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Beyond the Hype: Sustainability &…
Tags: ag1, amber, batya friedman, behavioral challenges, cornell, discourse, h5, hype, indiana university, industry markets, information interfaces, information school, information science, interaction design, ithaca ny, phoebe sengers, seattle wa, sustainability concerns, university of washington, washington edu,Pages: 4
Language: english
Created: Thu Jan 10 14:14:18 2008
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Beyond the Hype: Sustainability & HCI
Abstract
In this panel we explore: (1) the burgeoning discourse
Lisa Nathan Jay Hasbrouck on sustainability concerns within HCI, (2) the material
The Information School Digital Homes Group, Intel and behavioral challenges of sustainability in relation to
University of Washington 20270 NW Amber Glen Ct, interaction design, (3) the benefits and risks involved in
Seattle, WA 98195 USA AG1-112 labeling a project or product as environmentally
lpn@u.washington.edu Beaverton, OR 97006 USA sustainable, and (4) implications of taking on (or
jay.hasbrouck@intel.com ignoring) sustainability as a research, design, and
Eli Blevis teaching topic for HCI.
School of Informatics, Phoebe Sengers
Indiana University Cornell Information Science Keywords
Bloomington, IN 47408 USA Ithaca, NY 14850 USA Sustainability, design, interaction design.
eblevis@indiana.edu sengers@cs.cornell.edu
ACM Classification Keywords
Batya Friedman H5.m. Information interfaces and presentation (e.g.,
The Information School HCI): Miscellaneous. J.7. [Computers in other
University of Washington systems]: Consumer products. K.1. [The Computer
Seattle, WA 98195 USA Industry]: Markets. K.4.m. [Computers and society]:
batya@u.washington.edu Miscellaneous.
Introduction
The term "green" has become ubiquitous in Western
culture. It provides a quick way to designate
communities, conferences, firms, people, political
parties, and innumerable consumer products that make
a claim of environmental sustainability. What lies
behind these claims is often difficult to tease out.
Copyright is held by the author/owner(s).
CHI 2008, April 5-11, 2008, Florence, Italy.
ACM 978-1-60558-012-8/08/04.
Increasing numbers of Human Computer Interaction material issues. As a field, HCI is largely oriented to the
(HCI) researchers and practitioners are attempting to generation of short-lived consumer products and to the
ascertain what it means to practice in a more support of enhanced productivity. Both goals sustain
sustainable manner. In so doing, they face complex an ethos of constant consumption. This orientation
challenges with little past experience to guide them. suggests that the problems for the field are structural
as well as material. That is to say, making hardware
The purpose of this panel is to provide the CHI recyclable and non-toxic does not fully "solve" the
community with an opportunity to interact with problem (though it would be a big step in the right
individuals in the midst of research, educational, and direction).
business endeavors that bring together HCI and
sustainability. Specifically, the panel will address (1) In 1968 Hardin addressed the issue of pollution and
the burgeoning discourse on sustainability concerns finite resources in his article entitled the "Tragedy of
within HCI, (2) the material and behavioral challenges the Commons" [4]. Hardin claimed that there is a
of sustainability in relation to interaction design, (3) the category of problems for which there is no technical
benefits and risks involved in labeling a project or solution. Is sustainability one of those problems? Or is
product as environmentally sustainable, and (4) there a role for information technology to play? If so,
implications of taking on (or ignoring) sustainability as what might that role look like?
a research, design, and teaching topic for HCI.
To begin exploring that question a SIG entitled
Background and Intended Audience "Sustainability and Interaction" was hosted during CHI
What does environmental sustainability have to do with 2007 [5]. The SIG drew over 100 attendees. This
the HCI community? number was surpassed during the paper session in
which Eli Blevis presented his award winning paper on
· The world generates twenty to fifty million metric tons the same topic [1]. A mix of anthropologists, computer
of "e-waste" each year [3]. scientists, cognitive psychologists, interaction
· 95 percent of American consumers do not know the designers, social scientists, and usability experts
meaning of "e-waste" [3]. attended both events. Break out sessions during the
· The elements that illuminate liquid crystal displays for SIG made evident that a large number of the attendees
MP3 players, iPods, and cell phones can cause already possessed a strong personal interest in the
damage to the brain, nervous and reproductive topic of sustainability, but were unsure how to integrate
systems, the lungs, and kidneys and are harmful to a this concern with their research agenda or design
developing fetus [3]. practice.
The list above highlights the staggering material
challenges of e-waste. The statements focus attention The overwhelming interest and enthusiasm
on the physical properties of information technologies, demonstrated by members of the CHI community
but a more complex problem space lurks behind the during the 2007 conference was channeled into
numerous activities over the past year. Tangible project. After each project description the respondent
outcomes include (1) an active HCI sustainability will have 2 to 3 minutes to critically respond to the
Panel Time Management listserv [7], (2) an HCI sustainability Wiki [6], (3) project description.
