Consumer electronics are often discarded while still functioning Among the factors contributing to this is the decline in epistemic value, the feeling of novelty. This thesis defines a framework that links aesthetic degradation with the decrease in novelty. Current product design makes aesthetic restoration difficult for average consumers, as cleaning, surface revival and part replacement typically require specialist tools, knowledge and disassembly skills. This thesis introduces the concept of aesthetic restorability, the ability of a product to have its appearance restored to a novel state.
Through interviews with refurbishment professionals and a thorough analysis of consumer cleaning practices, key design barriers were identified, including textures, inaccessible seams, material compatibility with common cleaning agents and passively degrading rubber. A life cycle assessment of a computer mouse and laptop confirm that aesthetic components represent only a small fraction of a mouse’s total carbon footprint, supporting part replacement when cleaning or surface revival are no longer sufficient.
These insights informed the OpenMouse, a redesigned computer mouse in which every aesthetic part is removable by hand, without tools, risk or instruction. The concept uses magnetic fasteners, graphical use cues and a full separation of aesthetic and electronic components. User testing with average-ability consumers shows that first-time users could fully disassemble the prototype without guidance. ... Read more

The rapid growth of electrical and electronic equipment (EEE) has led to a significant increase in electronic waste (e-waste), highlighting the need for more sustainable product lifecycles. Repair is a key strategy within the circular economy, yet consumers often replace products even when repair is feasible, particularly in the domain of small household electric appliances.

This project explores how product design can encourage do-it-yourself (DIY) repair by making repair opportunities more visible, approachable, and intuitive through the use of affordances and signifiers in the product embodiment. A mixed-method approach was applied, including a literature review, field research at Repair Cafés, product analyses, and user interviews. Based on these insights, a set of design principles for facilitating DIY repair was developed and applied in a case study of an electric shaver.

The findings show that repair affordances form the structural foundation of repairability by reducing physical and cognitive effort, while signifiers play a crucial role in communicating the intended repair actions to users. By making repair actions perceivable, interpretable, and trustworthy, signifiers reduce psychological barriers and increase user confidence. Together, affordances and signifiers transform repair from an uncertain and intimidating process into a more guided and accessible experience.

These results demonstrate the importance of integrating both structural and communicative design strategies to support consumer repair behavior, contributing to more sustainable product use and reduced e-waste. ... Read more

An exploration of social value creation within the Bieb der Dingen, a professionally managed network of lending stations.

Abstract (Platte tekst, max. 500 woorden)
- The municipality of Amsterdam is currently exploring the development of the Bieb der Dingen, a professionally managed network of lending stations. At these stations residents can borrow tools and household items that are typically used infrequently for a small fee. This thesis focuses on how the Bieb der Dingen can be designed to strengthen the social value of the service, as social value, alongside sustainability, is considered an important pillar of the concept.

However, the current service concept is based on an online reservation system combined with self-service lockers, which creates the risk that the service becomes increasingly transactional. As a result, the social value of sharing may diminish. At the same time, municipal policy, which is crucial for the continuation of the project, together with co-creation sessions with residents, show that social value is highly valued. This creates a tension between the professional setup of the service and the ambition to create social value.

Initially, this thesis explored collaboration with local initiatives as a way to strengthen social value. However, the research process revealed that the core challenge lies not only in collaboration, but also in how the service itself is designed. This led to the following design challenge:
How can the professional system of the Bieb der Dingen be designed in such a way that it is experienced as sharing together in the neighbourhood?

Based on literature research and co-creation sessions with residents, social design criteria were formulated to guide the concept development. Through a series of ideation exersices, including How-To brainstorms, co-creation sessions with local initiatives, and SCAMPER, the concept of Bieb der Dingen 2.0 was developed and refined through user testing and feedback from the Bieb der Dingen project team.

The design of Bieb der Dingen 2.0 builds upon the existing professional system while integrating social design interventions. The concept consists of three core components: recognisable bags, a physical product passport, and a neighbourhood saving point. Together, these elements make sharing more visible, personal, and collective, and reinforce each other in conveying a narrative of sharing together in the neighbourhood. Theoretical reflection suggests that the design supports intrinsic motivation by emphasising meaning, contribution, and connectedness. Further testing is required to evaluate its actual impact. Therefore, the recommendation is to implement the proposed interventions at two of the seven locations that will be realised in 2027, as described in the roadmap.

