Moholy-Nagy University of Art and Design

Fix the Circuit: A monitor case study

Project phases
Design framework for repairable electronic household appliances
Each year 21 million tons of waste are generated due to still-usable electric products being thrown away. In response to the Right to Repair movement, in this project, we focused on the possibilities of repairable electronic household products from a product design perspective. A system with interactions that makes repair possible for consumers and enables to include outer repair services was designed. To test this framework, a monitor was chosen as the focus of the case study. The process included thorough background research, three sets of user testing, and interviews with consumers and manufacturers. As a result of this research, we could prove that the same electronic household products with the same main components can be repairable with redesigned interactions providing a tool to combat the growing number of waste and loss of resources.

In our fast-paced society, individuals often overlook everyday objects until they break down, transforming into waste due to a lack of tools, competency, and spare parts for repairs. In today’s linear economy (LE), there is little concern for the post-purchase fate of products, leading to significant electronic waste—5 million tons in Europe in 2020 alone. The EU Circular Economy action plan, introduced in 2020, seeks to address this by promoting sustainability, economic growth, and resource conservation through better product design. This plan emphasizes the importance of increasing product durability, repairability, upgradability, and remanufacturing, potentially compelling companies to prioritize these aspects in product development. Despite increasing research on product repairability, there is still no comprehensive framework to guide the design of products for consumer repair. Transitioning to a Circular Economy (CE) aims to maintain products at their highest value, influenced not only by design strategies like disassembly and material selection but also by user behavior. 

CE promotes designing products with a focus on durability, disassembly, repair, and maintenance, ensuring resources remain within the economy and extending product life. Products repaired and reused retain higher value than those dismantled for materials after reaching the end of their life cycle, unlike in a linear economy where they end up as waste. Design for Repairability (DfR) enables products to be maintained in good condition, distinguishing between repair and replacement to minimize ecological impact. This research project focuses on DfR in the context of consumer maintenance of household electronics, identifying motivational and demotivational factors and conducting case studies to aid product designers. This research clusters repair initiatives into four main areas: Accessibility, Diagnosis, Sourcing, and Action, considering the uniform EU regulatory framework and existing literature on the topic.

Project phases

Background research

Oct 2023 – Feb 2024

Beginning the research with literature review and gathering information about the (de)motivational factors of repair for both individuals and manufacturers, as well as collecting possible design tools that would be applicable for design for repairability.

Testing and prototyping

Mar 2024 – Jun 2024

Taking apart different kinds of monitors on the market and conducting structural analysis. Based on this, two user tests were built with nine participants each, who tested the logic and understandability of the initial concept. This showed that color and ergonomic coding is a great way to make interactions easy to understand. This led to a full-scale prototype that consumers could help repair complex electronic products with redesigned interactions.

Publication

Jun 2024 – Sep 2024

After the research and development process, the findings will be summarized and shared with the ACM community via a publication. The aim is to contribute to the field and help the Right to Repair movement to progress.

Background research

Testing and prototyping

Publication

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