Psychologically Durable Design – Definitions and Approaches

This paper provides a definition of ‘psychologically durable design’ and clarifies its relationship to ‘emotionally durable design’. Psychologically durable design, not the least in the form of ‘emotionally durable design’, has emerged as an important means to ensure more sustainable designs, since many types of consumer product are often replaced before their physical function is compromised. However, there are still no exhaustive answers as to how to create more psychologically durable products, or detailed definitions of psychologically durable design. To address this issue, this paper provides such a definition in terms of durable instrumental, hedonic, and symbolic value. On this basis, the paper defines four types of durable product relationship, of which only two are related to ‘emotional durability’.