This thesis shows that social value and professionalisation do not have to be contradictory. By deliberately designing to create social value within a professional system, the Bieb der Dingen can distinguish itself as a service that is both professionally organised and socially embedded. ... Read more

This project examines the barriers consumers face when attempting to repair personal electronics, with a specific focus on wireless Active Noise Cancellation (ANC) headphones. While these devices have become increasingly common, repair is often overlooked in favour of replacement due to psychological resistance, economic factors, and practical limitations. Through research into user attitudes and product architectures, this project identifies the main hurdles to repair, such as a lack of knowledge, intimidating product design, and insufficient support materials.

Based on these findings, this project proposes a solution that addresses the main challenges preventing user-led repair. The final concept introduces a diagnosis-to-repair system supported by an intuitive physical headphone design and an AI-powered digital assistant. The design focuses specifically on the four most common malfunction scenarios reported by users - cushion wear and tear, hinge breakage, charging issues, and audio malfunctions.

The experience is designed to lower the perceived complexity of diagnosis and repair by actively engaging users directly in the troubleshooting process. The proposed headphone design enables users to easily switch cables between ports, allowing them to quickly isolate issues without the need for tools or full disassembly. This encourages active learning through doing while keeping stress and confusion to a minimum. At the heart of the headphone concept is a tiered repair model - common, high-frequency issues, such as ear cushion replacement or battery swaps, are tool-free and quick, while higher-complexity tasks remain accessible with minimal guidance. The process is supported by a digital repair assistant, hosted on common messaging platforms like WhatsApp and Telegram, ensuring familiarity and universal accessibility to repair information when users need it the most. It guides users in identifying the problem, then adapts to their input and repair confidence level, modifying its instructions accordingly, while using helpful visuals, and offering alternative repair pathways- all in a single, accessible, and unified platform.

The result aims to support the broader goals of sustainability and circularity by making repair more approachable and attractive, reducing friction, and enabling users to make confident, informed decisions at the point of device failure. The end goal is to extend headphone lifespans and reduce electronic waste by re-framing headphone repair from a burden into an empowered, user-driven experience.
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This thesis explores how Bang & Olufsen (B&O) can reframe repair from an afterthought into a natural, valuable part of luxury ownership, especially for smaller, more accessible products like BEOPLAY headphones. While B&O has a strong repair infrastructure for its high-end range, products like wearables and portable speakers are still often replaced instead of repaired. This project shows that to change that, B&O needs more than just spare parts or technical services, it needs to rethink how repair is positioned, experienced, and emotionally valued.

The focuses on consumer behaviour and consmer values, specifically the barriers and incentives towards repair behaviour. Repair isn’t just practical, it’s shaped by motivations, identity, and emotion. Using frameworks like Schwartz’s value theory and Fogg’s Behaviour Model, four value-based personas were identified that reflect the diverse values and needs of younger B&O customers. These insights make clear that a one-size-fits-all solution won’t work—repair must be flexible, intuitive, and emotional.

In addition to the consumer focused research, B&O’s current service landscape was also analysed, where gaps in emotional engagement, clarity, and consistency were identified, especially when it comes to smaller products. The proposed solution is a conceptual product-service system for BEOPLAY that weaves together proactive care, tailored repair options, and post-warranty support into one coherent, premium experience. It was developed through multiple design rounds and validated through user testing and stakeholder feedback.

The final concept empowers users who want more control, supports those who expect seamles luxury, and inspires those who view luxury as a reflection of their values. It aligns with B&O’s brand promise of timeless quality and builds a foundation for stronger loyalty, longer product use, and meaningful sustainability.

