Bauhaus-Universität Weimar: Daily Observations

Photo of a stone with a handle screwed onto it

Why would anyone screw a handle onto a stone when every stone fulfils the function of a paperweight, doorstop, emergency hammer etc. anyway?

To lift the stone, 99% of all test subjects reach for the screwed-on handle; questions about temperature or surface quality can usually only be answered with the help of the second hand. The price for simplifying the action is a shortening of perception.

The reliability of the stone with handle experiment is astonishing: no matter how absurd the handle seems, test persons are inclined to use it for gripping wherever it appears. The question of why this is so can easily be answered with comfort, habit, etc.

In the context of behaviour-centred sustainability, the stone with handle triggers interesting questions regarding the effect of automatisms (in more complex product contexts):

What is the price of simplifications?
How often are people subject to (unnoticed) automatisms of behaviour?
How does the shortening of our perception influence our consciousness?
What effect do automatisms have on our behaviour?
Do casual everyday interactions also have an influence on mental transformation?
What is the relationship between quantity and quality of influence?
Where can we as product designers help to train mindfulness?

Mowing the lawn by hand brings satisfaction (especially in light of the knowledge of CO₂ problems), cranking the coffee by hand does the same (even if it takes more time), the advantages of cycling over driving a car (not only in terms of CO₂) are now considered state of the art on many levels. Contemplative breaks in everyday life are increasingly rare; they act as a catalyst for discovering the added value of deceleration, de-automation and de-machinisation.

If you don't keep sheep, have no experience of using a scythe, don't yet own a robotic lawnmower and don't like using cylinder lawnmowers, it's not uncommon to opt for an electric lawnmower. If this decision doesn't seem very ecological in many respects, we recommend using a green lawnmower cable so that you train your attention with every use of the electric lawnmower.

While Lucius Burckardt already pointed out the questionable nature of frictionlessness 30 years ago, we all know today, in the context of the well-known triptych of sustainability–wholeness–mindfulness, that our awareness of ecological behaviour benefits from mindfulness: Mindfulness is a competence that should be trained in the interest of ecological behaviour.

As modern people are trained to be careless in many situations - often without realising it - the product designer is interested in the question of where the boundary between safety and danger lies in order to be able to meaningfully explore the scope of mindfulness training available in everyday life. The added value of incidental mindfulness training through environmental design always raises the question of the areas/niches to which everyday training can be meaningfully extended. The design of ecological products includes mindfulness training.

Products can make this awareness tangible and usable in modern everyday life. Design can provide a starting point, can help overcome entry barriers, can counteract setbacks, and supports the development of a sufficient awareness.

Wir beobachten im Kontext Nachhaltigkeit, dass die Verursacher von Umweltschäden als Nutznießer der Erträge ungern für die Umweltkosten aufkommen. Häufig stehen wirtschaftliche Interessen, sog. Gewohnheitsrechte oder Privilegien einer Neugestaltung der gesellschaftlich kulturellen Rahmenbedingungen im Wege. Aber die Welt ist im Wandel und bestehende Ordnungen können geändert werden. Der Weg besteht aus vielen kleinen Schritten und dem Design kann dabei, in Abhängigkeit vom Sujet, eine wichtige Rolle zukommen.

Example 1

Photo of a yellow-marked smoking area at a railway station

In 1980, it was still customary to protect smokers from non-smokers. On the school bus, at work, in the pub, etc., it was customary for smokers to have every freedom to smoke, and all other people who felt impaired by this had to submit. The idea that smokers had to restrict themselves was considered completely absurd. The priorities were considered irreversible – if only out of consideration for the tobacco industry – and the U-turn took almost 30 years: today, non-smokers are protected from smokers and smoking in public is strictly regulated.

Example 2

After several decades of shoe history, which followed yesterday's credo that shoes must protect and support in order to be useful at all, many shoe manufacturers and buyers are now turning to barefoot shoes, based on the well-known knowledge that walking barefoot is the healthiest way to develop the feet and maintain orthopaedic health. This step from shoes as orthoses to so-called barefoot shoes represents a remarkable paradigm shift. What began rather hesitantly and exotically in terms of product design is now aesthetically sophisticated and designed in a variety of ways; walking barefoot is now taken for granted.

Competences need to be trained. If we practise understanding, practising and learning in the small everyday things, then growth can take place. Even those who want great things should start small in order to get bigger/better in the process - that's simply how humans work. Environments that cut off the little things prevent the starting signal, consecutive expansion and transfer to larger contexts. Who should be surprised if basic skills are lacking at some point?

Who hasn't seen the Deutsche Bahn sign that says, ›Please leave this room as you would like to find it‹. Nobody has the time, materials or inclination to prepare the public transport toilet as they would have liked to find it in return for using it ... in the best case scenario, the lowest common denominator is agreed without comment to remove all traces of use. What has happened? Why does the naturalness of leaving the toilet clean seem to have been lost? Even the request to name the toilet rarely works.

The omnipresence of motion detectors, infrared switches etc. damages the willingness to touch the tap again after cleaning your hands in order to close it manually: The manual tap in public spaces (see illustration of a sign) no longer works! We may smile at the loss of what we take for granted in this context and point to the availability of automated solutions, but the question nevertheless arises as to how we can counter the inflation of traditional things we take for granted.

Changing habits place new demands on the design of products: Automation may alleviate hygiene problems, but it favours the loss of a sense of responsibility and trust in self-efficacy within small and large contexts. Today, we are looking for product solutions that meet both challenges.