Design for sustainability and design to change habits are two areas that have been explored separately. Design for sustainable behavior has started to be researched for different purposes. This research focuses on how we interact with objects to reinforce sustainable actions, focused on low-waste drinking water consumption using Water Bottle Filling Stations. Things do not work the same in different contexts, even if they are targeted at a similar group of people in two different countries. In consequence, the habits around particular objects change as well. This research is part of a bi-cultural study on the relationship between users and Water Bottle Filling Stations in universities, sites where these devices have been installed to promote healthy habits and encourage sustainable practices in their population. This is to evaluate the use of current nudges attached to the design attributes on the artifact.Using mixed methods, this research explored the possibility of using Water Bottle Filling Stations to create and reinforce habits in the user’s routine and the consequences with the aid of nudges. To understand these behaviors, populations from a college in Mexico and a college in the United States were subjects of study to understand the implications of using Water Bottle Filling Stations as a device that, by design, promotes reusability as a circular economy strategy. The following research did not aim to redesign the entire system but evaluate the impact of current nudges and design attributes on the artifact, how habits have affected culture, and supply a list of findings and recommendations.

Food safety incidents have constantly hit society and threatened human health. Hundreds of millions of people become sick after eating contaminated food every year. As the problem continues to emerge, consumers must take action to avoid purchasing risky food products. As one of the solutions, food traceability systems have been developed rapidly in many countries in recent years. More food products can now be provided with traceability information to assist consumers in making purchase decisions. To design services for grocery shoppers to access food information from food traceability systems possibly through modern technologies, this transdisciplinary user research study investigated shopper insights into food traceability information on produce provided at grocery stores, with a fusion of ideas from the disciplines of design and consumer behaviors. Through literature reviews, an online survey study, and an online interview study, this research revealed a series of shopper insights concerning (1) shoppers’ knowledge about food traceability information, (2) shoppers’ behaviors and motivations for using traceability information on produce, (3) shoppers’ perceptions towards providing traceability information on produce to them at grocery stores, (4) shoppers’ perceived important traceability information on produce, (5) shoppers’ behavior intentions of using specific ways to access traceability information on produce, and (6) shoppers’ thresholds to pay for traceability information on produce. Based on the results, this study identified design opportunities for the features, components, and mediums of the service design of future food traceability systems.

People often choose one design over another for reasons of beauty and taste. This is known as aesthetic preference. Over the years, philosophers and psychologists have observed the significant impact of aesthetics on human behavior and sought a deeper understanding of how aesthetic preferences are formed and how they drive behavior and choices. Despite recent advancement in the scientific study of aesthetics with the emergence of neuroaesthetics and evolutionary psychology, the complexity and diversity of aesthetic preferences still pose a significant challenge for designers who design for a mass population. This study proposed and implemented a process through which unique aesthetic indicators were identified, from which distinct aesthetic typologies were then derived. To evaluate the process and generate practical results, a mixed-methods approach with exploratory sequential design was used. First, an online survey and semi-structured interviews were conducted (n=20). These methods were used to refine the survey instrument. Next, an extensive online survey (n=1038) was conducted to identify aesthetic indicators. To produce measurable outcomes and define the typologies of individuals based on their responses to survey questions, cluster analysis was applied to the data. Results indicated a set of unique aesthetic indicators from which distinct aesthetic typologies were derived. This study adds to the vast body of knowledge we can use to explore and improve our understanding of aesthetic preference. With the availability of quantitative data and the robust modeling capabilities of Artificial Intelligence (AI), it is not unrealistic that we would be able to model and predict future or unknown aesthetic preferences. Accurate predictions of these preferences can have immense value for the field of design. Aesthetic typologies provide the structure to move design in that direction.