Katie Morgenroth: How Does Google Use Design to Shape a Sustainable World?

Shownotes

How one of the world’s most influential tech companies uses design to drive sustainability is the focus of this episode of Design Perspectives, where host Moritz Marder talks to Katie Morgenroth, Head of Sustainable Design at Google. From the repairability of the new Pixel 10 series to Google’s commitment to plastic-free packaging and long-lasting hardware, Morgenroth offers insights into what it means to “engineer products to last”. She also discusses the designer’s evolving role as an orchestrator between disciplines – and why sharing progress openly across the industry is essential for circular innovation.

Together, they explore how circular design, responsible materials, and AI-supported processes can shape a more planet-centred and equitable future for technology.

**Key Learnings ** **Engineering Products to Last **Durability and repairability are central pillars of Google’s design work – from drop and submersion tests to intuitive internal design systems that make repairs safer and easier.

**Circular Design as Collaboration **Progress comes from openness: Google publishes detailed sustainability and packaging guides so other companies can learn from its methods – fostering pre-competitive collaboration.

**Responsible Materials **Each new Pixel generation expands recycled content – from plastics to metals like cobalt, tin, copper, and gold – with equal attention to invisible parts of the supply chain and packaging.

**AI as a Design Tool **AI enhances creativity and efficiency – from synthesizing workshop results to supporting climate predictions – but never replaces the human designer’s strategic and ethical role.

**Culture and Behavioural Change **Circularity is as much cultural as technical: shifting from “owning” to “sharing,” from novelty to longevity, requires storytelling and emotional connection to products.

🗣 Guest Katie Morgenroth – Head of Sustainable Design, Google

🗣 Host Moritz Marder – Industrial Designer & Brand Consultant

🔗 Further Links

Google Sustainability: https://sustainability.google/

Google Environmental Report 2025: https://sustainability.google/google-2025-environmental-report/

Google Pixel 10: https://store.google.com/product/pixel_10?hl=de

🎧 Design Perspectives – The Podcast of the German Design Council. How can we use design as a lever for transformation and economic success? We talk about this with personalities from the fields of design, brand management and architecture. They give us insights into how transformation, sustainability and economic success can go hand in hand in a company. Interesting, informative, inspiring.

Chapter

05:44 – Durability Testing and Design for Longevity 14:56 – AI as a Creative Tool in Sustainable Design 17:04 – Plastic-Free Packaging and Sharing Knowledge 21:22 – Cultural Change and Circular Business Models 25:24 – Planet-Centred Design and Gen Z Values 27:44 – Designing the Google Environmental Report 2025 32:13 – Future of Circular Tech Design