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Experiment overview
A circular service design project for a Swedish furniture industry giant, focused on developing a prototype for a furniture rental service to validate assumptions with test customer segments.
Main objectives
The project centered on conducting in-depth community research with specifically identified customer segments to understand their needs and motivations.
Through immersive research methodologies, I uncovered authentic user motivations crucial for designing a market-ready circular service system that would theoretically keep furniture in circulation rather than being discarded.
The approach emphasized systemic thinking to identify strengths and weaknesses across all service elements, culminating in prototype development and recommendations for effective communication and storytelling around this new solution.
Achieved results
The research delivered comprehensive insights into user behaviors and motivations, resulting in a functional prototype that demonstrated the circular service concept.
By leveraging my professional network, I was able to access key community segments and gather valuable data that informed actionable implementation recommendations.
Main reflection
This project became a profound lesson in professional integrity when supporting corporate sustainability initiatives.
While analyzing internal research, I discovered that this “ecological” initiative was primarily motivated by resource scarcity concerns and maintaining growth trajectories rather than genuine environmental protection. The company had calculated that to maintain their current growth model, they would eventually face natural resource shortages and needed to recapture materials from the market.
More troublingly, I realized how this company had systematically undermined repair culture by designing products not meant to be fixed and making repair economically impractical, essentially driving artificial consumption cycles.
This experience highlighted how sustainability claims can mask profit-driven motives that contradict genuine ecological commitments. It reinforced my belief that true environmental change requires vigilance, commitment to values, and the courage to challenge major market players.
The project ultimately led me to terminate the client relationship and even avoid their products personally, as I cannot compromise my professional ethics when confronted with greenwashing practices.