This project started with a way to tackle Fixophobia, but ended up being a structure with which B&O can create change, inspire loyalty, and position themselves stronger in the market.
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The European Union's European Green Deal targets climate neutrality by 2050, necessitating significant reductions in environmental impacts, which includes addressing the growing problem of electronic waste (E-waste). This thesis addresses the issue of the E-waste by focusing on extending the lifetime of electrical and electronic household appliances (EEA) through improving user maintenance behaviors. The main research question explores what an effective communication tool and strategy should entail in order to encourage better maintenance behavior among EEA users who are willing but not yet sufficiently active in performing the required maintenance. Grounded in behavioral science, the study integrates the COM-B model and Fogg Behavior Model to examine capability, motivation, and triggering factors that influence maintenance behavior. Expert interviews and user research revealed that while technical knowledge is accessible, users often lack intrinsic or extrinsic motivational triggers to perform periodically required maintenance. Short-term stimuli, such as dirt or reduced appliance performance, were more influential than long-term sustainability goals.

Based on these insights, a set of magnetic reminder cards was developed and tested. Designed for washing machines and extendable to other EEAs, these cards combine simple instructions with visual and textual cues, including an option of planning the next maintenance activity, aimed at raising awareness and recurringly motivating the required maintenance activities. ... Read more

This graduation thesis aimed to explore how product design can improve consumers’ lifetime expectations for electronic devices, with prevention of premature replacement of these products as the eventual desired outcome. Prior research has identified the damaging effects of mass consumption on the environment, due to the continuous demand for new materials and the rising deposition of toxic waste. This thesis proposed a theoretical model that related consumers’ predicted and intended lifetime (two types of lifetime expectations) of a product to its mental book value. It then explored potential strategies to influence these factors of replacement behaviour in order to reduce the eventual desire to (prematurey) replace a product. These strategies were supplemented by examples from practice, and used as inspiration in a creative process to develop a design intervention for smartphones and headphones. This intervention should stimulate consumers’ lifetime expectations for these devices.

The design intervention consisted of a ring of twelve LED segments implemented on the exterior of the smartphone or headphones, as well as an additional widget for more information. Each LED segment represents half a year of ownership for the smartphone, and one full year for the headphones. The main purpose of this ring is to stimulate consumers to complete the ring at least once, and thus, to use it for longer than the average lifespans of these types of products. The total number of segments should also give them an indication of its potential physical lifetime. The widget was developed to complement the message of the ring through more detailed information on the current status of factors related to the device’s life.

An experiment with 2 (device: smartphone/headphones) x 2 (with/without intervention), between-subjects design was conducted to test whether the intervention would be effective in increasing consumers’ lifetime expectations and mental book value for an electronic product, and in decreasing their intention to replace it. Division of the participants among the two device groups was based on their experience with either of the devices. The data analysis showed a significant decrease in the depreciation of the mental book value of smartphones, and an increase of the total predicted lifetime (in years) of headphones, among the treatment groups. This suggests that the design intervention of this thesis may successfully affect these factors of consumers’ replacement behaviour. The intended lifetime and replacement intention, as well as the remaining measures for the predicted lifetime and mental book value, were not affected by the intervention during the experiment. This could partially be explained by participants’ difficulty with the subject, the experiment’s design, and certain variables that acted as covariates.

Follow-up research could, for example, address the less represented factors from the theoretical model, other strategies from practice, or the discontinued concepts from the design phase. The intervention may also be tested on other devices, or with a physical model within a more realistic use context instead of an online experimental setting. Further exploration of the intervention’s business implications and its potential decreasing effect on sales, is also advised. ... Read more

Repair is an essential aspect of the circular economy and has been discussed numerously. However, the focus has been primarily on the technical possibility of repair, not on willingness to repair (WTR). As a result, many people do not consider repair an option since technical feasibility does not always translate to repair behaviour. This is especially prevalent in electronics. Therefore, this study explored opportunities to stimulate people who typically do not repair electronic devices to increase their WTR.

Seven barriers of WTR were found: awareness, desire for new products, lack of engagement, lack of trust in repair, fear for further failures, lack of clarity, and lack of attachment. Additionally, products that are less likely to be repaired are either ‘up-to-date’ (valued for their self and social identity) or ‘workhorse’ items (valued for their functionality and long lifespan). These factors influence consumer decisions about repair. The study used the I-Change model to analyse consumer behaviour and identify opportunities to stimulate WTR.

