Janaki Kumar at LUNAR Podcast "Sustainability Design 2.0"

By Gerd Waloszek, SAP User Experience, SAP AG – July 7, 2011 (Original article)

Janaki KumarJanaki Kumar from SAP User Experience, Palo Alto leads a team of interaction designers who design the Sustainability Suite of products at SAP. On January 12, 2011, Janaki took part in an Icon-o-Cast episode, joining LUNAR's Robert Howard and Travis Lee for a discussion of "Sustainability Design 2.0." This title indicates that sustainable design is entering a new phase as it moves from environmental activism to an approach based around a range of improved business processes that make a difference. In the podcast, Janaki, Robert, and Travis discuss how designers can be leading participants in this shift by being aware of all of the concerns of the entire business.

 

Topics Discussed in the Podcast

  • Changing attitudes of business towards sustainability
    • Going beyond environmentalism
    • New generation of business leaders recognize that businesses do not operate in a vacuum – balance long-term and short-term through responsible business practices
    • Key motivators for this mind shift: Regulation, resources, reputation
  • Challenges
    • Fundamental changes to business take time
    • Lack of information to make decisions
    • Low visibility into practices of supply chain
  • How can designers help?
    • Play a leadership in creating a sustainable future
    • Rethink design processes
    • Rethink materials
    • Rethink product life cycle
    • Rethink consumer experience
  • Conclusions

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Janaki Kuma, SAP UXTravis Lee, LUNARRobert Howard, LUNAR  

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Janaki Kumar, SAP UX; Travis Lee and Robert Howard, LUNAR

 

Biographies

Janaki Kumar, SAP User Experience

Janaki Kumar has over 15 years of experience designing business software. She has a degree in both business and information design. She works at SAP, a leading enterprise software vendor that enables business to manage their resources, supply chain, customer relations, product life-cycle, supplier relations etc. SAP has over 100.000 customers in over 120 countries. SAP is headquartered in Germany and has offices all over the world. Janaki works in the Palo Alto Labs. She is part of the User Experience organization, and leads a team of interaction designers who design the Sustainability Suite of products at SAP.

Travis Lee, LUNAR

As Sustainable Engineering Lead with LUNAR, Travis Lee is responsible for coordinating sustainable engineering efforts within LUNAR Elements, LUNAR's internal sustainability initiative. This responsibility includes driving the creation of guidelines and tools for designers and engineers, advancing the sustainability dialogue with clients, and continuously making LUNAR a more sustainable company in its day to day operations. He is a co-author of LUNAR's "Designer's Field Guide to Sustainability" and author of LUNAR's daily sustainability inspiration series '365 Ways.'
(From Sustainable Minds, adapted)

Robert Howard, LUNAR

Robert Howard heads engineering services for LUNAR. As LUNAR's technology leader, he directs the engineering staff and innovation processes to deliver products that make a difference for LUNAR's clients. Under Robert's direction since 1996, the engineering group is instrumental in delivering inventive products for leading consumer electronics and medical device companies in the Fortune 100 and startups alike. His favorite projects require technological inventiveness and rigor to meet challenging end user expectations, whether they are life saving devices or consumer electronics products. To better serve LUNAR's medical clients, in 2004 Robert established LUNAR's MED group, a rigorous practice and process with direct access to LUNAR's own medical advisory board composed of doctors from nearby Stanford and VA hospitals.
(Frum LUNAR Website, adapted)

 

References

 

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