Cell Phones #2,
Atlanta 2005
another way. However, the fact that people attempt
to find another owner for their phones shows that
they perceive it as an object of some value, and
more important, an object that holds potential
value for others. Their practices suggest that social
networks and their supporting technologies could
be leveraged as a way of amplifying the communication involved in giving a phone away. This would
extend the usage lifetime of phones by increasing
the likelihood of finding a subsequent owner for it.
Rethinking How to Evaluate the
Sustainability of Objects
It also became clear that when we assess the
sustainability of a device or object, the design of
the object cannot be considered in isolation but
rather must be examined in the context of the
information and resources available in the object’s
environment. It is important to consider both the
design of the object as well as the ecology in which
it exists. As a simple example, we consider the
case of a lithium-ion phone battery. Such batteries
contain chemicals and nonbiodegradable materials and are even prone to explosion when exposed
to high temperatures; they therefore should not
be disposed of with household trash [ 6]. In the
European Union, standardized recycling drop
boxes for batteries are present in many frequently
visited locations, such as supermarkets and post
offices, thus making the infrastructure for sustainable action readily available to users of the object
through serendipitous opportunity. Information
about the availability of battery recycling is also
implicitly conveyed simply through the visibility
of these resources. In comparison, recycling of the
same battery in much of the United States poses
challenges because information about recycling
services is not as readily available, and taking sustainable action may require the effort of locating a
recycling service and then making an extra trip to
bring the battery there. As this example illustrates,
when assessing the sustainability object, in addition to considering how the object’s design promotes recycling, reuse, reappropriation, or environmentally responsible disposal, it is also critical to
consider the extent to which the ecology of which
the phone is a part supports access to information
about options, low-effort sustainable interaction,
and easy access to other resources necessary to
engage in sustainable actions.
March + April 2008
[ 6] “Lithium Ion, Nickel
Cadmium, Nickel Metal
Hydride Battery Best
Practise Guide.”
http://www.hpcfactor.
com/support/cesd/h/
0015.asp
Five HCI Challenges for Sustainable Mobile Phones
The path to sustainable mobile phones is a complex one that suggests the need to look not only
at phones but also at the contexts in which they
exist. Clearly, interaction design alone will not
solve all of the issues of proliferation and e-waste
generated by “disposable” technologies. That being
said, we believe interaction design will play a
substantial role in achieving sustainable mobile
phones and phone practices. We therefore put
forth what we believe to be the five most pressing
interaction design challenges for mobile phones
and their environments from the perspective of
situated sustainability.
1. Make information more available. Information
about sustainably responsible options needs to be
delivered or made more readily available at low
effort and cost to the user. Of particular importance is that information be available in a timely