Using these four opportunities, a new interaction concept was developed. This concept aims to make people feel proud, excited, and eager to share their experiences. Similar to how when you want to show your friends how well you can drive after you get your driver’s license. This approach guided the design direction and established criteria for the final concept.

In the development phase, four concepts were discussed, and two were selected based on the criteria to be combined into one: the Made-By-You product service system (PSS). This concept allows users to design and assemble their electronics, supported by an application that centralises and streamlines information on assembly and repair. This approach aims to raise users’ awareness of the product’s components and indirectly encourage repair considerations. Providing a hub for all product-related information makes the repair process more straightforward and accessible.

A proof of concept was developed to demonstrate the feasibility of translating this concept into a tangible product. For this, a Senseo coffee machine was redesigned to fit the Made-By-You concept. The redesign involved minor design changes to enhance “assemble-ability,” but the key change was how the product was presented to the customer. The parts should arrive in preassembled units, so the assembly process does not feel long or complicated.

The assembly and repair of the product are supported by the Made-By-You application, which offers a clear method for users to gather information. It provides manuals enhanced with digital features to improve the user experience, repair diagnostic tools, recommendations, and expectations for the user journey.

After assessing the proof of concept against the criteria, it demonstrates that the Made-By-You concept can be translated into a tangible product. However, due to the project’s time constraints, a user test could not be conducted, which could have provided valuable insights into its effectiveness. Despite this limitation, this research represents progress towards enhancing WTR. Future studies could expand upon and test the concept, while other designers might leverage the identified barriers and opportunities to design their own solutions.
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The environmental impact of the transport sector, particularly aviation and road transport, is a growing concern. The European Green Deal aims to reduce GHG emissions from transport by 90% by 2050, but decarbonizing the sector remains a challenge. Despite the need for more sustainable travel behaviour, encouraging this shift remains difficult, and GHG emissions from unsustainable travel behaviour continue to rise. Multimodal digital mobility services have the potential to improve the environmental performance of transport, but their success depends on a systemic shift towards a stable, innovative and collaborative European transport network.

This project, conducted within the Seamless Personal Mobility Lab and part of Task Team 1.6 of the TULIPS consortium, focuses on the development of a multimodal TRIP platform for passengers. In collaboration with SINTEF, the project aims to create a multifaceted design strategy that encourages sustainable travel behaviour and systemic change in the European passenger transport network.

Through extensive research, including literature reviews, market analysis, and expert interviews, key insights into designing for behavioural change were gained. Multiple design sprints and co-creation sessions resulted in four platform strategies that were quantitatively tested. The quantitative study provided a foundation for some final iterations and was synthesized into a final platform strategy.

The platform addresses motivational and capability barriers to sustainable travel by using choice architecture to nudge travelers toward sustainable options, inform them about their climate impact, and make sustainable choices salient, appealing, and feasible, allowing travelers to stop and rethink their habitual choices.

Additionally, a design roadmap has been created which envisions a transport shift towards a 2050 mobility scenario of seamless and sustainabale international travel, supported by stakeholder collaboration and digital- and physical infrastructure improvements.
In addition, a design roadmap was created that envisions a transportation transformation to a 2050 mobility scenario of seamless and sustainable international travel, supported by stakeholder collaboration and digital and physical infrastructure improvements.
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Valuable resources are discarded on a daily basis, in the form of home furniture. Tonnes of prematurely disposed, functional and repairable furniture is often destined for landfill or incineration, with small proportions recycled. The emergent sustainability needs of the planet, and changing policies for repair of consumer products, drives the home furnishing company IKEA to explore repair as a circular strategy to enable prolonging the life of IKEA furniture. This project explores the context of repair at IKEA and is focused on the use-life of furniture, in people’s home.

Linear models aimed at profit making from the sale of new furniture, have so far prevented exploration of repair in IKEA stores. Subsequently leading to lacking visibility, knowledge, competencies, and resources for repair. While interventions are now being explored, in the form of tests and few examples at IKEA globally, channels for exchange of knowledge and service to customers are limited or yet to be developed.
In terms of customer behaviour for repair various values associated to furniture, from functional, aesthetic, emotional, material, and social, motivate customers to repair their home furniture. Yet highly person and product dependent and oftentimes limited perceived ability, in terms of knowledge, skills and resources for repair of home furniture, prevents people of taking any actions for repair. Furthermore, missing triggers, especially in the face of easily available and affordable new furniture, and high effort, low impact perception of repair leads people to replace rather than repair their furniture.

