Industrial Design Archives

Your Guide to Sustainable Product Development

Designing for Impact. Developing for the Future.

Here’s your go to guide for sustainable product development > download here.

At Kaleidoscope Innovation, we help companies create smarter, more sustainable products through a proven, intentional approach to Design for Environment (DfE). Whether you're building something new or rethinking an existing product, our process helps reduce environmental impact across the entire product lifecycle.

Step 1: Identify Environmental Impact Hotspots

We begin by identifying which stages of your product’s lifecycle carry the greatest environmental burden. This helps prioritize design decisions that yield the most sustainable outcomes.

Consider the full product lifecycle:

Raw Material Extraction – What’s required to source and process your materials?
Production – How energy-intensive is manufacturing?
Distribution – What’s the transportation footprint?
Use Phase – Does your product consume energy or resources during use?
End-of-Life – What happens when the product is no longer needed? Landfill, recycling, or reuse?

Key metrics: CO₂e emissions, energy use, resource depletion, water usage, waste, and pollution.

Step 2: Sustainability-Focused Brainstorming

With impact areas identified, we guide teams through targeted ideation. Example prompts include:

How might we reduce plastic usage?
How might we design this for disassembly and recycling?
How might we extend the product’s usable life?
How might we minimize energy consumption in use?

These focused prompts keep environmental responsibility front and center during early concept exploration.

Step 3: Concept Development with Sustainability in Mind

We embed sustainability criteria into concept selection and evaluation—both qualitatively and quantitatively.

Best practices include:

Clearly identifying and communicating sustainability benefits in each concept.
Including lifecycle impact assessments in selection criteria.

Step 4: Sustainable Design & Engineering

Our designers and engineers apply DfE principles to reduce environmental impact without sacrificing performance.

We consider the following nine sustainable design strategies:

Longevity – Design for durability and long-term performance.
Materiality – Use recycled, recyclable*, compostable, or low-energy materials.
Dematerialization – Minimize the amount of material used.
Repairability – Use accessible fasteners, avoid adhesives.
Modularity – Design swappable components to extend product life.
Component Reduction – Fewer parts = less waste and simpler assembly.
Energy Efficiency – Optimize for low power use and renewable energy compatibility.
Disassembly – Ensure components can be separated for recycling*.
Remanufacturing – Enable re-use of containers or product components.

*Keep in mind: most users won’t recycle unless it’s easy and intuitive.

Step 5: Testing & Iteration

We simulate real-world conditions, including worst-case scenarios, using lean, repeatable methods. We aim to reduce material waste by reusing test samples and limiting sample size with engineering rationale.

Let’s Build Smarter, Cleaner Products

Kaleidoscope is your partner in eco-conscious product development. From concept to commercialization, we combine innovation with sustainability to future-proof your product and brand.

Ready to design with the planet in mind? Let’s talk about your project.

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Designing for the Unknown

ENCOUNTERING DATA GAPS

For a product to be successful, it’s critical for designers to understand the environment in which the product will be used. For a medical device, this environment is often inside the human body. While some anthropometric data such as height, weight, and arm reach, are well documented, there are many critical anatomical measures that remain unknown, particularly in the realm of women’s health.

While collaborating with a medical partner to address postpartum hemorrhage (PPH,) the leading cause of maternal death worldwide, Kaleidoscope encountered this common product design challenge. During preliminary research, the team found that there was little to no readily available data on vaginal dimensions immediately following childbirth. The scarcity of this particular data is not surprising, as the anatomy changes rapidly postpartum. Understandably, collecting this data isn’t a priority for mothers or caregivers, who are focused on the wellbeing of the newborn. Nevertheless, this lack of data created a significant challenge for the Kaleidoscope PPH design team.

TOOLS FOR BRIDGING THE GAP

Whether we are creating a medical device, a smart pet collar, or an industrial freezer, the team at Kaleidoscope utilizes a number of different methods when designing for the unknown. One way we obtain the data we need is simply to collect it ourselves! Armed with calipers and tape measures, we might venture into the field or bring samples into our studio to take direct measurements. Direct observation, whether in person or through videos and photos, is another way we round out our understanding of a unique user experience.

Sometimes—like trying to determine dimensions of internal anatomy—this just isn’t feasible. In those cases, we turn to subject matter experts. Surgeons, with their deep experiential knowledge of anatomy, are able to describe what they have encountered in situ, providing additional insights into the nuanced aspects of human anatomy, such as texture, firmness and what it feels like to manipulate different anatomical structures. These insights proved to be a vital element in overcoming the data gaps encountered by the PPH design team.

OUT-OF-THE-BOX INSPIRATION

When the Kaleidoscope team explores new product categories, we find that drawing inspiration from successful analogous products is another valuable strategy. If we’re creating a handheld device, referencing power tools, hair dryers, or hot glue guns as adjacent products can help guide the design in the correct direction. The key here is relevance—referencing products familiar to end-users ensures that the design resonates with their expectations. If we are developing a surgical device for ophthalmologists, (who are used to small, delicate instruments that they control with their fingertips,) it would be more appropriate to reference delicate tools such as those used by sculptors than it would be to reference tools used by auto mechanics.

While designing for a post-partum hemorrhage solution, analogous products included menstrual cups and discs, which share similar placement within the vaginal canal. These adjacent products provided the Kaleidoscope team with a good starting point for shape and dimensions of the device, as well as inspiration for materials and durometers to explore. These analogous references were part of the constellation of information used by the PPH team while exploring potential solutions to our data gap.

