Radhika Totla

Bridging the Gap in Sustainable Furniture Adoption Among Urban Millennials and Gen Z in Ahmedabad, India

Sustain-Able is a mobile-first digital platform designed to make sustainable furniture more accessible to Millennials and Gen Z in India. The project addresses systemic barriers, including perceived affordability, trust, accessibility, and cultural stigma, reframing sustainability as a mainstream, value-driven lifestyle practice.

The platform integrates features that directly respond to user needs uncovered through research. These include verified brand directories and sustainability scorecards to build trust and transparency, a peer-to-peer marketplace to improve affordability and access, and three-stage product lifecycle peer reviews that highlight durability and long-term value. Additional tools such as comparison features, savings and impact calculators, and storytelling spaces further strengthen informed decision-making. On the business side, homepages, verification badges, and support insights help brands maintain authenticity and relevance.

Research through surveys, interviews, and case studies (IKEA, Sirohi, AKFD, Veja, Good on You) informed feature development. The design process combined user personas, empathy maps, journey maps, and iterative prototypes to ensure a centralised, user-friendly, and culturally contextual solution. Testing (SUS 77–87) confirmed the usability and appeal, positioning design management as a systemic orchestrator that bridges consumer behaviour, cultural values, and circular economy practices.