5 min. Photo montage while conference guidance provided by the CHI 2008
settling of audience sustainability advisory board, and (4) numerous Audience Interaction and Commentary. After all of the
research collaborations. We posit that for CHI 2008, a panelists have discussed their projects, the discussion
7 min. Audience interaction: panel of experts would draw even larger numbers of will be opened up to the audience, encouraging
Provocative polling results participants and have a wider influence as the topic of questioning of the panelists, comments to the
and other surprising sustainability has grown from being perceived as `just' respondents, and descriptions of their own projects.
sustainability facts a social concern to being recognized as a legitimate
(Eli Blevis) business concern. Whereas in the past sustainability Panelist Qualifications and Project
was framed as a competitive opportunity, social Descriptions
16 min. Introduction of issues, commentators suggest that it will soon be a All panelists and respondents have confirmed their
panel format, panelists competitive requirement [2]. participation.
and respondents
(Lisa Nathan) Panel Format Panelist 1: Jay Hasbrouck is a Social Anthropologist in
Opening and Audience Engagement. We will begin the Domestic Designs and Technologies Research within the
5 min. Panelist 1: Jay Hasbrouck session with a short, compelling, photo montage User Experience Group at Intel Corporation.
depicting the work of prize winning photographer Chris
3 min. Respondent: John Thomas Jordan. The images will portray the large-scale issues Project 1: Dead, Dying, and Disabled Technologies is
the panel will take up (e.g., waste, electricity use, and the title of a research project which draws from a set of
5 min. Panelist 2: Bill Tomlinson consumerism). The photo montage will be followed by worldwide ethnographic investigations conducted by
an informative interactive session with the audience Intel's User Experience Group. The project focuses on
3 min. Respondent: Batya the latter stages of consumer use in the lifecycle of
Friedman Welcome and Panel Overview. A brief welcome and an technological devices.
overview of the issues of sustainability follows. We then
5 min. Panelist 3: Phoebe describe the panel format, introduce the panelists and Panelist 2: Bill Tomlinson is an Assistant Professor of
Sengers respondents. Panelists include: Jay Hasbrouck, Bill Informatics at the University of California, Irvine, and a
Tomlinson, Phoebe Sengers, and Penny Hagen. researcher in the California Institute for
3 min. Respondent: John Thomas Respondents include: John Thomas and Batya Telecommunications and Information Technology.
Friedman.
5 min. Panelist 4: Penny Hagen Project 2: The Green Scanner is a system that can help
Panelists, Projects, Issues and Response. After the consumers engage in environmentally preferable
3 min. Respondent: Batya brief introductions, each panelist will have 5 minutes to purchasing in most or all of their everyday transactions.
Friedman describe one HCI/Sustainability endeavor that she or he
is working on along with issues encountered during the
30 min. Audience interaction:
Comments and questions
Questions: Discussion Seeds Panelist 3: Phoebe Sengers is an Assistant Professor in both her B.A. (1979) and Ph.D. (1988) from the
Given that designers are not Information Science and Science & Technology Studies University of California, Berkeley.
the final arbiters of a product's at Cornell University.
use how should we understand Acknowledgements
the designer's role in Project 3: Environmental Interventions is a senior-level We thank members of the CHI sustainability group.
supporting sustainability in course that looks at how IT can be used to intervene in
design? public debates around the environment. References
Replacing rampant [1] Blevis, E. Sustainable interaction design: Invention
Panelist 4: Penny Hagen is Executive Director at Digital & disposal, renewal & reuse. In Proceedings of the
consumption with rampant
Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems,
"green" consumption is Eskimo. She specializes in design strategy and
CHI '07. ACM Press, New York, NY, 2007, 503-512.
unlikely to fully resolve research with an emphasis on employing and
[2] Friedman, T., L. Lead, follow or move aside. New
environmental issues. What appropriating UX design methods, process and
York Times. (A, 27) September 26, 2007.
role can or should IT design technologies to support design for social change.
[3] Grossman, E. High Tech Trash: Digital devices,
play in helping us move
hidden toxics, and human health. Island Press,
beyond consumerism as a Project 4: Digital Eskimo is a design agency based in
Washington, 2006.
central driver? Sydney, Australia that has a strong commitment to
[4] Hardin, G. The tragedy of the commons. Science,
working on projects that progress humanity towards a
What new roles might 1968, 1243-1248.
sustainable way of being. Sustainability is defined in
repurposing or re-use play if [5] Mankoff, J. C., Blevis, E., Borning, A., Friedman, B.,
terms of environmental, social and economic health.
recycling isn't an optimal use Fussell, S. R., Hasbrouck, J., Woodruff, A., and
Their clients include Amnesty International Australia,
of resources? Sengers, P. Environmental sustainability and
WWF, Climate Friendly, Greenpeace Australia, Planet interaction. In CHI '07 Extended Abstracts on Human
Are we moving even more
Ark and Green Pages Australia." Factors in Computing Systems, CHI '07. ACM Press,
than ever towards a short life New York, NY, 2007, 2121-2124.
span appliance metaphor? Respondent Qualifications [6] Sustainable CHI Wiki. http://sustainable-
Should we resist this move,
Respondent 1: John Thomas received a Ph.D. in chi.pbwiki.com/?full_access=F30wqWVCN7.
and if so, how could this be
psychology from the University of Michigan. He works [7] Sustainable Interaction Group Gmail.
done practically?
for IBM in HCI (Pattern Languages, e-learning, HCI & http://groups.google.com/group/sustainable-chi?hl=en.
How can we move beyond a International Development; tools for parallel
framework of guilt (e.g., programming). He has over 150 publications and
tracking one's carbon invited presentations in HCI.
footprint) to designing IT
interventions that help people Respondent 2: Batya Friedman is a Professor in the
experience the environment in Information School and an Adjunct Professor in the
positive ways? Department of Computer Science and Engineering at
the University of Washington where she directs the
Value Sensitive Design Research Group. She received