DESIGN RESEARCH
BMW: Designing for Digital Sustainability
“Designing for Sustainable Behavior in Digital Products: Insights for Automotive Interface Innovation”
Photo credit: BMW Group
Role
Design Research Fellow
Timeline
June 2023 - Jan 2024
Team
Amber Louie, Aaron Li
Asbah Wasim, Tomas Garcia, Nicole Goridkov, Benedikt Steiner, Iris Koser, Brian Mok
Skills
UIUX Research
Design Research
HCI
Behavior Science
Tools
Figma
FigJam
Zotero
WHITE PAPER
“Designing for Sustainable Behavior in Digital Products: Insights for Automotive Interface Innovation”
A comprehensive literature review and framework on designing for digital sustainability.
RESEARCH OVERVIEW
BMW aims to foster change for sustainable behavior.
RESEARCH SCOPE
BMW aims to drive long-term sustainable practices by exploring opportunities beyond the automotive sector, particularly in digital products.
In summer 2023, I was one of four fellows in the BMW x UC Berkeley's Jacobs Institute for Design Innovation Design (JIDI) Research Program. I collaborated with PhDs, BMW UX designers, and engineers to produce a white paper presented to the BMW’s Technology Office. Our research also served as the basis for UC Berkeley’s Fall 2023 course (DESINV 190) and was adapted into a conference-ready publication.
BACKGROUND
Driving behavior change for sustainability through digital products.
As one of the world’s leading car manufacturers, BMW has the opportunity to shift the perception of the automotive industry and position themselves as a driving force for positive change.
THEREFORE, WE ASK
How can digital products help to achieve a higher level of social behavioral change, increasing responsibility towards sustainable practices?
RESEARCH SUMMARY
A framework of high-level topics, concepts, and techniques that promote sustainable behavior change in digital products.
PURPOSE
Our research involved analyzing over 75 case studies to identify eight key behavioral drivers that promote climate-positive driving habits. By drawing insights from these digital product case studies, we developed a literature review framework to guide the automotive sector in fostering behavior change for long-term sustainability.
This diagram highlights the interconnectedness of 8 high level topics and relevant concepts (40+) that we found can promote sustainable behavior change.
8 key behavioral drivers that promote sustainable behavior change.
HIGH LEVEL TOPICS
Our research discusses the 8 high-level topics for achieving a higher level of social behavior change for long-term sustainability through digital products, services, and experiences:
Motivation
Values
Progression
Behavior Building
Social Relatedness
Engagement
User Interface
Eco-feedback
RESEARCH PROCESS
Where did these 8 topics for sustainable behavior change come from?
PRIMARY SOURCES + AFFINITY MAPPING
With 293 total papers reviewed, we narrowed down 77 key papers to identify 41 concepts.
Through affinity mapping, we categorized these concepts into the 8 high level topics for influencing sustainable behavior change.
METHODS DIAGRAM
Diagram of our methods involving: reviewing papers, identifying intervention techniques, extracting 40+ concepts, sorting them into 8 high-level topics to structure our framework.
AFFINITY MAPPING PROCESS
We affinity mapped techniques and concepts drawn from case studies in behavior science, HCI, digital products, UI/UX, sustainable design, etc. (During Phase II of research process).
“Designing for Sustainable Behavior in Digital Products: Insights for Automotive Interface Innovation”
Check out the full paper for the full literature review and framework on designing for digital sustainability.
Thank you BMW and Jacobs Insitute!
Psst! a case study based on my research is coming soon…
