Short answer
Designers should move beyond simply preventing disruptions to actively enabling user adaptation and community collaboration in response to them.
- Field
- Sustainability
- Source
- CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (2022)
- Method
- Qualitative study with a focus on user experience and co-design.
- Sample
- 21 participants
- Evidence
- Moderate effect
Designing for household energy resilience involves supporting diverse responses to electricity disruptions, fostering opportunities for adaptation, and building community support. This sustainability research insight is drawn from a 2022 study published in CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems. Using Qualitative study with a focus on user experience and co-design. with 21 participants, researchers explored how this design variable affects real-world outcomes. The key design takeaway: Designers should move beyond simply preventing disruptions to actively enabling user adaptation and community collaboration in response to them.
Household Energy Resilience: Adapting to Renewable Energy Disruptions
Designing for household energy resilience involves supporting diverse responses to electricity disruptions, fostering opportunities for adaptation, and building community support.
CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems · 2022
Key Findings
- 01Households can employ diverse strategies to maintain essential practices during electricity disruptions.
- 02Creating opportunities for households to develop and practice resilience is vital.
- 03Community-level energy resilience can be fostered through shared resources and mutual support.
- 04HCI can play a role in both increasing household resilience and designing more resilient energy systems.
Application
Design takeaway
Designers should move beyond simply preventing disruptions to actively enabling user adaptation and community collaboration in response to them.
How to apply
When designing smart home energy systems or community energy initiatives, consider features that allow for manual overrides, provide adaptive recommendations for energy use, and facilitate communication and resource sharing among neighbors.
Project actions
- 01Consider how your design can support users in adapting to unexpected changes in resource availability.
- 02Explore how your design can foster community interaction and mutual support around resource management.
Method & Evidence
Variables
Strengths & Limitations
Strengths
- +Focuses on a critical emerging issue in sustainable energy.
- +Provides actionable strategies for HCI and design.
- +Emphasizes user agency and community involvement.
Limitations
The study's findings are based on self-reported experiences and ideas, which may differ from actual behavior during a real-world disruption. The sample size is relatively small, limiting the generalizability of the findings.
Reliability & validity
The study's validity is strengthened by its qualitative depth and focus on real-world user experiences. Reliability could be enhanced through triangulation of data from multiple sources (e.g., diaries, observations, interviews) and by involving a larger, more diverse sample.
Think critically
To what extent should designers aim to 'design out' disruptions versus designing for user adaptation and resilience?
Design Principles
"Empower users to adapt to energy fluctuations through diverse strategies and community support."
As the world transitions to renewable energy, understanding how households can adapt to inevitable supply disruptions is crucial. This research offers a framework for designing systems and services that not only mitigate problems but also empower users to actively manage and even embrace periods of reduced energy availability, thereby accelerating the adoption of sustainable energy solutions.
What This Means for Your Design
When renewable energy isn't always available, we need to help people and communities figure out how to cope with the power going out, instead of just trying to stop it from happening. This means designing tools that help them do things differently and connect with each other.
How to use in your project
- 1.Use the concept of 'household energy resilience' to frame your investigation into user needs during resource scarcity.
- 2.Incorporate findings on 'response diversity' to inform the design of flexible and adaptive features in your product.
Add to My Project
Quick Cite
Paragraph starter
This design project addresses the challenge of household energy resilience in the context of renewable energy transitions. Inspired by research on adapting to electricity disruptions, the design aims to support users through diverse response strategies, opportunities for adaptation, and community-based solutions, moving beyond a purely preventative approach to one that embraces user agency and collective strength.
Source
CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems
Exploring Renewable Energy Futures through Household Energy Resilience
journal · 2022
View sourceQuestions About This Research
- What does the research say about household energy resilience: adapting to renewable energy disruptions?
- Designers should move beyond simply preventing disruptions to actively enabling user adaptation and community collaboration in response to them. Evidence: CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (2022).
- Why does "Household Energy Resilience: Adapting to Renewable Energy Disruptions" matter for design?
- As the world transitions to renewable energy, understanding how households can adapt to inevitable supply disruptions is crucial. This research offers a framework for designing systems and services that not only mitigate problems but also empower users to actively manage and even embrace periods of reduced energy availability, thereby accelerating the adoption of sustainable energy solutions.
- How can designers apply this research?
- Designers should move beyond simply preventing disruptions to actively enabling user adaptation and community collaboration in response to them.
- What were the main findings?
- Households can employ diverse strategies to maintain essential practices during electricity disruptions.. Creating opportunities for households to develop and practice resilience is vital.. Community-level energy resilience can be fostered through shared resources and mutual support.. HCI can play a role in both increasing household resilience and designing more resilient energy systems.
- What research method was used?
- Qualitative study with a focus on user experience and co-design. with 21 participants.
- How strong is the evidence?
- Evidence strength is rated Moderate effect, based on a 2022 journal from CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems.
- What should I do differently in my next project?
- When designing smart home energy systems or community energy initiatives, consider features that allow for manual overrides, provide adaptive recommendations for energy use, and facilitate communication and resource sharing among neighbors.
- What are the limitations?
- The study was conducted in a specific geographical and cultural context (Sweden), and findings may not be directly generalizable to all regions or household types. The focus was on qualitative insights, and quantitative data on the effectiveness of specific resilience strategies was not collected.