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K. Watanabe et al.
Design objects designed with the time axis design can respond to temporal changes.
By introducing the view of time axis in design object, the designer can correspond
with the changes of value we do not expect now. However, at present the concept of
time axis design is not organized well.
The objective of this paper is to clarify the concept of time axis design and propose
a method of time axis design applicable to various products. In this paper, we describe
a method to find out time axis design solutions based on collected cases of time axis
design.
The rest of this paper is structured as follows. Section 2.2 describes the role of
time axis design for eco-design. Section 2.3 summarizes research efforts on time axis
design. Section 2.4 describes cases of time axis design cases. Section 2.5 proposes
time axis design method based on the collected cases. Section 2.6 shows a case study
of time axis design. Section 2.7 discusses the effectiveness and challenges of the
proposed method. Section 2.8 concludes the paper.
2.2 The Role of Time Axis Design for Sustainability
As discussed in SDGs and Circular Economy (CE) (European Commission 2015).
One of the most important issues for sustainability is the design of value supply
system considering future effects such as resource depletion and global warming.
This requires product design for longer use in order to avoid resource depletion.
However, the conventional product design was to design a product so as to perform the
best at the beginning of use. Therefore, (Takahashi et al. 2011) proposed the concept
of time axis design to cope with sustainability issues; for realizing time axis design,
he proposed multi-space design model representing relationship between a design
object and the places of use, and multi-timescale model expressing temporal changes
of products with multiple temporal magnitudes. By introducing “time axis” to product
design including support systems that enable the product to address temporal changes,
we can design products that work longer and cope with sustainability issues typified
by SDGs and CE.
In the context of eco-design, we considered about the extension of product life.
Daimon et al. (2003) proposed decision support method for life cycle strategy by
considering product physical lifetime and value lifetime. This discussion is a typical
example of time axis design, while we were not aware of the concept of time axis
design at that time. Moreover, if we discuss extremely, all sustainability issues are
related to temporal changes, and the essential conflict resides within different time
scales; for example, resource depletion and global warming in long time scale and
pursuing quality of life in relatively short time scale.
So, by introducing the concept of time axis design, we can discuss such temporal
changes in the context of design in an integrated and systematic manner.
K. Watanabe et al.
Design objects designed with the time axis design can respond to temporal changes.
By introducing the view of time axis in design object, the designer can correspond
with the changes of value we do not expect now. However, at present the concept of
time axis design is not organized well.
The objective of this paper is to clarify the concept of time axis design and propose
a method of time axis design applicable to various products. In this paper, we describe
a method to find out time axis design solutions based on collected cases of time axis
design.
The rest of this paper is structured as follows. Section 2.2 describes the role of
time axis design for eco-design. Section 2.3 summarizes research efforts on time axis
design. Section 2.4 describes cases of time axis design cases. Section 2.5 proposes
time axis design method based on the collected cases. Section 2.6 shows a case study
of time axis design. Section 2.7 discusses the effectiveness and challenges of the
proposed method. Section 2.8 concludes the paper.
2.2 The Role of Time Axis Design for Sustainability
As discussed in SDGs and Circular Economy (CE) (European Commission 2015).
One of the most important issues for sustainability is the design of value supply
system considering future effects such as resource depletion and global warming.
This requires product design for longer use in order to avoid resource depletion.
However, the conventional product design was to design a product so as to perform the
best at the beginning of use. Therefore, (Takahashi et al. 2011) proposed the concept
of time axis design to cope with sustainability issues; for realizing time axis design,
he proposed multi-space design model representing relationship between a design
object and the places of use, and multi-timescale model expressing temporal changes
of products with multiple temporal magnitudes. By introducing “time axis” to product
design including support systems that enable the product to address temporal changes,
we can design products that work longer and cope with sustainability issues typified
by SDGs and CE.
In the context of eco-design, we considered about the extension of product life.
Daimon et al. (2003) proposed decision support method for life cycle strategy by
considering product physical lifetime and value lifetime. This discussion is a typical
example of time axis design, while we were not aware of the concept of time axis
design at that time. Moreover, if we discuss extremely, all sustainability issues are
related to temporal changes, and the essential conflict resides within different time
scales; for example, resource depletion and global warming in long time scale and
pursuing quality of life in relatively short time scale.
So, by introducing the concept of time axis design, we can discuss such temporal
changes in the context of design in an integrated and systematic manner.