Persuasive industrial design and human computer interaction in child development for sustainable behaviour and water conservation

This article narrates on work in progress relating to influencing sustainability awareness and knowledge with subsequent change in behavior from childhood. The project was based on CDIO (conceiving, designing, implementing, operating) syllabus, industrial design and human computer interaction. The study focuses on issues of water conservation as a resource said to become premium commodity in near future and its scarcity in our country. Background information and literature review supports the view sustainability goals require more than efficient planning, strategy, implementation and regulation. Importantly, behavioral change through persuasion becomes pivotal to enable a generational cultural transformation relating to sustainability and wellbeing. Researchers found behavioral formation and change happens preferably through daily familiar practice rather than regulatory or financial penalty, as with water bills. One such instance, is the daily ritual of bathing where parents/guardians and children connect with each other through a task and also allows for a child to increase experiential learning through play based on projectbased learning. Project findings based on conceiving-designing-implementing-operating framework are leading to a working minimum value product (MVP) and system solution closer to its next stage of deployment with a subgroup of possible customers or early adopters.