7.7 Assignment

Choose the track for your profile, then complete the version that matches it. This assignment is worth 5 points; submit your deliverable here (text and/or file upload).

This is the single assessed assignment for Chapter 7: complete Parts 1 and 2, then one pathway variation (VET / HEI / Professionals) from 7.7.3–7.7.5. The tools exercise in 7.8 and the field activity in “Industry Case & Field Activity” are optional extensions and are not separately assessed.

7.7.1 Part 1 — Circular Business and Service Model (core)

Learners select one existing product line and:

• Sketch a circular business/service model around it that includes at least one use-oriented service (e.g. rental, leasing, subscription) and one end-of-life service (e.g. take-back, reuse, recycling). *use the Circular Business Model & PSS Canvas
• Identify the key product design changes needed to support this model (e.g. increased durability, modular construction, clear material and recovery labelling).
• Define 2–3 simple service indicators (such as share of products offered via service, average number of use cycles per product, or approximate revenue per product over multiple cycles).
• List the internal roles and external partners involved in operating this model and note where coordination is needed.
• Briefly describe what kind of user experience and communication would be required for customers to adopt this model, acknowledging that detailed communication design is addressed in the Communication module.
• Optionally, compare the linear “sell-once” model and the proposed circular service model using a few simplified impact and economic indicators.

7.7.2 Part 2 — Life Extension Blueprint (core)

• Create a Life Extension Blueprint for one product: timeline of use, repair, upgrade, reuse, remanufacturing.
• Identify designed-in repair points and upgrade options.
• Use a simple life extension metric (e.g. baseline lifetime vs extended lifetime, estimated number of use cycles).
• Map which departments/partners support each stage (repair network, resale, refurbishment).
• Reflect on what would motivate customers to engage in these services.

7.7.3 Pathway VET / EQF 4 — Observe a Downstream Service

Duration: 60–90 minutes | Format: individual or pair | Output: observation notes + one-page proposal. Choose one collection point, second-hand shop, repair service or take-back scheme and record how items are received, graded, priced, what happens to items that cannot be resold, and which product information staff rely on. Identify one point where design or missing information made downstream handling harder, and propose one change.

7.7.4 Pathway HEI / EQF 5 — Service Blueprint for a Take-back Offer

Duration: 120–150 minutes | Format: individual or studio | Output: service blueprint + improvement proposal. For one brand with a public take-back or resale programme, map the customer journey and the internal flows (collection, grading, cleaning, resale or recycling, data capture). Identify the three weakest links and propose one design and one logistics improvement, referencing sections 7.3–7.6 and stating which evidence would be needed to test your proposal.

7.7.5 Pathway Professionals / SMEs — Return-flow and Value-retention Analysis

Duration: 2–3 hours | Format: company workshop | Output: one-page memo with a simple business case. For one product line, analyse existing return, repair and unsold-stock data (or the supplied sample dataset if internal data cannot be shared) together with end-of-life destinations (% resold, % repaired, % donated, % recycled, % discarded). Estimate value recovered per unit, compare it with the cost of inspection, cleaning, repair, storage and transport, and propose one change with an investment-versus-recovered-value argument.