In response to the environmental challenges posed by climate change and shortened product lifecycles, businesses must prioritize the design of sustainable and adaptable products. Upgradeable products present a viable solution to incorporate environmental impacts by maintaining technological relevance and addressing evolving user and customer needs, thus minimizing resource waste. To develop an effective design support for this, it is essential to create a specified method-testbed. This work employed a guideline-based expert study, applying qualitative content analysis to eight interviews. The analysis identified 38 factors crucial for supporting the development of sustainable, upgradeable mechatronic systems. These factors were consolidated into distinct objectives, resulting in 13 requirements that represent the method-testbed for a design support aimed at strategic upgrade planning.

This paper examines upgradability through modular product design, aiming to extend lifecycles and promote cross-generational use. It builds up on a preceding work, a systematic literature- review identifying four fields of action in future-robust product design. The paper itself contains an in-depth interview study with 17 experts from industry and research to validate and expand the literature-based fields of action. The results provide insights into the application and employment of future-robust product design, with a focus on adaptable product architectures.