EMBRACING FLEXIBLE SOLUTIONS

At the end of the day, secondary research can only get us so far. In the absence of precise anatomical dimensions, adaptability can be a powerful tool in the designer’s toolbox. Whether the solution is fully adjustable (like an office chair) or offers different size options (like audio earbuds with multiple size tips,) a thoughtfully designed adjustable or flexible product ensures that one size does NOT need to fit all—rather, we can design a solution that easily adapts to meet the needs of all users.

Being on the cutting edge of new product development often means navigating uncharted territory. At Kaleidoscope, we've mastered the art of designing for the unknown with a combination of creative data collection, analogous product inspiration, and thoughtful adaptability. By transforming uncertainty into opportunity for our partners, we create products and experiences that improve outcomes for everyone.

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The Future of Industrial Design

It’s time to evolve the way we train young industrial designers.

I’ve often heard designers express frustration about the decline in the quality of education for industrial designers and the curriculum’s failure to teach the foundational skills needed to enter the profession.

Having managed Kaleidoscope’s industrial design co-op program for five years and mentored co-ops throughout my career, I can’t say I disagree. Though young designers still have so much passion for their craft, their portfolios often reveal that the required skills are lacking.

What’s changed over the last decade? Our world.

Born after the dawn of the internet, today’s young designers have grown up surrounded by technology and unlimited access to information. While their innate curiosity has not changed, the way they learn and the tools they use certainly have.

For me, growing up pre-internet came with advantages and disadvantages. Much of my understanding of the world and the products around me came from my curiosity about and interaction with tangible objects. Whether it was building things with my father in the garage or taking objects apart and putting them together to see how they worked, my learning came from the physical world around me.

So how can we adapt the way we train young designers? I don’t have an encompassing solution to this question. But I do believe the first step is to recognize the impact of these generational and cultural changes so we can tweak the curriculum by incorporating literal hands-on experiences into students’ education. Let’s bring back model-making and shop courses, all the while emphasizing why these efforts are essential to one’s foundation and growth as a designer.

I’m sure all of you new and veteran designers have your own perspectives on the subject. What do you think of the state of today’s educational design programs? How can we ensure the next generation of designers are as prepared and skilled as possible?

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Unlock Hidden Productivity: A Research Guide for Industrial Designers

In today's fast-paced and competitive world, industrial designers face the exciting challenge of creating innovative and user-centric products that capture the market's attention. While their expertise lies in design aesthetics and functionality, the role of research in the design process cannot be underestimated. Research is the key that unlocks valuable insights, fuels inspiration, and ensures that designs are grounded in real-world needs and preferences. However, for industrial designers and other professionals who are not trained in research methods, navigating the realm of research can feel daunting. In this article, we will define research methodology and provide suggestions for selecting the right one for your project.

RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

Once a client settles on a research question, it is up to the design researcher to select the methodology that facilitates a rigorous approach. Think of methodology as a framework for conducting a research study. The chosen methodology will guide a researcher in methods and procedures that ensure the results or findings are valid and reliable.

QUANTITATIVE: Quantitative methodology is used to determine if relationships between variables exist, to test a hypothesis, or to measure a phenomenon. Quantitative data is used to make group comparisons or identify patterns. Data are numbers and reported in a standard reporting structure. Descriptive and inferential statistics require quantitative data. The output of quantitative analysis is referred to as results.

QUALITATIVE: Qualitative methodologies are used to understand a phenomenon more deeply, to obtain a detailed description of an experience, or to understand how or why an event occurs. Qualitative data may be text or images and uses a flexible reporting structure. Interview transcripts and video recordings represent qualitative data types. The output of qualitative analyses is called findings.

MIXED METHODS: Mixed methods research includes aspects of quantitative and qualitative methodologies in the same study or series of studies. Mixed methods approaches can be used sequentially or concurrently. Often, results or findings from one phase will be used to design a subsequent phase of a project. A Time & Motion Study consisting of quantitative measurement of a motion in a workflow followed by a one-on-one interview is an example of a mixed methods study. The qualitative findings could be used to understand the results of the quantitative phase more deeply, to provide context for interpreting the results, or to triangulate the results and findings.

WHICH ONE SHOULD I USE?

Choice of research methodology should be determined using several factors:

Research Purpose: If the purpose is to understand or explore, a qualitative methodology is likely the best approach. If a client wants to know how much or to determine if a new workflow is more productive than the old one, a quantitative approach will likely be appropriate. If a client wants both, a mixed methods approach will be best.
Budget: Generally, qualitative studies are more time-intensive than quantitative studies. If a client’s budget is limited, a quantitative approach may be best.
Decisions: If a client wants to use the findings of a study to generate ideas or inform iterative design requirements, a qualitative approach may be best. If a client wants to evaluate changes to a process or product, a quantitative approach is required.

The next step in planning a research study is to decide what methods will be used to collect data. Methods specific to each methodology exist but are beyond the scope of this article. If you are interested in learning more, check out some of the popular methods from a reliable source: narrative inquiry, survey, and ethnography are a few examples of methods you may encounter in the field. By embracing research methodology as an integral part of the design process, industrial designers can confidently embark on their creative journey, armed with insights that empower them to craft extraordinary products that not only meet user needs but also set new standards of innovation in their industry.

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