A framework for the sustainability evaluation of smart and connected products concepts during early product design

The integration of electronic components into physical products to enable advanced data-driven functionalities has led to the emergence of Smart Connected Products (SCP). Due to their complex hybrid nature, SCP can have both positive and negative impacts on the environmental, economic and social pillars. They can thus pose ambiguous sustainability challenges. Recognizing that a product's sustainability impact is in part determined during the early design phases, this study proposes a framework to evaluate the sustainability impacts of SCP concepts after their generation in the creative design stages. The framework objective is to provide a structured and accessible method to select the relevant concepts to consider for the subsequent phase of the design process. Thus, the framework comprises three successive steps: (1) formalizing generated concepts into a common format, (2) evaluating them with regard to 18 sustainability indicators and (3) ranking them based on their scores. The proposed set of 18 actionable indicators was established on the basis of a systematic literature review. The framework scientific robustness and utility were validated through expert interviews. Results highlight the framework's relevance, transparency, and applicability within the SCP domain, though limitations were noted in its exhaustiveness and adaptability to other domains. Regarding the usability of the framework, it was validated through a design workshop. Results demonstrated that the framework was appreciated by the participants and they were satisfied by its outcomes. However, its directive structure seemed to hinder immersion in the evaluation task.