Sustainability of mobile IT sector in industrially developing countries by supporting repairability

Abstract

This article aims to provide a design intervention to support the repairability of mobile phones and, in turn, promote sustainability. Typically, mobile phones are designed with a view towards obsolescence for users in industrially developed countries, as the expected repair in these circumstances is minimal. In contrast, in developing countries, such as India, these phones are constantly repaired and are owned several times by different people before their final demise. Therefore, to support repairability, a field study based in Mumbai, India, was conducted to understand the cognitive basis of repair. The results were further analyzed using a cognitive work analysis framework that provides insight into the possibilities for informational requirements for design. The findings indicate that small-scale repair shops (3–4 repairmen) and the hole-in-the-wall shops (1 repairman) can benefit from the intervention in terms of informational support for the repair activity. If the cognitive dimension of repair is supported for these low-cost repair shops, we can expect an increase in the capability and efficacy of the repairmen, resulting in fewer phones ending up as e-waste. Thus, due to its low cost, informational diagrams that support the repair activity can be incorporated by the manufacturer without any radical changes in existing proprietary technology, resulting in the possibility for the long-term growth of the repair ecology in a country such as India.