Redesigning the Chowndolo: a Reflection-on-action Analysis to Identify Sustainable Strategies for NIMEs Design

The sustainability of Digital Musical Instruments (DMIs) is a crucial concern within the NIME community, not only in the design of the instruments but also in terms of sus- taining the instrument over a prolonged period, promoting longevity, and minimizing obsolescence. The risk of design- ing advanced instruments becoming debris quickly is real if longevity is not actively considered. In this paper, we present the process of redesigning a crafted DMI to fit a small-scale production process while considering strategies that render the final design more sustainable and maximize the object’s lifespan. We present the results of a critical analysis of this process through a sustainability lens. From this analysis, we distilled a number of reflections that could help similar design processes or NIME crafting activities. The most innovative reflections are related to inscribing sus- tainability into the practice of using the instruments. From this perspective, we suggest considering the future user as a designer capable of fixing, adjusting, redesigning, or hack- ing the DMI and actively provide possible solutions that can significantly extend the lifespan of a DMI and, consequently, its sustainability.