Prodesign - Life Cycle Management - From Product to Business
June 2008
This is the second in a series of three articles on Life Cycle Thinking and its application to design-led business practice. The articles and the aligned series of workshops at the Unitec School of Design in Auckland are designed to equip people with the capability to promote principles of Life Cycle Thinking and to initiate change within their organisations....
Prodesign - Life Cycle Thinking - A Design Mindset
April 2008
This is the first in a special series of three articles on product design that covers life cycle thinking, life cycle management and life cycle assessment tools. These articles introduce these subjects from a New Zealand design perspective and provide some insight into how they can be applied practically and strategically by designers...
07 May 2008
With the publishing of the first Life Cycle Thinking article 'Life Cycle Thinking - a design mindset' in Prodesign (Issue 94) we talked about several tools including the MET matrix and the IoEA (Impacts of Environmental Aspects). These are now both available for download in the right hand column.
These simple tools use Excel (or another spreadsheet application if you use Open Office) to enable a quick assessment of your product or service idea. Both provide a slightly different look at your environmental impact and could be an ideal starting point for discussion within your organisation.
They can assist in visualising where the key areas that you can focus are, and then provide a platform for discussion and improvement.