an analysis of the company, the product and the competitors, interviews with circular start-ups and a consumer questionnaire. The final solution is presented as a go-to-market strategy covering the steps that need to be followed when entering the target markets. It explains which markets to enter and how to successfully enter them. The research found that the clients buy the coffee oil because it is a circular alternative to their regular materials, and there are not any other circular and local alternatives on the Dutch market. However, the interviews revealed that circularity is not something to position your products on, the added value is of most importance. This is also confirmed by the consumer questionnaire, Consumers buy products based on quality and price. They are open to the idea of buying products created from spent coffee grounds. The target consumer, who would buy the products created from spent coffee grounds cares about sustainability but more than that, it wants the product to be of good quality and to be fun. They believe all products created from spent coffee grounds deserve an equal chance as long as their quality is equal to that of its alternative. If Caffe Inc. explands their business to other European countries, Germany offers the most opportunities for Caffe Inc.. With this information the go-to-market strategy is created. The go-to-market strategy can be divided into three horizons. The goal of the first horizon, let it sprout!, is to build the biorefinery and sell the oil in bulk on the Dutch market and achieve a proof of concept. The goal of the second horizon, let it grow!, is to expand the product portfolio by introducing a consumer good and expand to foreign markets. The goal of the third horizon, let it flourish!, is to add the knowledge programs to the product portfolio, build biorefineries in foreign countries and start the giving back program.

The environmental impact of our current consumption pattern on the earth is growing. The linear economy is accelerating the environment pollution and increasing the use of resources. If we want to be able to gradually move towards a circular system it is vital to include in this strategy the way products are being cared for, which is Product care. Product care is an approach to use a product as a means to catalyze consumers’ care behaviour change. It does so in a user-in-control way (you wash your coffee machine regularly without any reminder), but also in a product-in-control way (the coffee machine will stop working if you don’t wash it on time). The control degree of the product care means the degree of consumer autonomy over product care behavior and the degree of product intervention on the user. This project is aiming to explore what is the optimal balance between these two ways when they design for product care. This goal is reached by using the research-through-design approach. In this study, three strategies of product care with different control degrees were formulated through analyzing and combining existing strategies from circular design and behavioral change design fields. Based on three strategies, six concepts were generated to test which strategies and control degree are most effective. And the result was that users preferred the concept of a balanced product care agency. To verify and further define the optimal balance between user in control and product in control, the control degree mechanism of product care was formulated which includes 3 aspects, 7 themes and 15 design elements. The mechanism can be used to help the designers to determine the agency of the dominant product care in the concept by determining the control degree of the design elements contained in the concept, which has been validated by the second user test. Besides, at the end of the project, the most effective and user’s preferred scope of balance between user control and product agency in the mechanism are provided: Awareness (The design intervention increases the awareness of product care and helps users to start care activities consciously.)：Balanced or more user-oriented Support (The design intervention supports the user in the process of product care, making care activities cognitively or behaviorally clearer and simpler.): Balanced or more product-oriented Feedback(The design intervention will give users feedback when they complete or fail to complete their product care activities.): Balanced

Repair is gaining popularity over the last few years but still is under-represented in society. This project does research backpack repair, especially home repairs by users. Backpacks are generally easy to understand in their construction, as the seams and patterns are visi- ble. Still, repairing is not common because of different factors. User behavior plays an essential part in this! therefore, the thesis focused on user behavior for re- pair. The research question to answer in this project was how self-repairing a backpack could be made more accessi- ble and motivating for users. This plays into addressing the issue of user behavior for repair and the problems they face regarding backpack repair. The literature search showed that research in repair had been done on clothing, but there is a gap in back- pack repair. This project also attempts to contribute information to that gap. Either way, clothing or backpacks, there are several reasons why users do not engage in repair. Known fac- tors that negatively influence engagement in repairing are financial aspects, the lack of skills/knowledge, the missing resources, the time it takes, or the low emo- tional relationship people have with a product. That means the underlying factors can make the efforts to engage in repairing a backpack currently too high. While individual repairs in textiles are not that common for most consumers, that can be caused by companies actively trying to prevent users from repairing, by bad product design, and by consumer behavior. Talking with experts provided more in-depth informa- tion on the current methods and state of repair for backpacks. In addition, it gave information on the dif- ficulty of providing glue solutions, the complexity of backpack assembly, and sewing as the most accessi- ble technique. Research on backpack damages was conducted to get specific information on the field. It revealed that the most occurring damage types are ripped fabric fol- lowed by broken zippers. Common barriers and motivations for users to repair their backpacks were researched through user inter- views. They showed that time, effort, aesthetics, price, and symbolic values are essential for repair. The insights from the research were used to ideate de- sign solutions that address the found issues. A busi- ness planning was set up for the chosen concept, and analyses of the repair market, target groups, and finan- cial planning were used to refine the concept into a vi- able product and build a brand that makes it desirable. The final concept, a repair patch, is designed to give users an accessible introduction to repairing and sew- ing. It plays into the emotional journey users perceive during a repair, giving them the confidence to conduct a repair themselves and a positive feeling to finish it. -----------------------------------------------------------------