Design thinking and innovative design tools for seaweed cultivation: Introducing the culture pod

Seaweed aquaculture presents significant future food and nutrient potential. Despite immense potential, offshore cultivation remains underdeveloped. Applying the 7D design thinking (DT) process created the ‘culture pod’, an innovative system for offshore seaweed aquaculture. This methodology transforms problems into design briefs, identifies unmet needs, ideates solutions, exemplifies them, and iteratively prototypes them. Four 3D-printed prototypes containing Ulva sp. were tested in 1 m³ tanks, revealing effective cultivation techniques with a maximum daily growth rate (DGR) of 35%. This research highlights the importance of multi-disciplinary approaches integrating industrial design, structural design, marine technology, and seaweed biology. Future research may involve full-scale biological experiments, large-scale pod development, and offshore studies.