Fostering IoT Repair Through Care: Learning from Emotional
Durable Gaming Practices and Communities (Owen, V., Stead, M. & Coulton, P., 2024)
Durable Gaming Practices and Communities (Owen, V., Stead, M. & Coulton, P., 2024)
Electronic waste (e-waste) has become the fastest growing waste
stream in the world. So called ‘smart’ Internet of Things (IoT) devices,
now ubiquitous in our homes, are increasingly contributing
to this waste stream, due to their lack of repairability and consumer
cycles driven by planned obsolescence. However, other electronic
household products, such as gaming devices, are often used and
cared for by their owners for far longer than other IoT devices,
whose protean lifecycles are driven by fast moving, profit-focussed
consumer markets. This paper argues that by developing a deeper
understanding of the relationship between gamers and their devices,
and the communities they inhabit, design practitioners and
researchers can learn to engender the design of IoT products that
foster emotional durability and care, and support the development
of more sustainable repair practices, to tangibly improve the lifespans
of next generation IoT products.
stream in the world. So called ‘smart’ Internet of Things (IoT) devices,
now ubiquitous in our homes, are increasingly contributing
to this waste stream, due to their lack of repairability and consumer
cycles driven by planned obsolescence. However, other electronic
household products, such as gaming devices, are often used and
cared for by their owners for far longer than other IoT devices,
whose protean lifecycles are driven by fast moving, profit-focussed
consumer markets. This paper argues that by developing a deeper
understanding of the relationship between gamers and their devices,
and the communities they inhabit, design practitioners and
researchers can learn to engender the design of IoT products that
foster emotional durability and care, and support the development
of more sustainable repair practices, to tangibly improve the lifespans
of next generation IoT products.
This paper was awarded best paper in the Provocations and Work in Progress track.
Link to full paper to follow after proceedings are published.
