Introduction If we were to walk down a busy street, sit in an airport departure lounge, or take a journey on a train, we would be certain to see many people using a variety of small electronic goods. They might be listening to music on headphones, having a conversation on a mobile phone, taking a photograph with a digital camera, or sending an e-mail on a laptop computer. Sometimes, people engage in several activities at the same time (see Figure 1). Such sights have become ubiquitous, and they raise a number of issues related to our current conceptions of products. The conventions that underlie how electronic products are designed are not only linked to how they are made, the longevity of their use, and what happens to them after their useful life has ended, but also to how these products are used and the kinds of use they encourage. All these factors have implications for the responsibilities of industrial design in the twenty-first century, not only in addressing concerns about sustainability but also in terms of how our conceptions of products are related to understandings of human purpose and fulfilment. This discussion begins with an examination of the triple bottom line of sustainability, which it expands to include “personal meaning.” The relevance of this fourth element becomes evident in light of recent research that suggests multitasking and partial attention, as are common in the use of electronic devices, can have detrimental effects on behaviors and values that are related not only to social responsibility and environmental stewardship, but also to substantive notions of meaning. We consider the design challenges raised by these issues, which then leads to the development of a set of new design priorities that seek compatibility both with sustainability, through more distributed production/service enterprise models, and with more reflective product use patterns. We then explore the implications of these priorities via a series of conceptual designs. The propositional designs that emerge from this study, which are not intended to be commercially viable products, transform general principles into specific, tangible objects. Naturally, many other design outcomes are possible. However, it is hoped that the examples presented here serve to illustrate the potential of an