Design Beyond the User, For the Planet
As a branding content curator I recommend this urgent perspective on design, sustainability and systems thinking. Human centred design transformed product making, yet its narrow focus creates hidden ecological costs across supply chains and communities. Don Norman now argues we must expand the brief to include the planet, the makers and future generations. This essay crisply maps the problem, exposes lifecycle harms, and reframes user empathy as part of a wider responsibility to ecosystems and people who never asked for our devices. Read it if you care about meaningful, resilient brands.
It offers practical ideas designers and brand leaders can use to reduce harm, and to unlock new value. The piece outlines five principles that expand research, measure environmental impact, and prioritise longevity over planned obsolescence. You will read concrete examples, including Fairphone, which proves durable, repairable phones can be commercially viable and impactful. The argument helps you frame sustainability as risk reduction and competitive advantage in product reviews and boardrooms. For anyone shaping products, services or brand promises, this is essential reading, a blueprint to make empathy truly planetary. Start here to expand your design impact now.
Source: uxdesign.cc