A participatory approach to include various perspectives relevant for repair, guided the research + design project. Desk research, interviews, front days, and co-creation with various stakeholders from IKEA helped identify the context of repair at IKEA NL. In terms of the infrastructural capacities, shortcomings, and subsequent opportunities for customer-end repair interventions by IKEA. Customer insights were gathered from desk research and further explored through interviews, survey, and co-creation sessions. Pain points, challenges and needs identified for distinct customer personas, enabled conceptualisation and prototyping of repair interventions to prolong the life of IKEA furniture.

Within the scope of this project, customer challenges of missing awareness of resources and overwhelming options for repair were explored alongside their needs for a sense of preparedness, advice, and guidance for repair of home furniture. In-store repair and refurbish activities for customers were explored as prototypes in collaboration with external experts to mitigate the limited repair resources and competencies in the store. The activities explored repair as a creative and social process. These were proposed to inspire, motivate, and enable customers to add value to their IKEA furniture. Creatively repaired products, demonstrations, hands-on engagement, and advice from experts were evaluated to investigate customer experience and desirability of the workshops.

While customer experience was positive and desirability for future workshops was high, yet there is low scope of feasibly and viably operating the workshops in their current format. Prominent challenges included limited dedicated space for and exploration of creative repairs and repaired products for inspiration, as well as many interdependent systems, especially in case of customer engagement and. The prototype workshops revealed a need to develop infrastructure, knowledge and products that are creatively repaired, prior to engaging with customers for knowledge exchange.

An alternate model of in-store repair and refurbish of IKEA furniture is proposed as future recommendation in the form of a visible creative repair hub, hosted by external experts. To enable development of a range of creatively repaired furniture for sale and inspiration, thereby preventing the waste of abundant damaged furniture from showroom and customer returns. A local repair hub in-store and expert collaborations also offer the opportunity to cater to customer repair requests in-stores, or referral to at-home services.
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With over 6 billion smartphones in use worldwide, high emissions and a considerable amount of e-waste, there is a need for a more sustainable approach. One such an approach is prolonging the use-times of smartphones, and for that repair should be popularised. This thesis examines how to prolong the use-time of smartphones through stimulating repair actions. The most occurring defect is to the display, while using the smartphone for one more year after a display repair saves about 20 percent in greenhouse gas emissions. For users to choose repair over replacement, repair needs to be affordable, accessible, and attractive, which current repair options do not adequately deliver. Smartphones can also be designed more reliable and repairable to support repairs and prolong use-times. These strategies need to be balanced with the smartphone’s competitiveness for a sizeable impact.

Therefore, a repair platform is proposed for stimulating repair, alongside a repairable smartphone that aims at further triggering repair actions and competing with high-end smartphones for a sizeable impact. A collaboration between repair shops and manufacturers needs to deliver value to the user. The proposed system delivers accessibility by creating a repair network of independent shops, which gains user trust by offering original parts and warranty. It makes repair more attractive by reducing the time and effort it takes and giving users insight into their environmental contribution. This creates value for repair shops by delivering customers and enabling quicker turnaround times. The manufacturer benefits by receiving the old parts, being more in control of their supply chain and gaining a strengthened competitive positioning. By being more accessible and attractive, users are more motivated to repair. Affordability is the third factor necessary for favourable repair yet this is only achieved in part by quicker repair times. It needs to be further investigated how to reduce the costs of spare parts. This thesis contributes by combining the need for a repair network with repairable smartphones. A repair network needs more repairable smartphones, and a repairable smartphone needs a well-functioning repair network. ... Read more

Investing has become a hot topic among the younger generation since the Covid-19 crisis. However, much of its potential is still unused, as seen in a big group of the younger generation which is positive to start but procrastinates this decision. While this younger generation would like to make a positive impact with their money on the environment of the planet earth, the existing investing propositions aren’t helping them with that sustainable mission.
In this thesis, I researched how Rabobank can help this group of young non-investors start investing, but with a sustainable focus. Creating a win-win situation for the non-investor who gets motivated to start investing consciously while at the same time helping them to fulfil their sustainable ambitions. ... Read more

