Developing a framework for analysing effectiveness of sustainable design websites in influencing design decisions

Sustainable design websites have become a key information gathering tool both in the classroom for students and also within design consultancies. This paper aims to highlight key issues concerning sustainable design decisions and their impact on design outcomes. These are illustrated by exploring the apparent focus areas of various kettle designs, which demonstrates how weighting factors differently can have a significant impact on design outcomes. A method was devised for creating spider diagrams based on the ’12 featues model of a sustainable society’. This has been used to analyse the content of 25 leading sustainable design websites. The paper then proceeds to outline the key elements of effectiveness relating to website design. The report suggests further research that will be carried out to aid in the analysis of the effectiveness of sustainable design websites in influencing design decisions.