Designing information technology for sustainable energy use

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In response to global warming discussions, research in Sustainable Interaction Design (SID) has begun to focus on tools that promote responsible energy consumption. This work presents findings from an in-depth exploration of interactive feedback systems through a practice-centered research approach. Tobias Schwartz conducted extensive ethnographic studies involving prototypes and design probes in various contexts, including workplaces and private households, to observe how individuals understand and integrate feedback systems into their daily routines. Schwartz analyzes these studies, emphasizing the social dynamics of energy consumption. The exploration reveals sophisticated methods people use to manage their energy practices and how they make their consumption accountable and explainable through interactive feedback systems. Observations from a self-developed consumption feedback system in a living lab setting led to the identification of nine significant issues related to the appropriation of consumption feedback in real-life scenarios. These issues illustrate how feedback systems foster energy literacy and shape values such as trust and identification. They also lay the groundwork for a design rationale aimed at creating ICT technologies that encourage more sustainable lifestyles.