The textile industry is one of the largest industries in the world. It brings economic wealth to many countries but is also one of the largest contributors to environmental pollution. Textile companies nowadays often mention sustainability in their business models. However, it is noticed that consumers do not trust the word sustainability when textile companies use it. The uncertainty about the actual sustainability of clothing has led to a need for a high credibility label that indicates the environmental and social sustainability of the production process of an item. This research therefore focuses on the research question: How can a widely recognized sustainability label indicate both the environmental and social impact of the production process of a clothing item in a way that best informs consumers during their purchasing practices? This exploratory research is conducted commissioned by and in collaboration with the Ministry of Infrastructure and Water Management. The research presents the first base of information that will contribute to the discussion of implementing a (mandatory) sustainability label. In order to analyse the research question, three phases in this research are completed: the use of labels, the environmental impact of a clothing item, and the social impact of a clothing item. The research concludes in multiple recommendations for further research due to the exploratory character of this research, recommendations for implementing the new sustainability label, and recommendations for policy makers. ... Read more

In the Netherlands, around 700.00 parcels per day are delivered by PostNL. The first part is delivered directly to people’s homes; the second part is delivered to a retail location where people then pick up the parcels themselves. This assignment was about the second flow of parcels, more and more consumers are choosing to pick up their parcel at a retail location, but the locations cannot handle the increasing volume anymore. This led to the following research question: Design a new PostNL service solution enabling consumers to receive their parcel in the way they prefer. The solution should lower the pressure on the current retail network and be adapted to the changing future context. As a next step in the process, research has been done into market conditions and consumers. Consumers were interviewed to create a customer journey about the order and shipping process. Consumers visiting a parcel point were interviewed as well as employees and owners of the parcel point. Lead users who came up with a solution for the problem themselves were also interviewed. Many consumers experienced the parcel points as a necessary evil because they are not at home during the day and therefore depend on a parcel point. They prefer to receive their package at home and do not want to go to a parcel point after work. They also indicated that picking up a parcel takes more time than just the transaction; they have to park, wait in line and wait for an employee to find the parcel. Some consumers also indicated that it was difficult to arrange something officially with PostNL. Subsequently, further research was done into where the frequent online shoppers live and whether this group had specific characteristics. It appears that frequent online shoppers are generally younger and receive a minimum of 5 parcels per month. PostNL does not have a shortage of capacity in every district; some districts still have a lot of retail locations available or fewer parcels are delivered to retail in a specific district. Based on the research, the Vinex districts and the high-rise districts around the city-centre have been selected as areas where the most improvement is possible. Various concepts have been devised to solve the problem, taking into account the insights of the research and the requirements from PostNL. The final proposed solution is a roadmap making use of lockers to receive parcels and a platform for more customer-oriented and efficient shipping. The lockers are placed at the entrance of the high-rise apartment buildings, so PostNL can always deliver the parcels at the home of the consumer. In the subsequent phases of the roadmap, the lockers are opened to retailers who deliver their goods themselves and other couriers who can use the locker for a fee. In the final phase of the roadmap, the couriers will collaborate even more, which leads to more efficiency and therefore sustainability. On the platform, the shipping wishes of the consumer ordering online are shared with the participating couriers so that they can offer a price for this request. Couriers can base their price for example on their available capacity and whether they already have to deliver a parcel near the address. PostNL earns a percentage on every transaction via the platform. ... Read more

