Ethics, Sustainability & Risk
This section reflects on the wider impact of BrewFlow beyond it’s physical prototype. It considers how the product can support dignity, reduce cognitive load, minimise environmental impact, and respond responsibly to risks such as over-reliance, sensory overload, and long-term material use.
Ethics & Social Impacts
The project applies the social model of disability by treating the coffee-making system, not the crew, as the source of barriers. Co-design with Beresford Street Kitchen staff ensures the guidance system supports independence and dignity.
Styled as a universal barista tool so disabled crew are not singled out.
Co-designed wording, icons and light behaviour with BSK crew and staff.
Calm layouts and redundant cues reduce cognitive load for neurodivergent users.
Sustainability & Lifecyle thinking
Sustainability is addressed through modular design and clear separation between prototype materials and future production materials. Components are chosen and arranged so that parts can be repaired, replaced and upgraded over the product’s life.
Modular 3D-printed and laser-cut housings that can be repaired or replaced.
Beech wood and stainless steel used for warm, durable, easy-to-clean touch points.
Prototype acknowledges limits around heat, moisture and durability and plans for sealed, food-safe housings in future versions.
Environmental Responsibilities
The project reduces avoidable waste by designing for reuse and refurbishment instead of full replacement. Material and hardware choices consider how often parts need to be changed and how they can be reused.
Modular electronics and housings allow individual parts to be swapped instead of discarding the whole device.
Plans for reuse or refurbishment of digital hardware to respect the embodied impact of electronics.
Future iterations aim to use more durable components to extend service life and reduce waste.
Risk Analysis & mitigation
Risk analysis is embedded through a risk and ethics table that links each identified risk to a mitigation strategy. Design decisions respond directly to issues such as stigma, sensory overload and over-reliance.
Identified risks like stigma, over-reliance, sensory overload and misuse.
Mitigated through neutral café styling, calm non-flickering lights and redundant cues.
Recipes built from reusable step types and documented symbol/colour sets to avoid configuration errors.
We also considered other things!
Materials Exploration
Take me there!
Component Selection
Take me there!