Swathi Muralidharan

Background

The automobile industry has been one of the most circular industries, with almost 75-85% of its materials being recycled and finding their way back into the value chain in different industries. However, with the EV transition, the industry is getting into a learning phase which is going to disrupt its end-of-life circularity due to various problems in the system.  There is an immediate need for the industry to shift its production from being more human-centred to designing for the product's lifetime and its end-of-life.

The Challenge

The government’s carbon emission regulations have gained immense emphasis from automobile manufacturers. However, biased decisions within different sustainability targets like carbon zero goals, recyclability, ethical sourcing etc., create environmentally harmful causal loops, often uncovered during the design phase. Attaining the desired circularity while balancing other sustainability targets is a challenge.

How might we ensure circularity in the EV industry while resolving conflicts between their different sustainability targets?

The Service

Spiral is an AI-based service that helps EV manufacturers to prioritise different sustainability targets and make circular material decisions during the automobile design and concept development phase. The AI-powered plugin integrates with existing design and engineering software to ensure sustainable material decisions through the three service components:

[1] Analysis & Prioritisation- Analyses to balance different material property requirements and sustainability targets and highlight opportunities for material replacement.

[2] Awareness of alternatives- Providing visibility and bespoke suggestions on all the available materials and their details, circularity metrics, and contribution to the overall impact.

[3] Internal Collaboration- Facilitating alignment between different internal teams to make collective material decisions.

The Impact

The automotive industry is a complex system of various stakeholders with different requirements and needs. Spiral connects them, creating multi-sided benefits, and eliminating barriers within the ecosystem. 

Spiral has the potential to create a wider impact on businesses and the planet. It brings out the business value of sustainability by broadening the scope for making cost-effective sustainable decisions, as well as facilitating sustainable and responsible production.

To know more about the project, please follow the link below.

Partner: 

Vivobarefoot - Minimalist running shoe brand

Overview: 

The 6-month project aims to introduce the concept of barefoot footwear to a wider audience and onboard new customers by designing an end-to-end service experience that leads to Vivobarefoot shoe subscription membership, as part of a circular system. The outcome was a radical and innovative model of service that creates interventions in the existing ecosystem, with business plans, value propositions, financial modelling and implementation plans - to accelerate Vivobarefoot's customer acquisition and retention.

To know more about the project, please follow the link below.

Background: 

This project was developed for and won the RCA Grand Challenge 2020-21, themed Design for Safety - 'Next Generation Interactions'

Sponsor: 

Logitech - International consumer electronics company

Overview: 

Mental health is a complex global issue that needs to be comprehensively addressed via multi-modal systemic interventions. It is vital to prevent mental health problems that might lead to a significant burden in treatment.

How might we prepare the next generation to face emotional challenges and prevent mental health problems?

The Yellow Box is a universal framework for individuals to learn, remember, and act on mental health challenges. Learn- educates school children on the language of mental health through interactive workshops, that use first-aid kit tools as metaphors to explain different mental health concepts; Remember- reminds teenagers and adults of mental wellbeing through public safety signage infrastructure; Act- provides in-the-moment emergency tools through a website with ​​a simple hierarchy for emergency advice and pointers to primary care and other organisations.

We have several organisations caring for mental health, but they are disjointed. The touchpoints between humans and the ecosystem are still not mandated and are hard to find. The Yellow box connects the ecosystem, making it comprehensive and universal. It simplifies access to information and serves as the one place to go. When introduced globally, the framework is adaptable to different cultural contexts and has the potential to create a global impact.

To know more about the project, please follow the link below.

Partner: 

EY Seren - Strategic Design consultancy in the financial services industry.

Overview:

EY Seren challenged us to shift the mindsets and behaviours of people in the UK, to drive better financial decisions that ensure lifelong financial safety and stability.

Vision is an end-to-end service that helps people effectively manage their savings and start making early investments to build a financially sustainable future. It provides users with the necessary tools and information while facilitating an aided behavioural change to make better financial decisions. The project began with extensive exploratory research, that identified different user mindsets and behavioural barriers. The final service helps in overcoming these barriers by integrating different service segments to provide a seamless experience.

To know more about the project, please follow the link below.