Rethinking Endings: From Ownership to Stewardship

Written By Alisha Wessler

Zai Thakoor’s thesis, Rethinking Endings: From Ownership to Stewardship, explores what happens to our products when they reach their end—not through failure, but through quiet wear, fading relevance, or simple neglect. While design often glorifies beginnings—newness, utility, unboxing—it rarely considers the emotional or practical dimensions of endings. This thesis asks: What if we treated endings with the same intention as beginnings?

“Repair isn’t just what we do. It’s how we remember, rebuild, and continue.”

At the heart of this inquiry is the act of repair—a deceptively simple gesture that reveals deeper systemic gaps. “Repair is often avoided not because it’s difficult, but because it’s unsupported,” Zai observes. “It lacks infrastructure, visibility, and emotional scaffolding.” Influenced by a culture of repair while growing up in India, and challenged by a convenience-first mindset in New York, Zai critiques how modern design centers acquisition and utility while ignoring closure and aftercare. Rethinking Endings reframes our relationship to products, inviting us to steward them through every phase of their life—even the end.

 Through hands-on interventions, system design, and participatory workshops, this thesis challenges the current burden placed on users and instead imagines ecosystems where repair is intuitive, supported, and even joyful. The goal is not just to prolong product life, but to shift relationships from guilt-driven disposal to choice-driven stewardship

Zai’s thesis is deeply informed by the perspectives of subject matter experts from across disciplines—each of whom brought critical insights into the emotional, systemic, and cultural layers of repair. From death doulas and taxidermists who reflect on closure and care, to circular economy strategists and repair specialists who understand the infrastructural barriers, these conversations shaped each intervention.

Reap : A Transparency Tool for the Repair-Curious

Reap is a digital platform designed to support decision-making at the edge of repair. For many users, the question isn't should I repair this?—it’s how much will it cost? and where do I go? Reap addresses these questions through a simple interface that connects consumers to nearby repair professionals, displaying upfront cost estimates, availability, and service types.

“Uncertainty is the greatest enemy of repair. Reap brings clarity to a moment of hesitation.”

Targeted users who care about sustainability but feel uncertain or overwhelmed by the logistics of repair, Reap makes the invisible layers of repair culture visible. It replaces ambiguous Yelp reviews and fragmented information by directly connecting you to the repair shop to discuss the cost to repair.

Air it Out : Laundry Therapy

Air it Out reimagines the laundromat as a site for reflection, repair, and recommitment to our clothes. Instead of simply washing garments, users are invited to assess wear, make simple repairs, and attach “care tags” with personal reflections or pacts for longevity. The experience includes guided prompts, repair kits, and garment stations—all embedded within the rhythm of a familiar routine.

By lowering the barrier to entry and connecting care with an existing habit, the project fosters a space where repair feels normal, communal, and meaningful, not out of the way.

Sow: A Gamified App to Make Repair a Habit

Sow turns mending into a joyful, self-driven practice. Designed for secondhand enthusiasts, slow fashion followers, and anyone drawn to creative care, the Sow mobile app guides users through repair tasks using visual prompts, time-based challenges, and personal progress trackers. When people do decide to repair, their next step is usually the internet. They start searching for—fingerquotes—"inspiration." But more often than not, what they find is messy, inconsistent, and a little overwhelming.

Sow is not just an instructional tool—it’s a behavioral nudge. Sow transforms the perception of repair from a burdensome to-do into a satisfying ritual. For users who want to care for their things but don’t know where to start (or need motivation to follow through), Sow introduces a structure that’s both practical and poetic. It reminds us that the act of maintaining what we own can be as rewarding as acquiring it. Here’s a demo of how it works:

Sow: A Mending Kit that Fixes Holes

For those looking to take mending offline, Sow offers a compact repair kit designed to foster emotional and tactile connection with clothing. The kit includes beginner-friendly tools like a "stitch stand" and "mend stencils," reframing traditional repair techniques to feel accessible to all skill levels. 

Built for first-time menders and DIYers alike, Sow invites a shift in mindset: from seeing repair as a functional fix to embracing it as a quiet, meaningful act of care. After all, the most worn pieces in our wardrobe often carry the most worth.

For a deeper look into Zai’s thesis process, research, and reflections, explore the following links:

Alisha Wessler
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