To realize the shift towards a Circular Economy, products should stay usable as long as possible. Maintaining products is the most efficient way of retaining their desired level of performance. This is called Product care. Product care can be understood as any action that helps to prolong the lifetime of a product. The aim of this thesis is to explore how designers can stimulate users to perform product care activities. This goal has been reached through a practice-based approach and connecting it with strategies from existing literature. This took place at the University of Technology Delft. The context of Product care and the product care behavior of end-users have been researched through a diary study, a micro-emotion scan, creative sessions with design students and literature regarding repair and maintenance. This revealed two things, there are 7 types of product care and each user has a different profile regarding their skills, motivations and barriers. This shows that analyzing which type of product care you are aiming for and defining your specific user are essential requirements. To develop design strategies for Design for Product care various methods were used. A brainstorm session with designers was held to develop product solutions that stimulate product care. An ideation session was held by myself and real product examples were collected that already stimulate Product care. The product solutions were used to cluster into design strategies. The clustering process led to 8 design strategies: experiences, enabling, informing, change, reflecting, social, control and appropriation. hese can be linked to existing strategies and theories regarding Circular, Emotion-centered and Behavioral design. to transfer the knowledge about the design strategies to designers a design tool was developed. The process was iterative and the 2 biggest iterations were tested with design students and designers. These tests showed that a few important criteria for the test were that it should teach the designer about the different types of product care, the design strategies and they should take the type of user and product into consideration. The tool needs to provide a sense of structure, and still be flexible to fit everyone’s process. It should provide examples of how a design strategy is implemented into a design. The final tool is the Product Care Kit, a set of magnetic cards used for brainstorming, ideating and discussing. It presents the most important factors which influence Product care. The set consists of the following cards: persona cards, product cards, product care type cards, design strategy cards and example cards with product solutions for each design strategy. This tool helps to analyze and understand the context which you are designing for. It helps to create conceptual design ideas for product care. In the future this tool should be further evaluated with designers in practice and taught to design students.The outcomes of the tool should be validated by end-users. The tool can potentially lead to sustainable care behavior and lead to physically and emotionally durable products. ... Read more

In the last decade, an increasing amount of people has become aware of the negative impact their behaviour has on the environment. However, most consumers are not aware of the negative environmental impact of the products they purchase and possess. Research has been done on different aspects of products for a circular economy, such as product longevity, and on the purchase process but mostly for marketing reasons instead of sustainability. Research has also been done on the gap between intention and behaviour of sustainability minded people. This research presents barriers, but no research was found on translating these barriers into solutions. Little was found in literature about making appropriate sustainable buying decisions. The main objective of this thesis is to stimulate consumers to exclusively purchase products with long-term psychological value, with the ultimate goal of reducing the ecological footprint of the consumers. In the first part of this research the characteristics of personal long-term value of products are identified. Data for this study is obtained through ten in-depth interviews and literature review. The second part of this research aims to identify how the purchase behaviour could be changed and which factors influence the purchase behaviour. This part contains a literature review and utilises the research through design method, in which five different prototypes are tested. The third part of this thesis translates this new theory into practice. Three new prototypes are developed, which should together affect the change in purchase behaviour. These products are validated with five participants over three weeks. The results of the interviews show three categories of psychological long-term product value: products that carry memories, products that satisfy basic needs and products which enable human goals. These last two categories complement each other. The research on behavioural change shows that the human goals should be discovered first, which results in a personal set of long-term product values. Next, consumers have to be reminded of their values during the purchase process. Finally, sufficient commitment should be created to resist the products that do not fit the personal set of long-term product values. For this, a game is proposed to raise awareness and discover this personal set of long-term product values. This game enables the consumer to train the reasoning behind the desire for products. The validation test showed that the game is successful in creating awareness and in training consumers to reason about products with personal long-term product value. To make the consumer remember their set of personal long-term product values in the purchase process, two reminders are proposed: the ‘Product Calendar’, and a sticker set ‘Stick to your values’. These designs remind the consumer of their long-term product values, translate the game into real life and create commitment. In conclusion, this project enables designers to understand long-term psychological product value, gives them a framework to design for purchase behavioural change, and the designs of this project enable consumers to make more sustainable purchase decisions. ... Read more

The effects of the linear economy on our environment are becoming more visible every day. Governments act by introducing sustainability related laws and legislation, stimulating companies to make their products ready for a circular economy. This project aimed at using the benefits of the Internet of Things to design a circular supermarket lighting product-service system for Signify. The result of this design project is StoreSight, a result oriented product-service combination that provides store owners with value that goes beyond the illuminaition of the store only.

