THE SHARING ECONOMY AND DESIGN
Year: 2015
Editor: Guy Bingham, Darren Southee, John McCardle, Ahmed Kovacevic, Erik Bohemia, Brian Parkinson
Author: Smith, J Drew; Morgan, David; Howell, Bryan
Series: E&PDE
Institution: 1Student of Industrial Design, Brigham Young University, 2Faculty of Industrial Design, Brigham Young University, 3Associate Professor, Industrial Design, Brigham Young University
Section: Research
Page(s): 588-591
ISBN: 978-1-904670-62-9
Abstract
The sharing economy is gaining momentum and changing the way people think about and interact
with products. The commercial economy has created a culture of conspicuous consumption, where
status is displayed by owning lots of stuff. But the sharing economy encourages collaborative
consumption where status comes from having access to a lot of goods [1]. In the sharing economy,
companies use technology to facilitate peer-to-peer rental schemes [2]. These “using rather than
owning” strategies have the potential to reduce our demand for natural resources, and revive the old
virtue of building products that last [3]. For this reason it is important that design students be exposed
to courses, lectures, and projects where they learn to design for the unique challenges of the sharing
economy.
Keywords: Sharing economy, design, collaborative consumption