Design Patterns for Visualization-based Tools in Sustainable Product Design

Most design activities involve exploring and comparing existing designs. Thus, adopting an eco-conscious approach in the design exploration process can aid environmentally sustainable product design (SPD). One approach for supporting exploration in SPD is through tools based on information visualization (InfoVis). The use of InfoVis for SPD allows data-driven exploration of solutions that is rapid, direct, and supports investigation of questions that the designer may not have identified. Previous work has demonstrated the utility of InfoVis tools for different facets of the lifecycle, e.g. redesign, supply chain exploration, and life cycle assessment. These tools focus on projecting sustainability-related implications back to design. However, to fully realize their potential, future tools must synthesize data in a manner that helps designers view the effects of a design change on all downstream stages. Such tools will have to work across multiple data types, visual representations, and stakeholders. In this paper, we take the first steps towards addressing this challenge by formulating design patterns for visualization and interaction of product lifecycle data. These design patterns were synthesized by reviewing previous works that have successfully created visualization-based tools for SPD. The suggested ∗Address all correspondence [email protected] design patterns can, (1) serve as a guide for creating integrated visualization-based tools for SPD, and (2) help create reusable visual components that aid in quick interface wireframing.