| The work aims to propose the concept of “product sustainable design” as the product design has made great achievements in the field of design for sustainability because of its multi-disciplinary attributes: Regarded as an independent design idea and design system view, the product sustainable design is subject to theoretical research with the relevant knowledge of system theory. The product sustainable design was regarded as a large system composed of four subsystems: load reduction design, persuasive design, fair design and cultural and creative design, respectively pointing to the ecological, economic, social and cultural dimensions of sustainable development, that is, the “4D” system. “D” represented the dimensional and also meant the design. Mutually independent and interrelated, these four subsystems were both ideas and methods. Through demonstration, analysis and combination of product design cases, it is concluded that the four subsystems can not only repair, adjust and evolve themselves, but also combine one another’s functions in the form of hypercycle. They provide catalytic support for the evolution of other subsystems, and finally achieve co-evolution, prosperity and symbiosis, thus providing strong guarantee for sustainable development. |
