Have you heard about Ecosia, the search engine that plants trees with every search? It feels like any other search engine, but each click contributes to reforestation. Founded in 2009 by Christian Kroll, Ecosia uses its advertising revenue to plant trees where they are needed most. This isn’t just clever marketing; it’s a prime example of sustainable UX design.
“The greatest threat to our planet is the belief that someone else will save it.”
Robert Swan
So, what exactly is sustainable UX design? It’s about creating efficient digital products, minimizing resource consumption, and promoting social responsibility. Let’s dive deeper into this concept with a story-driven approach.
The Seed of Sustainable Design
Why does this matter? Consider this staggering statistic: over 80% of a product’s environmental impact is locked in during its design phase. As designers, we wield immense power over sustainability. Our choices can either reduce energy consumption and lower carbon footprints or contribute to environmental degradation. It’s not just about being eco-friendly; it’s about being future-friendly.
The carbon footprint of our gadgets, internet, and supporting systems accounts for 3.7% of global greenhouse emissions, comparable to the airline industry, and is projected to double by 2025. If the internet were a country, it would be the 6th largest polluter in the world. With over 4 billion active internet users, this impact is significant.
The Journey Towards Efficiency and Minimalism
Think of sustainable UX design like ultralight backpacking. The less you carry, the easier your journey. In design terms, this means optimizing code, reducing server requests, and embracing clean, simple designs. For example, Google’s Accelerated Mobile Pages (AMP) project helps pages load faster and use less energy.
To measure this, you can use tools like Google Lighthouse to audit your site’s performance. Track page load times and server requests to ensure your efficiency improvements are paying off. According to the HTTP Archive, loading an average web page produces approximately 3 grams of CO2. Every optimization counts.
The Bright Idea of Dark Mode
Dark mode can significantly cut down on energy consumption. For devices with OLED screens, dark mode reduces the light emitted, extending battery life and reducing the frequency of charging. Google Docs, for instance, offers a dark mode that helps save energy.
Monitor the adoption rate of dark mode among your users. Use analytics tools to track usage patterns and correlate them with battery performance reports from user feedback. This small change can make a big difference in sustainability.
Educating and Engaging Users
Imagine if every time you chose a digital receipt over a paper one, you saw a message about the environmental benefits of your choice. By making sustainable options the default and informing users of their positive impact, we can encourage more eco-friendly behaviours.
Track user interactions with sustainable features. Count how often users opt for digital receipts and survey them to understand their awareness and attitudes towards these features. User engagement with sustainable practices is crucial for long-term impact.
The Importance of Accessibility and Inclusivity
Making sure your product is accessible to everyone broadens your user base and ensures you don’t need multiple versions of the same product. Apple’s dedication to accessibility is a prime example of how inclusivity can drive sustainability.
Use accessibility evaluation tools like WAVE or Axe to ensure compliance with standards. Track improvements in accessibility scores and gather user feedback from diverse groups to measure inclusivity. Accessible design translates to increased performance and fewer resources required.
Designing for Longevity
Consider designing products that can be updated easily rather than frequently replaced. Microsoft’s approach to making sure new versions of Windows is compatible with older machines extends product lifecycles and reduces electronic waste.
Measure the lifecycle of your product by tracking the frequency of updates and redesigns. Use user satisfaction surveys to assess the effectiveness of your updates and their impact on product longevity. Sustainable design is about creating products that last.
Optimizing Resource Use
Using renewable energy sources for data centres, optimizing images and assets for faster loading, and adopting efficient coding practices can significantly impact sustainability. The cloud is not an endless space; it’s made of physical data centres that consume energy.
Monitor your website’s carbon footprint using tools like the Website Carbon Calculator. Track energy consumption and data usage over time to identify areas for improvement. By optimizing resource use, we can make a substantial environmental impact.
Tools and Frameworks
A valuable resource for designers is Figma’s Sustainability Kit.
This kit guides designers toward making environmentally friendly design decisions. It includes a learning guide, action cards, and a flowchart to integrate sustainability into design projects. The learning guide introduces the broader context and importance of designing products and services with a reduced environmental impact.
The action cards explore problems you might encounter in different phases of the design process and how to solve them. Lastly, the flowchart helps you find out which sustainability actions can be applied to your specific project.
Industry Examples
Ecosia and Adobe are leading the way with sustainable UX practices. Ecosia uses its ad revenue to plant trees, directly tying user actions to environmental benefits. Its minimalist design reduces data transfer and energy consumption. Adobe promotes the use of digital document solutions to reduce paper waste. By digitizing key business processes and enabling e-signatures, Adobe helps companies lower their environmental footprint.
Amazon
Through its Climate Pledge Friendly program, Amazon highlights products with sustainability certifications, making it easier for customers to find and purchase eco-friendly products.
Qantas
The airline offers a Green Tier membership that rewards customers for making sustainable choices, such as offsetting their flight emissions and promoting greener travel habits.
Zalando
This online fashion retailer uses sustainability filters that help users make environmentally conscious choices by displaying eco-friendly products and encouraging sustainable shopping behaviours.
Wholegrain Digital
Focuses on creating low-carbon websites by optimizing images, minimizing code, and using green hosting providers, significantly reducing the environmental impact of web design.
Beyond AMP and dark mode, Google invests in renewable energy to power its data centres, aiming to be the first major company to operate on 24/7 carbon-free energy by 2030.
Unilever
The company’s digital marketing team employs sustainable practices by reducing the data load of online ads, ensuring faster loading times and lower energy consumption.
Conclusion: Designing for Tomorrow
Sustainable UX design is more than just creating beautiful, functional products. It’s about making choices that positively impact our environment and society. It’s about crafting digital experiences that are efficient, inclusive, and built to last. As designers, we have a responsibility to think beyond immediate user experiences and consider the broader implications of our work.
By embracing sustainable UX design practices and measuring our progress, we can create digital products that not only meet user needs but also contribute to a healthier planet. Let’s take a page from Ecosia’s book and make sustainability a core part of our design philosophy. Together, we can craft a digital future that’s as bright as it is green.
References
If you want to learn more here additional resources you may consider.
https://designlab.com/blog/sustainable-ux-principles
https://sustainableuxnetwork.com/
https://www.figma.com/community/file/878064961026293307
https://blog.adobe.com/en/publish/2021/09/24/sustainable-ux-design-what-is-it-and-how-can-it-benefit-your-organization
https://sustainablewebdesign.org/
https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20200305-why-your-internet-habits-are-not-as-clean-as-you-think
https://www.wholegraindigital.com/digitaldeclutter/
https://www.climatecare.org/resources/news/infographic-carbon-footprint-internet/
https://medium.com/the-sentient-files/10-principles-of-life-centered-design-3c5f543414f3
https://tamsina.medium.com/earth-centered-design-manifesto-beta-451e657697ed
https://www.fastcompany.com/90149212/beyond-the-cult-of-human-centered-design
https://medium.com/disruptive-design/quick-guide-to-sustainable-design-strategies-641765a86fb8
https://damienlutz.medium.com/the-life-centred-design-guide-120a3d40e0fc
