Conclusion

I think that an ethical designer can work with a company interested in planned obsolescence if they make sure that a product supports most of the interests of all the social groups. To the left there is the Venn Diagram of the interests as drawn by Charles Eames to remind you of what an ethical designer is. If the designer is able to cover the majority of concerns ethically despite designing a product to become obsolete by the end of a few years, then the designer could be called ethical.

It is also necessary for the designer to take into account what happens to a product after it has become obsolete. For example: will it decompose easily and not produce toxic fumes? For this reason I thought that it was important to include a broader definition of society into the model.

After studying the Eames diagram I was able to produce my own version of the diagram (right) including all of the social groups mentioned in the Ethical Designer page and examples of their key ethical concerns. The diagram shows that the best design solutions would be in the green section, products in this area would please all social groups.

The second best solution would be something that fits into a light blue area. If a product is in the blue area connecting the Designers, Companies and Societies ethical views, but not their Personal views, then the designer would not feel as if they have done their best. However, if they miss out the Company’s view on ethics it is unlikely that the product will ever be produced. Similarly, if they miss out the Society's views on ethics it’s unlikely to sell very well and if they miss the Designers view on ethics the product wouldn't be seen as a good ethical solution within the design community. Solutions in the pink and the yellow areas are very unlikely to be successful because they ignore 2 or 3 views. The model shows that it is very important for a designer to learn how to prioritize if they are unable to design for the green area.

When Eames drew the original version of the diagram, he did not include broader society as a whole but instead focused on customers/target market. I felt it was important to included broader society’s views so I developed the second diagram (pictured left) to show the relationship between all the social groups.

Now when we look at the diagram we can understand how the ethical designer needs to meet the interests of as many of the social groups as possible. Since it is not very often possible to meet the interests of everyone - ethical designers are forced to make balanced choices between the relative importance of the different groups.

This is not always easy, for example:

We could argue that manufacturers should make things that last indefinitely - but this might lead to them going out of business and to people loosing their jobs. I wouldn't see that as fair. We could however urge manufacturers to make products last longer than their current life (i.e. Apples phones could last longer than 3 years).
If manufacturers want to reduce their impact on the environment they might consider changing materials so that they were more biodegradable or suitable for re-cycling. Although this choice would satisfy the needs of society as a whole, it might result in products that did not last as long and therefore increase the overall obsolescence.

At the moment, consumer pressure is forcing companies to become more transparent about their business practices and we are beginning to notice more overlap between the interests of companies and society. H&M's ‘Close the Loop’ and MAC Cosmetic's ‘Back to MAC’ campaign are good examples of how companies are talking about re-using and recycling products to market their products.

Ethical designers need to use all the information available to balance how a product’s planned obsolescence fits with all other the stakeholders’ interests. To be truly ethical they need to make sure they work with companies that help as many people as possible. If obsolescence is part of the business strategy then they should try and make product last longer or look at new ways of encouraging people to re-use and recycle where possible.

My View on What We Could do about the Issue.

Designers could help raise public awareness of the issues surrounding planned obsolescence.
Designers could be more aware of the interests of all the social groups involved in product manufacturing and carefully select the companies they work for.
Designers could develop new products that last longer - providing that this did not harm other social groups
Designers could follow the examples of MAC cosmetics and H&M to start coming up with imaginative ideas for ways to re-use and recycle product that have reached the end of their normal lifecycle
Designers could produce a marketing campaign to help people assess if they really need to buy a new iPhone or pair of jeans

Hopefully doing all of this would lead to consumers putting their money where their mouths are and supporting companies that do not depend too much on planned obsolescence as part of their business model