Course syllabus

Course-PM

IMS010 Design for sustainable behaviour lp2 HT23 (7.5 hp). Course is offered by the department of Industrial and Materials Science

In order to face the sustainability challenges the world is subject to, we need both development of new technology and to change the way in which we act and go about our everyday lives, we need behaviour change. The way in which the products we use every day are designed affects how we can behave and how we like to behave - design can therefore also be used to affect behaviour intentionally.

This course ties together knowledge about design, human behaviour and sustainable development to provide tools to use the design of artefacts to impact behaviour. The course requires students to have previous knowledge about designing and the design process, as well as knowledge about environmental and social sustainability challenges facing the world.

The aim of the course is that students should develop their knowledge on the relationship between design and human behaviour, explain how design creates preconditions for sustainable behaviour in everyday life, as well as develop the capability to design with intent to support (or discourage) specific behaviour.

Learning objectives

After completion of the course the student should be able to:

• Differentiate between theories on how to understand human behaviour from different disciplines and use such theories to analyse behaviour
• Discuss how a product's design, i.e. its functions and form, sets preconditions for sustainable behaviour and lifestyles
• Discuss to what extent design decisions on different abstraction levels impact everyday behaviour
• Choose between and apply methods and theoretical frameworks regarding how to affect behaviour through design
• Predict and handle the ethical implications of designs intended to change behaviour
• Evaluate the effects of designs intended to change behaviour from a systems perspective, including acceptance, sustainability and consequences.
• Assimilate cutting edge research, judge its relevance and quality in relation to design practice, and to contribute its development

Contact details

The course is run by:

Helena Strömberg, examiner: helena.stromberg@chalmers.se, 031-772 1047

Karin Nilsson, lecturer: nikarin@chalmers.se 

Sara Renström, guest lecturer: sara.renstrom@ri.se

Schedule

See course summary below, and TimeEdit for rooms

Course literature

NEW! The course builds on a brand new course book "Sustainability through everyday designs" by Anneli Selvefors, Sara Renström and Helena Strömberg, published by Studentlitteratur. Available at Chalmers Store and online https://www.studentlitteratur.se/kurslitteratur/teknik-datorer-it-och-bygg/produktutveckling/sustainability-through-everyday-designs/

Additional literature will be provided and/or suggested during the course, see Modules for the literature. Some texts will constitute compulsory reading for each of the seminars.

Course design

In this course, theoretical content runs in parallel with a project where the theoretical content is applied in practice. The project is explained further in the project PM available in Modules. The course activities can be seen in the course summary below, and are divided into four sections:

• Introductory week
  • lectures on the topic in context and a general introduction to behaviour change and sustainability
  • group formation and choice of topic to focus on during the project
• Main module 1: Psychological and economical perspective on behaviour
  • Includes lectures on the theories used to understand behaviour from this perspective, methods to study behaviour based on those theories, as well as how to design using the knowledge gained. 
  • A discussion seminar on the theory of the perspective; prepare by reading the compulsory texts. 
  • The application of one methodology within the perspective on the topic chosen for the project. 
  • The presentation of the result of the project at the poster seminar: prepare a poster (using the guide) to present your results during the module. Be prepared to present and discuss your project. The poster should be handed in the same day, for peer review by another group.
• Main module 2: Social and cultural-historical perspective on behaviour
  • Includes lectures on the theories used to understand behaviour from this perspective, methods to study behaviour based on those theories, as well as how to design using the knowledge gained. 
  • A discussion seminar on the theory of the perspective; prepare by reading the compulsory texts. 
  • The application of one methodology within the perspective on the topic chosen for the project. 
  • The presentation of the result of the project at the poster seminar: prepare a poster (using the guide) to present your results during the module. Be prepared to present and discuss your project. The poster should be handed in the same day, for peer review by another group.
• Reflective module - reflecting on the value of the content of the course
  • Reflective report: as the final assignment you are to write an individual reflective report comparing the different ways of understanding and designing for behaviour, reflecting on the basis of your group’s results as well as the other groups. A separate guide will be provided for this report.

Examination form

The course is pass/fail. To pass the course a student must:

• actively participate in the theory seminars during the course
• complete a group project, including
  • 5 hand-ins along the way: chosen behavioural challenge (text), results from module 1 and result from module 2 (posters), peer review feedback to another group in conjunction with the poster seminars
  • actively participate in the poster seminars
• hand in an individual reflective report at the end of the course.

In case a student is absent from any of the seminars, a complementary hand-in must be completed instead. If you fail any assignment, you will be asked to revise the assignment. 

Assignments should be produced individually or within the assigned project group when relevant. No plagiarism of extant texts or copying of other student's work is allowed. AI tools are not allowed to be used to generate or synthesise text in the written assignments, however AI tools may be used to edit text produced by the student with the intent to improve language, to gain inspiration in the design process and to find information.

Changes made since the last occasion

The course has a new course book, but otherwise is run in the same way as last year.