Empowering End-Users Toward Roles in Sustainable Computing

Technology has become increasingly embedded throughout our lives and rapid technological innovation promises even more uses of future technologies. In fact, much of how technology is designed and sold to consumers centers around its usability. We relate to our interactive devices primarily as users, an extractive relationship that can foreclose more sustainable relations. This has in turn led to a paradigm of easily discarding our devices once they are no longer "useful" to us, collectively generating millions of tons of e-waste annually. I argue that providing end-users with alternative modes of engagement with their devices beyond "use" is essential for developing more sustainable futures of computing. What if our devices were designed not only for users, but also for recyclers, caretakers, or re-users - alternative roles that are oriented more towards sustainability? My research explores how designing and engineering devices for these alternative roles can empower users towards different relationships to their devices and even, to engage in more sustainable computing practices. I outline three projects that investigate these alternative roles through surveying current practices as well as engineering and evaluating assistive tools and artifacts.