Memorandum+14

Spencer Parker


 * Final Proposal **

Innovation and Sustainable Consumerism through Planned obsolescence
 * Title **


 * Abstract **

-The goal of this study is to approach the practice of planned obsolescence from a new perspective and propose an evolution of both the concept and its application in society. -The study will draw on scholarly literature that explores planned obsolescence from a sustainability viewpoint. Literature that examines planned obsolescence in relation to Innovation in the current system and arguments for and against planned obsolescence based on different factors are also of great interest. -Data for the study will be collected through interviews with qualified individuals, literary reviews, and various product case studies. -Results of this study will demonstrate planned obsolescence’s effect on our consumer way of life and the inevitability of perceived obsolescence and its impact, as well as a way to counteract this impact through an evolved form of planned obsolescence that promotes a far more sustainable form of resource consumption. -Findings from this study will indicate the need for a more sustainable form of product development and a way to make planned obsolescence a tool for innovation and sustainability that works to counteract perceived obsolescence. The findings and proposed alternative of this study could be very interesting and useful because the problem of focus itself will evolve to become a part of the solution.


 * Overview **

-The aim of this study is to advance our understanding of the future potential of planned obsolescence on product development in a consumer society, examining its role in a new light and identifying to what degree it is necessary and in what forms. This will be accomplished by means of -The world is going to waste prosperity cannot last within the current paradigm unless we collectively do something to reverse current damaging trends or at least stop or slow them and start to integrate a more sustainable way of life and business practice. The goals of this thesis are within the scope of this way of reasoning and viewing what exists. Society has reached a rate of technological advancement and growth so rapid and consumerism become so embedded in our culture that our current rate of global resource consumption will be impossible to sustain in the long term. Consumer products are being used up, become useless, and end up in landfills at an alarming pace. -At this point in time in society, first world countries are living prosperously yet incredibly wastefully. This is not primarily the fault of consumers but that of the media and the craze of a consumerist culture marketed, embraced, and sustained by corporations, dependent on consumers urge to keep buying the new. These new products are all too often by no means far more functional than the previous generation, and yet, we buy them because we are under the impression we need to have them to keep up and be trending. This is the context of perceived and planned obsolescence and it is an incredibly unsustainable system. The main research questions are… to what extent and in what forms is planned obsolescence necessary and advantageous for consumers, innovation, and progress? How did we get to this type of destructive consumer culture? Could planned obsolescence become a more sustainable practice? What would be ideal and what would this take? -A large part of the paper will draw from previous literature relating to planned obsolescence. The goal is to examine the system from an entirely new perspective but in order to achieve this and come to new insights, the entire system must be thoroughly examined and highlights and key findings given in argument for why the thesis draws a particular conclusion. A full understanding is required not to fully convey to the audience but to fully understand the problems associated with the subject and all its subcomponents. Interviews are the ideal form of data acquisition for this study because this method can provide firsthand experiences with planned obsolescence and consumerism. Interview questions will be open ended and much of the focus of each will be on product frustrations and what interviewees would like from the future of product design to meet their needs. Hopefully, general themes will arise with enough participants. Interviews with field experts will also be utilized and leveraged in support of a central argument for the need for change within the system and perhaps even an entirely new model of global resource based infrastructure.


 * Methodology and Plan of Work **


 * //<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;">Conceptual Framework: Outline //**

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;">-Provide historical backdrop… how things got to be this way and why it is a problem <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;"> -The shift from function driven mechanical products to black box consumer electronics <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;"> -Driving forces in consumer economy and <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;">-Come to verify and acknowledge the negatives of planned and perceived obsolescence <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;"> -Corporate profit to stay competitive and in business and the perpetuation of consumerism <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;"> -Explain perceived obsolescence and its implications to past and future markets <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;"> -Provide anecdotes of multiple product case studies that revolve around planned obsolescence <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;">-Discuss environmental implications and how the current paradigm can’t last <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;"> -Field expert interviews and literary support of environmental and global impact <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;">-Advantages and to what extent and for what product categories planned obsolescence is necessary <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;"> -Where and why it is necessary within the current system <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;"> -Products do need to last and be quality for companies to stay competitive <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;"> -Innovation through iteration and incremental product development for easy adoption <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;">-Propose that planned obsolescence doesn't have to exist in this form and or within this system <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;"> -Field expert interviews on sustainability, cradle to cradle, and change within the system <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;"> -Present current efforts of products moving in a sustainable direction like modular phones <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;"> -Lead to the fact that current efforts are not enough and paradigm shift is required <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;"> -Ask what could be and what would be ideal <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;">-Propose an alternative solution within the current system that could be both profitable and sustainable <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;"> -Go into depth of what an evolution of planned obsolescence would entail <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;"> -Apply this concept to the previous product case studies <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;"> -Designing products to be upgraded to plan for new innovations <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;">-How planned obsolescence will drive this new age of innovation and product design <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;"> -Shift in design education away from exploiting perceived obsolescence <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;"> -Results and conclusions from product case study redesigns and guide for future designers <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;">-Expand on justification of this new way of business and its potential <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;"> - The idea is to change the motivations behind why products are designed to become obsolete. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;"> -Steps needed to get to this point and how it can be achieved


