Examining appropriation, re-use, and maintenance for sustainability

Abstract

Within the past few years, the field of HCI has increasingly addressed the issue of environmental sustainability, primarily identifying the challenges and developing an agenda for designing for sustainability. Yet, the most difficult task remains, how do we develop realistic solutions when the digital ethos is based upon short-lived computing products that come and go at rapid pace. By examining appropriation, re-use, and maintenance practices, this workshop aims to identify sustainable interaction design challenges and directions in re-utilizing used or obsolete computing products for prolonged use.