Posted on 25 Aug, 2026

Do you recall when purchasing a washing machine, television, kettle or even a pair of shoes was an investment and not a temporary purchase?

Many household products used to be made to be repaired, maintained and used for years. Nowadays, products can sometimes appear to be designed for a much shorter lifespan. A phone slows down, a washing machine breaks down, a kitchen appliance stops working and suddenly the cost of repair is so close to the price of replacement that buying something new seems the only sensible option.

But how has this happened?

Is it just that today's products are poorly made? Or is there something much larger afoot behind our disposable consumer culture?

Keeping prices low is a race as cost is one of the largest factors. We fully appreciate that consumers want competitive prices, at a time when household budgets are squeezed. At the same time, manufacturers are competing in the international market, where even small differences in production costs can have a huge impact. Keeping prices low can be done by using cheaper materials, simplifying components and designing products for quicker assembly.

The problem also is that durability can be expensive. A metal part can last longer than a cheaper plastic one. A replaceable part can make a product more repairable, but can also make it less easy to manufacture. A strong product built to last 15 years may be much more costly to manufacture than one built to last 5.

The upshot is a hard question:

Would consumers really be willing to pay more for products that last a lot longer?

We have become accustomed to replacing instead of repairing so it’s not just the manufacturers to blame for our throwaway culture. As consumers, we are used to replacing products when they break down. If a £40 appliance breaks 3 years later, and a replacement costs £50, then paying £60 or £70 for a repair doesn’t look attractive.

Phones, laptops, televisions, and a million other things are the same. The economics of repair have changed over time. Labour costs money, spares cost money and specialist repairs take time. At the same time , mass production makes new products relatively affordable. Replacing something can therefore seem cheaper, quicker and easier than fixing it. But cheaper in the short term isn’t always cheaper in the long term, either financially or environmentally.

Planned Obsolescence: Myth, Reality or somewhere in between?

Products that are designed to wear out over time and thus encourage consumers to buy replacements are often said to suffer from “planned obsolescence” and there have certainly been historical examples of companies deliberately considering product lifespans as part of commercial strategy.

But modern product obsolescence is often more complex. Physical failure is not necessarily what causes obsolescence.

Older hardware may not be supported by software updates. Batteries can be difficult or impossible to replace. New accessories may not be compatible with older models. A product might still work perfectly well, but fail to meet changing expectations. That is to say, a thing can become obsolete without being broken.

Technology has complicated the problem further as most modern products are much more sophisticated than their predecessors. Now, a washing machine isn’t just a motor, a drum and a set of mechanical parts. Many modern appliances have sensors, electronic control boards, software and increasingly connected technology. They are “smart”.

Our phones are essentially mini computers. The technology gives us a lot of functionality, but it also creates more potential points of failure. A £10 mechanical part could be simple to replace. A proprietary electronic component or circuit board might be far more difficult to find and repair.

This is one of the reasons why modern products are so difficult to repair. It is the repairability problem.

For manufacturers one of the big questions is not simply “How long is this product good for?. But instead it is ‘Can you really mend it when it breaks?’. A product that lasts 10 years but cannot be repaired is not necessarily a sustainable product.

Good design considers the entire lifecycle. Is the battery replaceable?. Can components be removed individually?. Do you have spare parts? Any repair manuals out there? Is the product openable without destroying it? Can it be repaired by a third party repairer? 

Such questions are becoming increasingly important as consumers and policymakers seek ways to reduce waste.

We also want better and more recent products

Another uncomfortable truth is that sometimes we are part of the problem. Manufacturers make things that people want to buy. We want TVs that are thinner, phones that are faster, laptops that are more powerful and appliances with new functions. We want the latest design and newest technology. Marketing creates an impression that last year’s model is out-of-date (even if it works perfectly). A working phone is suddenly old when a new phone comes out, which seems to be happening at an increasingly faster rate!

This results in a cycle: New technology → consumer demand → increased production → increased consumption → increased waste.

Both businesses and consumers need to change to break out of that cycle. We should be selling quality. This could be the biggest opportunity to make longevity sexy again. What if it was proudly advertised by manufacturers with “15-year life expectancy”?

Or: All major components are serviceable.

or else: "Guaranteed 10 years as spare parts."

Long life may become part of the identity of a product. Instead of competing on price and features, manufacturers could compete on durability, repairability and lifetime value. It would also make it easier for consumers to compare products. An appliance costing £300 but lasting 10 years may be a better buy than one costing £150 but which needs replacing every 4 years.

Regulation can help, but consumers have a role to play too. Product durability, repairability and waste are of increasing interest to governments and regulators. Measures that encourage manufacturers to supply spare parts, repair information and extended software support can help create a market in which products are designed to last.

But regulation alone is not going to fix the problem, consumers too can influence the market. 

Before we buy we can ask questions:

1. How long can I expect this product to last?
2. Is there a remedy?
3. Do you have any parts?
4. Changing the battery?
5. What happens if it gets a fault?
6. Do you have a repair service?
7. Can we improve the product instead of replacing it?

The stronger the preferences of consumers for these things, the more incentive manufacturers have to supply them. Designing products to last does not imply a regression to a non-innovative world. Modern technology has brought great benefits. The challenge is to merge innovation with durability. We should have access to repairable products and smart technology. We should be able to have nice looking designs and parts that can be swapped out. We should be able to enjoy new features without making everything we already own redundant.

The question is not whether products can be made to last because of course, yes they can. Whether our current economic and consumer model provides enough incentive to manufacturers to do so is the question. Time to reimagine what “value” means.

For many years, we’ve frequently equated value with the price we pay at the checkout. Maybe we need to think differently. The true cost of a product is not the purchase price. It’s the duration of its existence, the price of its upkeep, if we can fix it and what happens to it when we’re done with it. A product that costs a little more but lasts twice as long may be the better buy. And a product that can be fixed, rather than tossed away, may be better for our wallets and the planet.

Maybe the future of consumer products isn't about buying more.

Maybe it should be about better buying — and expecting what we buy to last.

We hope you’ve enjoyed our internal debate about the longevity of products and if you yourself are a budding product designer or an experienced one then we’d love to hear from you. Either via email recruit@careersindesign.com or a telephone call 01920 486125. For more information about us and our jobs please visit www.careerindesign.com.

Posted in: Careers in Design