 * //<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;">Research Questions //**

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;">-How did we get to this type of destructive consumer culture? <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;">-To what extent and in what forms is planned obsolescence necessary and advantageous for consumers, innovation, and progress? <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;">-Could planned obsolescence become a more sustainable practice? What would be ideal and what would this take?


 * //<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;">Study components //**

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;">Society has reached a rate of technological advancement and growth so rapid and consumerism become so embedded in our culture that our current rate of global resource consumption will be impossible to sustain in the long term. Consumer products are used up, become useless, and end up in landfills at an alarming pace. Many types of products should not come into existence unless they can be design to adapt to stay in use. Innovation is directly linked to iteration in product development and the adoption of new innovations in society is quite a complex relation, but more importantly, planned obsolescence can be a tool in a larger system that enables for more innovation in the sense that upgrades can be planned into the current generation of physical products. Standardization of physical interfaces were previously seen as they method of achieving this and cradle to cradle design offers a great starting point but the true solution to incompatibility of future tech and upgrades is the ability to deconstruct and recycle and rebuild through a general product servicing from the ground up. Components still usable and required can be reused with the new. Market pressures and perceived obsolescence work against this and a more sustainable ideology but there is an opportunity for products to be planned not just not to fail but to be intentionally obsolete to encourage new innovation but at the same time, sustainable product improvements. A change in the way businesses view planned obsolescence could work to change the paradigm within the system and lead to a more sustainable consumer society. To carry out and support such a proposal, the effects that perceived and planned obsolescence have on consumers can be better understood through interviews with consumers themselves to identify and compare their views and frustrations with planned obsolescence and consumerism. In addition, interviews to examine the views of qualified experts may be used to explore what the system could be and tie this in with current literature on how planned obsolescence is currently perceived, potentially advantageous and even required for innovations, and necessary to a certain extent with a monetary system and within a global culture of rapid consumerism, embraced by all first world countries but impacting all countries and the environment. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;">My motivations for this project and what I hope to get out of it is a better understanding of the field surrounding planned obsolescence and clarified ideas of my values as a future professional design engineer. With this under consideration, I do have some degree of bias as a researcher with a future stake in the game. I may one day be deciding how or if planned obsolescence will be utilized and embraced in the products I design. I will inevitably encounter ethical dilemmas concerning sustainability benefits vs. profitability and part costs. Achieving the goals of this study require a comprehensive understanding of consumer culture, manufacturing, product development, and business practice. These are spheres of knowledge I will be surrounded in every day so the more I can learn early on in my career, the better.


 * //<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;">Schedule of Activities //**

//<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;">Oct 15-22 // <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;">-Write Draft <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;">-Finnish field expert interviews //<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;">Late October- December // <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;">-Continue to refining thesis <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;">-Conduct Interviews and draw insights <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;">-Tie together elements to a fully evolution of planned obsolescence <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;">December 3 <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;">-Submit thesis


 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;">Dissemination **

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;">My argument is based on the premise that our consumer society needs to adapt sustainable product development methods to accommodate for the ever-increasing rate of technological growth and progress. This study will attempt to change a common view of that planned obsolescence is and it’s potential to be applied to start reversing the damage it has done. The audience that will be interested in this study is vast and could range from those in sustainability studies to designers, engineers, and business professionals that make the decisions around planned obsolescence as part of their jobs. Any students interested in related fields would also benefit from the findings of this project.