Emotionably Durable Design

I found this book, 'Emotionally Durable Design', by Jonathon Chapman very inspiring. Chapman believes that the current model of over consumption and waste is mostly because of products being made of hard-wearing, long-lasting materials (such as plastic that take centuries to degrade) but having very short use phases. He believes many products are thrown out before becoming worn-out or technically bettered because the design is 'out of fashion' or they are no longer appropriate to the user's changed circumstances.

Chapman points out problems with biodegradability (landfills are so overloaded they lack oxygen, light and water necessary for biodegradation to take place), recycling (it can ease consumer conscience, but consumption carries on as before), technology (if it's the selling point for the product it will soon be superseded), and newness (if the selling point of a product in newness and perfect surfaces, the consumer will be dissatisfied one the product is no longer new, and the surfaces are scratched and worn).

I believe recycling, recyclability and efficient use of materials, plus considered end of life are all really important and necessary for good design, but I don't want then to be the sole focus of my work. I think the reason for over consumption need to be addressed, and Chapman's answer for slowing down consumption is not to focus on technology and newness, but to design for emotional connection and empathy with our products.

This seems to be the opposite to Fromm's view in 'To have or to be', where he argues that we are so attached to out possessions that they have power over us.

Chapman believes that simply getting people to stop buying is not the answer (like Fromm, he believes that denial masks true desires and is not sustainable in the long term), instead people must be offered products that enrich their experiences.

In addition, it wouldn't be helpful if people just kept their clothes longer - if they don't wear them, then emotional attachment doesn't matter. The experience of wearing the clothes needs to be more pleasurable than the experience of acquisition.

Chapman writes that we desire new products because of a perceived lack (advertisers exploit this to promise us that their product will make our lives better), for self expression and because we aspire to be our perfect selves. He believes that products rarely live up to our expectations, so we become dissatisfied and consume more. He believes we are consuming meaning, not matter.

Chapman believes that as we have moved from an communal society to an individualistic one we have lost empathy with each other and look for it in designed objects. He thinks we are looking for human traits in objects. I wonder if it would be better to design products that help to connect us with our community and friends so our needs are meet that way, rather than design products than we feel empathy with?

There is a lot more that Jonathon Chapman says about how to embed objects with meaning, which I'll try to write about later.