Designing digital products has a relatively short history. Since the advent of graphical user interfaces in the 1980s and the widespread availability of computers, the design of digital products has focused on the users rather than the machines that implement them. For the last 40 years or so, the industry has been guided by the principles of user-centred design. But is the era of user-centred design now over?
In this blog post, I talk about sustainable UX design, and why we should move from user-centred to sustainable design. I will also explain what it means in practice with examples.
What is sustainable UX design?
The environmental impact of digital products is more difficult to understand than that of physical products. We all know that it takes cotton to produce a t-shirt, which in turn takes a huge amount of water to grow. But do we think about how much energy it takes to charge the online shop where we order the t-shirt? Or what difference does it make whether we order the shirt directly to our doorstep or to the nearest parcel machine? A single download may seem insignificant, but when we are talking about tens of thousands of daily visitors to a website, the energy consumption is significant.
…the internet – including data centres, telecoms networks, and end user devices like phones and laptops – uses a lot of electricity. In fact, if you add it all together, the internet uses roughly the same amount of electricity as the UK, one of the world’s largest economies.
– Tom Greenwood, founder of Wholegrain Digital and author of Sustainable Web Design
The European Climate Pact website claims that emissions from digital technologies in the EU are comparable even to those from aviation. In focusing on satisfying users’ needs, we may have overlooked the wider impact of the products we design.
Sustainable UX design is when the design process takes into account the impact of the product on the environment and on people (i.e. beyond the users of the product). While user-centred design aims to meet the needs of users as much as possible and create a pleasant experience for them, sustainable design aims to create products that have a minimal impact on the environment and are fair and equitable to users. In the sustainable design process, environmental impact, fairness and equity weigh more heavily than meeting users’ needs and preferences. Fortunately, these are not necessarily mutually exclusive, but can contribute to each other.
Accessibility and equality are part of sustainable design
Sustainable UX design takes into account social impacts in addition to environmental impacts. The principles include products that are not only accessible, but also equitable and ethical – in other words, they put the well-being of users and all people before the company’s bottom line. Sustainable design could therefore be considered alongside responsible design.
Digital products should not make unfair assumptions or reinforce existing stereotypes and prejudices. Designers can influence this from the very beginning of the process, for example by recruiting participants from different backgrounds for user research. When designing user interfaces, the designer should pay attention to factors such as the illustrations and icons they use. For example, does a handshake icon necessarily need to have cufflinks on the sleeves?
An ethically designed product prioritises the well-being of users over the company’s objectives. For example, is it worthwhile to design a product that users will spend as much time with as possible? Or could it have an impact on users’ mental health or sleep quality? Increasing conversions is often a goal for companies, but it can also encourage designers to use so-called deceptive or dark patterns. Deceptive design, as the name suggests, misleads users to act in the company’s interest, for example by manipulating the user’s emotions or by deliberately making it difficult for them to make a choice that is unfavourable to the company. While such practices may seem effective in increasing conversions, for example, they often pay off in the long run in terms of user dissatisfaction and poor brand loyalty.
Environmentally conscious design
There are always additional actors (human and non-human) involved besides our users — directly or indirectly. We must stop designing solely for our users and instead always understand and review our work within the systemic context.
– Thorsten Jonas, founder of Sustainable Design Network
Digital products always “live” in a context and their impact extends beyond their users. Responsible designers also take into account the indirect effects of the decisions they make, both on users and on other stakeholders. Take Uber and Bolt as examples. For example, what impact will the increased use of these applications have on the use of public transport and hence on emissions? How can users be encouraged to make more environmentally friendly choices, such as electric cars or carpooling? Or how important is it that drivers keep their cars idling while waiting for passengers? Designers cannot endlessly consider the impact of products, because they also need to get something done. But it is essential for a designer to have the ability to question things. Ultimately, design decisions have an impact not only on the environment but also on society.
Probably the most obvious way to improve the environmental performance of a digital product is to influence its energy consumption and the source of the energy it consumes. For example, we can favour data centres powered by renewable energy. The energy consumption of a product can be influenced by the use of colours, font choices and efficient design that requires fewer server requests and the processing of large amounts of data. In general, dark colours consume less energy than light colours. However, this is only true for modern OLED displays, and even on those, the greatest impact is achieved when the brightness of the display is set to maximum. According to an article in ZDNET, Google has done some research and reports, for example, that Google Maps night mode has reduced screen power consumption by 63% compared to normal mode.
The designer can also make a significant contribution to product sustainability by guiding users to make more responsible choices. At its simplest, this can take the form of information sharing with the user. In the e-commerce ordering example I presented earlier, the most environmentally friendly delivery method could be set as the default choice for all users.
A further way to ensure eco-friendliness is to consider the devices on which the digital product will be used. As a rule of thumb, design products that will work with older devices, so that we are at least not contributing to electronic waste.
Artificial intelligence and responsibility
Especially at this moment, when we are exploring the possibilities of AI in the design of digital products, it is important to pay attention to responsibility and sustainability. AI is known to suffer from biases and to draw the wrong conclusions when interpreting historical data. We need to actively work to address such ethical challenges. AI has the potential to improve energy efficiency and reduce environmental damage in many sectors, such as agriculture and construction. Nevertheless, the use of AI itself requires significant energy, so the incorporation of AI-based features into products needs to be carefully considered.
A second-hand, but absolutely valuable example of the detrimental consequences of design decisions, particularly in relation to AI, is social media applications. We live in a polarised society where people find it difficult to tolerate views that differ even slightly from their own. Content recommendation algorithms on social media are wrapping users ever more tightly in their own bubbles.
Stand out from the competition with sustainable UX design
Investing in sustainable design can also be seen as a branding exercise. As mentioned, accessibility is part of sustainable design and accessible products are available to a wider audience than non-accessible products. Sustainably designed products and the communication of the process can appeal in particular to environmentally aware users, thus strengthening the brand’s position in their minds. The same applies to users who value fairness and equality.
User-centricity in UX design is still important and the principles behind it should not be forgotten. However, at Identio we have started to pay more attention to the sustainability and responsibility of the products we design. Our design principles include a section on “Sustainability” and our designers have created a sustainable design checklist to support their work. We want to play our part in building a more sustainable and better digital future, and we believe that sustainability is also an important value for many of our customers and an asset for success in the marketplace.
Sources:
Tom Greenwood – 20 ways to make your website more energy efficient – Wholegrain Digital
European Climate Pact – Going digital – good or bad for the climate?
Thorsten Jonas – The 11 principles of Sustainable UX – SUX – The Sustainable UX Network
Emilyann Gachko – Sustainable UX Design: Principles and Practices for Eco-Friendly Digital Products
Nielsen Norman Group – Deceptive Patterns in UX: How to Recognize and Avoid Them
World Economic Forum – AI and energy: Will AI reduce emissions or increase demand?
