Towards Repurposeful Thinking in Interaction Design

In this position paper, we describe our concept of repurposeful thinking in the context of sustainable interaction design (SID). We first ground this concept through an everyday scenario of a device such as a smartphone that needs to be repaired. Through this example, we highlight the value of designing devices to support not only repair but also reuse for different purposes, e.g. using a smartphone as a media player. Similarly, we believe that designing devices to support re-manufacturing and ultimately effective recycling will become increasingly valuable. Collectively, we think of these considerations as repurposeful thinking, which we hope will increase the longevity of interactive devices and ultimately their sustainability.

With this paper, we aim to engage in an initial dialogue on using repair and re-use practices as a means of designing for repurpose. Ultimately we hope this discussion can contribute to the community’s goals for sustainable interaction technologies.