Signify already offers circular lighting services (e.g. Light as a Service) in a few segments, but is aiming to also do so in the supermarket segment. However, the length of the refurbishment cycles of the supermarkets hinders Signify to offer Circular Lighting as it is offered in other segments. The length of the refurbishment cycles of supermarkets are often a lot shorter than the technical lifetime of a lighting system. As a result, luminaires are replaced and thrown away despite being in perfectly good condition.

Different academics point out that the Internet of Things (IoT) creates opportunities for circular propositions. The connection of physical objects through the internet enables them to sense their own and their environments status, process this information and interact with their users. These capabilities help service providers to extend the useful life of products, maximise the utilisation of products, loop products through additional use cycles, regenerate natural capital from their products, and make sure these products are used efficiently. Since Signify wants to become a player in the field of IoT and is already equipping its products with sensors and connectivity, there is an opportunity to use this for circular purposes as well.

The result of this design project is the StoreSight concept, a circular result oriented product-service combination that enables the reuse of retail luminaires. Over time, StoreSight will evolve from a service that enhances attractiveness of the store, into service that enhances the shopping comfort and finally into a service that gathers different types of data to enable store optimisation. The StoreSight system roughly consist of three components: hardware, a service squad, and a software platform. The first component, the hardware, consist of a modular lighting grid with movable CE ready luminaires and upgradable sensing devices. The second component, the service squad, consists of the stakeholders from Signify and its partners that will interact with the store owner during the contract period. They will make sure the luminaires will be reused when the store is refurbished. The final element is the platform, a digital software application that enables the different stakeholders to control the lighting and access data about the luminaires from so-called luminaire passports. The StoreSight concept shows how IoT could enable stakeholders to communicate with each other about the luminaires and their remaining value. These insights improve the collaboration of stakeholders in reusing the luminaires in a new lighting plan.
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Aortic stenosis is one of the most serious heart valve diseases and is the result of calcification of the aortic valve leaflets. This calcification is irreversible and affect the functionality of the heart valves. The only treatment is an aortic valve replacement. The trend in heart valve replacement is moving from open heart surgery towards minimally invasive techniques where a heart valve prosthesis is placed over the native aortic valve, called the TAVI procedure.

A crimped stent that contains a heart valve prosthesis is pushed upwards through the femoral access route with a delivery catheter. This prosthesis is placed in the aortic annulus and wedged over the native valve. The positioning of the heart valve prosthesis is important for the success of the procedure and durability of the prosthesis. A coaxial placement to the aortic annulus in the center of the aorta lumen is the target during this positioning of the prosthesis.

The Medtronics and Edwards delivery systems, that are currently used, only have the possibility to be steered with a maximum of 1 rotation, providing an alignment with the aortic annulus in the frontal plane of the body. The rotation to provide the alignment in the sagittal plane is lacking. This report will focus on the question if extra steerability of the delivery system will provide a better positioning of the tip of the delivery system, which in the end, will position the heart valve prosthesis.

The Edwards delivery system will be reverse engineered to look at the current mechanisms that are used to provide the rotation in the frontal plane. Subsequently, two experiments are performed to select the best configuration for the modification on the tip of the delivery system. Ultimately, the designed prototype will be validated with two tests to answer the research question if the extra steerability will provide a better positioning.

The prototype is validated by comparing the positioning of the Medtronics and Edwards delivery system with the prototype during an experiment where the three systems have to be maneuvered to a predefined position in an aorta model of glass. This predefined position represents the center of the aorta lumen in a coaxial orientation. Two rotations and the xyz-coordinations of the tip will be measured by an Aurora NDI system and the results will be compared.

It showed that the prototype provided a bigger reach within the aorta lumen and a had a bigger domain of angles in which the tip could be orientated than the prototype. Moreover, the prototype provided a better alignment in the sagittal and frontal plane with regards to the reference point.

The research only focused on the positioning of the tip and didn’t take the deployment of the heart valve prosthesis into account. Further development of the prototype is needed to make it useful for the TAVI procedure. In addition, more research is needed to validate the prototype in a dynamic environment that represents the reality with blood flow and more tortuosity in the access route. Nevertheless, the prototype look promising to be used for the perfect positioning of the heart valve prosthesis which will have a positive effect on the durability and functionality of the prosthesis. ... Read more