Social responsibility means ensuring that people’s quality of life (including our own) is not compromised by our own wants. For the designer, this means thinking about the following:

•The materials a product is made from – how are they sourced and at what cost to local people?

•The manufacturing process – are people employed fairly? Does it cause pollution to local towns or consume excess energy?

•The product in use – does it improve quality of life for all its users? Does it help to preserve social or cultural traditions (for example our traditional food, the clothes we wear, our leisure pastimes)? Does the product encourage social interaction?

•The future – does the product meet our needs today without sacrificing the needs of future generations?

Social Issues

The word ‘moral’ is concerned with human behaviour and the distinction between ‘good and bad’ or ‘right and wrong’ behaviour according to our conscience. A designer has a moral responsibility to ensure the safety, comfort and well-being of people who come into contact with the designs, and those who will be affected by them.

Moral decisions begin with the design opportunity:

•We could design a device that is good for people or the environment

•We could design something which is bad for people or the environment

•We could design nothing at all – in some cases, doing nothing might be

•considered immoral

Moral decisions are encountered at every stage of the design process including choice of materials, manufacturing methods, energy usage, product quality, transportation, sales methods and advertising.

Moral Issues

Culture is about:

•people’s attitudes and behaviour towards each other;

•the way people live, think, work and play;

•people’s beliefs and hopes.

Designers should look at different cultures and respond by valuing cultural range when producing design solutions.

Different cultures can have an impact on the way modern products are designed. For example products could be designed to preserve traditional work skills or traditional forms of dress.

On the other hand, cultures can change over time with the influence of new designs and new technologies, often brought in by global companies trying to expand into new markets.

Cultural Issues

Environmental responsibility means ensuring that our lifestyle does not use up the earth’s resources at an unsustainable rate. Sustain means ‘to keep going’. Using resources at an unsustainable rate means that the resource is being used up faster than it can be naturally replaced and so, sooner or later, the resource will run out. If everyone on earth lived as we currently do in the UK, we would need three planets to sustain us.

Even before resources run out, the earth is under threat from climate change. Most people accept that many countries throughout the world are experiencing increased flooding or drought and it is believed that a gradual warming of the earth is responsible. This global warming is caused by increased levels of carbon dioxide (CO2) in the atmosphere due to developed countries burning large amounts of fossil fuels. CO2 is a gas which causes a greenhouse effect – allowing the sun’s radiant energy to reach the earth’s surface but preventing the earth from losing all that energy back into space. It is widely accepted that Europe will feel the impact of climate change within our lifetime.

Environmental Issues (1)

The carbon footprint of a product is a measure of the amount of carbon dioxide the product produces, either directly (for example. from the exhaust pipe of a car) or indirectly from the use of electricity generated from a coal-burning power station. A solar-powered garden lamp has a zero carbon footprint during use (although significant energy would have been used to manufacture it). Cars in the UK require a vehicle tax disc and the cost of the tax disc is substantially more for cars which give out high levels of CO2. This is intended to make drivers think twice before buying environmentally unfriendly cars.

Many electronic or control system products contain chemicals which are potentially harmful to the environment. One example is the chemicals contained in batteries, which can leak into the environment if the product is disposed of incorrectly. Oil used in engines and gearboxes can pollute rivers and kill fish, while the gas used in older refrigerators contributes to destruction of the ozone layer if released into the atmosphere. Other harmful chemicals may be used during the manufacture of a product, for example bleach is sometimes used to whiten paper.

Environmental Issues (2)

All good designs should improve the quality of life for the user. Products that are difficult or ‘unfriendly’ to use are frustrating and we dismiss them as bad designs.

Design is constantly evolving and responds to changing styles, advancing technology, new materials and environmental pressures. Certain ‘great’ products through history have earned the unofficial title of iconic products – products of ‘uncritical devotion’. Such products may not be appreciated by all users but they are usually instantly recognisable by users from the product’s era.

Eco-design involves looking at a product from design to finished article and taking stock of its use of materials and energy. The European Ecolabel is awarded to a product which has a smaller environmental impact than other similar products.

Globalisation describes how the manufacture and distribution of products has become international. Products can be made in countries with specific skills and can give valuable jobs to local people. Manufacturers can benefit from low wages. Modern digital communication and cheap transportation have been contributing factors towards globalisation.

Design Issues

Most electronic products or control systems use electricity for their source of power. This electricity can be obtained from the mains supply or, in the case of portable products, from batteries. Mains electricity is thought of as being more environmentally friendly than batteries because the power station has a certain amount of control over the pollutants it puts into the atmosphere. However, most power stations burn fossil fuels so they still pose a problem for sustainability and they still produce carbon dioxide gas, which contributes to climate change. Retailers of mains-powered products must tell purchasers how energy efficient the product is using the EU Energy Label. Products are rated from A to G, with A being the most efficient. Highly efficient fridges and freezers may even be awarded A+ or A++.

Portable products may use disposable batteries or rechargeable batteries. The chemicals in disposable batteries pose a problem for the environment if they are simply thrown in the household rubbish bin after use. Rechargeable batteries are recharged by plugging in to the mains electricity so these products are actually cordless mains-powered devices.

Alternative electrical energy sources for products include solar panels, clockwork wind-up generators and small wind turbines. Some products rely on such energy sources because there is no other convenient energy supply available.

Energy Efficiency