How Does Google Use Design to Shape a Sustainable World?
Chapter
05:44 – Durability Testing and Design for Longevity
14:56 – AI as a Creative Tool in Sustainable Design
17:04 – Plastic-Free Packaging and Sharing Knowledge
21:22 – Cultural Change and Circular Business Models
25:24 – Planet-Centred Design and Gen Z Values
27:44 – Designing the Google Environmental Report 2025
32:13 – Future of Circular Tech Design
Key Learnings
Engineering Products to Last
Durability and repairability are central pillars of Google’s design work – from drop and submersion tests to intuitive internal design systems that make repairs safer and easier.
Circular Design as Collaboration
Progress comes from openness: Google publishes detailed sustainability and packaging guides so other companies can learn from its methods – fostering pre-competitive collaboration.
Responsible Materials
Each new Pixel generation expands recycled content – from plastics to metals like cobalt, tin, copper, and gold – with equal attention to invisible parts of the supply chain and packaging.
AI as a Design
Tool AI enhances creativity and efficiency – from synthesizing workshop results to supporting climate predictions – but never replaces the human designer’s strategic and ethical role.
Culture and Behavioural Change
Circularity is as much cultural as technical: shifting from “owning” to “sharing,” from novelty to longevity, requires storytelling and emotional connection to products.
Design Perspectives Podcast
How can we use design as a lever for transformation and economic success? We talk about this with personalities from the fields of design, brand management and architecture. They give us insights into how transformation, sustainability and economic success can go hand in hand in a company. Interesting, informative, inspiring.