Product Redesign Workshop

Explore

In the workshop, we will use a carpet tile as a sample product for redesign - the type you might find in an office or hotel. This presentation will help you and the other participants to get familiar with the design of a carpet tile.

The design goal is: redesign a commercial carpet tile to make it safe and circular. Choose a commercial application for a carpet tile. Ask yourself the question or interview one of the workshop participants on the value that a commercial carpet tile brings.

• What are the needs of the user?
• How is it used?
• What features do users value, and which are essential?
  

Write down the key values of commercial carpet tiles on the worksheet.

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Select

Homogeneous materials comprise part or all of a product’s make up. Homogenous materials are defined as having uniform composition and are not, in theory, able to be separated mechanically. The chemical components of a homogeneous material often have characteristics that make the material important to a product’s overall performance and its value to the user.

On the worksheet, some of the chemicals that can be found in homogeneous materials are listed. These chemicals may be necessary for the material to possess its valuable characteristics.

Select two materials that deliver the key value of the carpet tile to the user.

Screen

The next step in the process is to screen the two chemicals you selected. The screening process enables you to explore whether there are any known chemicals of concern in the materials. The MaterialWise platform includes a free and online screening tool that can help you do this.

On the worksheet, you will find a list of chemicals that appear in each of the carpet tile materials.

1. Go to www.materialwise.org/screen.
2. Log-in or register with your email address.
3. Create a “Project”.
4. Search for each substance through its Chemical Abstract Service number (CAS number).
5. Add a concentration for each substance. When you are unsure, fill in a random number.
6. Press “Screen” when you are ready.
7. Review the output.
8. Highlight the substances of concern.

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Ideate

Now that you have determined which materials contain known chemicals of concern, you have the information you need to prioritise them for redesign. But first, take a step back and reflect on what roles those chemicals play in the product.

Next, read through the Safe & Circular Strategy Cards and come up with new carpet tile product ideas using safe and circular materials. Designing out chemicals of concern will require different strategies for different products. The Safe & Circular Strategy Cards are meant to prompt your thinking on different approaches.

1. Read all the cards.
2. Come up with quick ideas for each of the strategies.
3. Select one idea with the group.
4. Explain this idea with a visual approach.
   

Your ideas may include changing materials or chemicals, a more holistic redesign of the product, or even creating a new material.

Discuss

Reflect on the design strategies and approaches you typically use. Where could you include consideration of material health in your own design process? How might you need to change your design strategy to incorporate material health?

To help with these reflections, you might ask the following questions to yourself or the group:

• What kind of information do you need to select safe and circular materials for use in your product? How can you access this information?
• How can you work together with your team members and your supply chain to gain access to information on the chemical composition of a material?
• What needs to shift in your design approach to ensure material health is seen as an opportunity and a creative starting point by your team?
• What information and context must be included in the design brief in order to integrate material health and safety into your design process?
• Who from your organisation needs to be involved?
• What kind of expertise is needed on your team to ensure material health considerations are fully addressed? Where and how can you access this expertise?
  

Share

Pitch your idea to the group. Elaborate on how the implementation of strategies to use safe and circular materials will influence the design process.

Finally, share your outcomes on the Circular Design Guide LinkedIn group and continue the conversation. If you have any feedback or questions on this workshop, feel free to post them on the LinkedIn group and share your thinking with the community.