Short answer
To effectively reduce household food waste, designers must engage with users to understand and redesign the entire food practice, not just individual products.
- Field
- Sustainability
- Source
- Duo Research Archive (University of Oslo) (2020)
- Method
- Practice-oriented design for sustainability (PODS) approach, co-creation, narrative development.
- Evidence
- Strong effect
Designing for sustainability requires a deep understanding of everyday food practices to identify opportunities for reducing household waste through both product innovation and fundamental shifts in consumption habits. This sustainability research insight is drawn from a 2020 study published in Duo Research Archive (University of Oslo). Using Practice-oriented design for sustainability (pods) approach, co-creation, narrative development., researchers explored how this design variable affects real-world outcomes. The key design takeaway: To effectively reduce household food waste, designers must engage with users to understand and redesign the entire food practice, not just individual products.
Reimagining Food Practices to Halve Household Waste
Designing for sustainability requires a deep understanding of everyday food practices to identify opportunities for reducing household waste through both product innovation and fundamental shifts in consumption habits.
Duo Research Archive (University of Oslo) · 2020
Key Findings
- 01Household food waste is deeply embedded within the flow and rhythm of everyday life, influenced by a web of interrelated practices and conflicting ideals.
- 02Reducing food waste can be achieved through two primary routes: product/product-service innovations and profound reconfiguration of food-related practices.
- 03Co-creating narratives with users is an effective method for uncovering opportunities for design interventions in complex practice systems.
Application
Design takeaway
To effectively reduce household food waste, designers must engage with users to understand and redesign the entire food practice, not just individual products.
How to apply
When designing products or services related to food, consider how they integrate into or disrupt existing household food practices. Use co-design workshops to explore user needs and potential behavioural shifts.
Project actions
- 01When researching food waste, observe how people actually interact with food in their homes.
- 02Use storytelling and co-creation to understand the 'why' behind food waste behaviours.
- 03Consider designing a service or system that supports better food management, not just a single product.
Method & Evidence
Variables
Strengths & Limitations
Strengths
- +Focuses on user practices, providing a deeper understanding of behaviour.
- +Employs co-creation, fostering user engagement and relevant solutions.
- +Offers a dual approach: product innovation and practice reconfiguration.
Limitations
It can be challenging to accurately capture and influence deeply ingrained daily practices. Generalizing findings from a small group of participants to a wider population requires caution.
Reliability & validity
Reliability could be enhanced through standardized co-creation protocols and multiple researchers observing sessions. Validity is strengthened by the focus on real-world practices and user-generated insights, though generalizability may be limited.
Think critically
How might the 'conflicting ideals' mentioned in the research influence the adoption of new food practices, and how can design navigate these tensions?
Design Principles
"Design interventions should address the systemic nature of everyday practices to achieve significant behavioural change and sustainability outcomes."
Addressing household food waste is crucial for environmental and economic sustainability. This research highlights that effective interventions go beyond simple product improvements, necessitating a holistic approach that considers the complex interplay of daily routines, cultural norms, and consumer behaviours.
What This Means for Your Design
To stop people from throwing away food, we need to look at how they cook, shop, and store food every day, and then design things that help them change those habits, not just better packaging.
How to use in your project
- 1.Use the practice-oriented approach to frame your user research, focusing on the routines and habits around your design problem.
- 2.Incorporate co-creation activities to gather rich qualitative data on user needs and potential solutions.
- 3.Discuss how your design intervention aims to reconfigure existing practices to achieve a sustainability goal.
Add to My Project
Quick Cite
Paragraph starter
This design project adopts a practice-oriented approach to understand and address household food waste. By co-creating narratives of current and future food-related practices with users, opportunities for design interventions were identified. This methodology acknowledges that food waste is deeply embedded in everyday routines and requires solutions that extend beyond product-level innovations to encompass the reconfiguration of provisioning, storage, and consumption practices.
Source
Duo Research Archive (University of Oslo)
Food Waste: A practice-oriented design for sustainability approach
journal · 2020
View sourceQuestions About This Research
- What does the research say about reimagining food practices to halve household waste?
- To effectively reduce household food waste, designers must engage with users to understand and redesign the entire food practice, not just individual products. Evidence: Duo Research Archive (University of Oslo) (2020).
- Why does "Reimagining Food Practices to Halve Household Waste" matter for design?
- Addressing household food waste is crucial for environmental and economic sustainability. This research highlights that effective interventions go beyond simple product improvements, necessitating a holistic approach that considers the complex interplay of daily routines, cultural norms, and consumer behaviours.
- How can designers apply this research?
- To effectively reduce household food waste, designers must engage with users to understand and redesign the entire food practice, not just individual products.
- What were the main findings?
- Household food waste is deeply embedded within the flow and rhythm of everyday life, influenced by a web of interrelated practices and conflicting ideals.. Reducing food waste can be achieved through two primary routes: product/product-service innovations and profound reconfiguration of food-related practices.. Co-creating narratives with users is an effective method for uncovering opportunities for design interventions in complex practice systems.
- What research method was used?
- Practice-oriented design for sustainability (PODS) approach, co-creation, narrative development..
- How strong is the evidence?
- Evidence strength is rated Strong effect, based on a 2020 journal from Duo Research Archive (University of Oslo).
- What should I do differently in my next project?
- When designing products or services related to food, consider how they integrate into or disrupt existing household food practices. Use co-design workshops to explore user needs and potential behavioural shifts.
- What are the limitations?
- The effectiveness of interventions may vary across different cultural contexts and socio-economic groups. The study focuses on household waste, not broader food system waste.