Service design in the context of sustainable production and consumption: a case study of elderly fall-protection clothing

Abstract

Purpose

This study aims to identify the superior service strategies for elderly people in the context of sustainable production and consumption, thereby providing the principles for optimizing the service system of elderly fall-protection clothing.

Design/methodology/approach

This study adopted a new service design methodology that integrates a Kansei Engineering methodology and a customer life cycle. The Kansei Engineering methodology can use psychological methods to grasp customer feelings (or needs) and then transfer the collected data to the design domain by using multivariate statistical analyses. The customer life cycle can simulate all the service activities required by a new service system systematically and logically. In terms of the hypothetical scenarios provided by the customer life cycle, the Kansei Engineering methodology can collect service design elements more effectively and logically, thereby making the Kansei Engineering methodology more adaptable to the requirements of service design and sustainable design.

Findings

The research findings are the service strategies required for a new service system of elderly fall-protection clothing, as well as a new service design methodology that integrates a Kansei Engineering methodology and a customer life cycle.

Research limitations/implications

Designing a service system involves more than just figuring out what service strategies consumers desire; it includes examining how the business integrates resources to help those strategies be implemented. This study’s limitation is that it only looks at service strategy development; more research will probably conclude the study on how businesses integrate resources to support service strategy implementation.

Practical implications

Elderly fall-protection clothing companies can refer to the service strategies and new knowledge outlined in this study to optimize their service systems.

Originality/value

The research results of this study fulfilled the research gap in the service design of elderly fall-protection clothing. Furthermore, this study developed a new design framework for Kansei Engineering methodology, enriching a new Kansei Engineering methodology for service design.

Citation

Wang, M., Shaari, N., Abidin, S.Z. and He, Y. (2024), "Service design in the context of sustainable production and consumption: a case study of elderly fall-protection clothing", Journal of Engineering, Design and Technology, Vol. ahead-of-print No. ahead-of-print. https://doi.org/10.1108/JEDT-12-2023-0546