Sustainable UX: The Importance of UX Researchers in Sustainable UX Practice
We have a responsibility to understand and address the environmental impact of our work.
Sustainable UX
Sustainable UX is an emerging field that seeks to integrate environmental considerations into the entire UX process for products and services. It involves rethinking how we design, develop, and deliver digital products and services, with a focus on minimizing negative environmental impacts and maximizing positive social outcomes.
Sustainable UX is not just about reducing the carbon footprint of websites or apps. It’s about fundamentally changing the way we approach UX, from the initial research phase to the end-of-life of a product. It’s about designing for durability, repairability, and recyclability. It’s about creating products that empower users to make more sustainable choices in their own lives. And it’s about using our skills and influence as UX professionals to advocate for a more sustainable future.
In this article, I’ll cover some of the environmental impact of UX, explore strategies for integrating sustainability into UX research, and discuss key principles for sustainable UX design.
Understanding the Environmental Impact of UX
It’s easy to overlook the environmental consequences of our digital creations. After all, websites, apps, and software don’t have a physical presence in the same way as cars or factories. However, the digital world has a significant and growing environmental footprint. We’ve started to hear more of this in the past few years when it comes to the energy consumption of bitcoin and other crypto mining rigs, as well as seeing the large amount of energy required to keep data centers up and running.
Every time we use a digital device, stream a video, or send an email, we consume energy. This energy is often generated by burning fossil fuels, which release greenhouse gases into the atmosphere, contributing to climate change. The data centers that store and process our digital information are also major energy consumers. In fact, the IT sector is estimated to be responsible for about 2% of global greenhouse gas emissions — roughly the same as the aviation industry.
The Life Cycle of Digital Products
The environmental impact of digital products begins long before they reach our hands and continues after we discard them. This life cycle consists of several stages, each with its own environmental toll:
- Material Extraction: The production of digital devices requires vast amounts of raw materials, including metals, plastics, and rare earth elements. Mining these materials often involves deforestation, habitat destruction, and water pollution. Additionally, the extraction of certain minerals is tied to human conflict in certain areas and can fuel violence and human rights abuses.
- Manufacturing: The manufacturing process for digital devices is energy-intensive and may involve the use of hazardous chemicals. These chemicals can pollute air and water, harming local communities and ecosystems. The transportation of components and finished products across the globe contributes to greenhouse gas emissions.
- Use: While the energy consumption of individual devices may seem small, the cumulative impact of billions of devices worldwide is significant. The constant demand for newer, faster devices leads to a cycle of obsolescence, further increasing the demand for resources and energy. Additionally, the applications we create require energy consumption at various rates, increasing the demand on our energy sources.
- Disposal: Electronic waste (e-waste) is the fastest-growing waste stream in the world. When e-waste is not properly recycled, hazardous materials can leach into the soil and water, posing risks to human health and the environment. E-waste recycling in itself might be unsafe when done incorrectly, informal recycling of e-waste often exposes workers to dangerous conditions.
While I believe we have an opportunity to create a positive impact on each stage of the life cycle, as a UX researcher your most actively involved in the use stage,at a surface level glance. You can and should look for opportunities to impact the the other stages through the data you collect and solutions you offer based on your research. Think about these opportunities as you read through the following section.
The Role of UX Researchers in Sustainable UX
As UX researchers, we have a responsibility to understand and address the environmental impact of our work. We should be leading voices on our team to advocate for sustainability. Successfully integrating sustainability into UX research requires a shift in mindset and a willingness to embrace new approaches. I don’t have all the answers, but some examples of how we UX Researchers might specifically play a role in sustainable UX include:
Expanding the scope of user research and the role of users
We need to go beyond understanding users’ immediate needs and desires. We need to explore their environmental values, concerns, and behaviors. What are their attitudes towards sustainability? What kind of sustainable choices are they willing to make? How can we design products and services that support their sustainability goals?
Users are not passive consumers. They are active participants in the design process and can play a crucial role in driving sustainability. By involving users in sustainability research, we can gain valuable insights into their environmental values and behaviors, as well as their willingness to adopt more sustainable practices. This engagement can take many forms, such as:
- Surveys and interviews: Ask users about their environmental concerns and what they are doing to reduce their environmental impact.*
- Workshops and co-creation sessions: Involve users in brainstorming and prototyping sustainable design solutions.
- Usability testing: Test sustainable design concepts with users to gather feedback and iterate on the design.
By engaging users in sustainability, we can create products and services that not only meet their needs but also empower them to make more sustainable choices.
Incorporating sustainability metrics into UX research
We need to develop new metrics for assessing the environmental impact of our digital creations. These metrics could include energy consumption, resource use, carbon footprint, and waste generation. By tracking these metrics throughout the design process, we can identify opportunities to reduce environmental impact and make more sustainable choices.
- Conducting Life Cycle Assessments (LCAs) — Life cycle assessments (LCAs) are a valuable tool for understanding the environmental impact of a product or service throughout its entire lifecycle. LCAs involve analyzing the environmental impacts associated with each stage of a product’s life, from raw material extraction to manufacturing, use, and disposal. We can use an LCA to identify hotspots of our product’s environmental impact and develop strategies for reducing them. For example, an LCA of a smartphone might reveal that the majority of its environmental impact occurs during the manufacturing process, prompting us to explore more sustainable materials or manufacturing methods.
Collaborating with experts
UX researchers are not typically environmental and sustainability experts. We need to work closely with environmental scientists, sustainability consultants, and other stakeholders to understand the complex environmental issues involved and develop effective solutions. This collaboration can help us ensure that our UX research and design decisions are based on sound scientific evidence and contribute to a more sustainable future.
Embracing a Systems Thinking Approach
We need to adopt a systems thinking approach to our work. This means recognizing that our digital creations are part of larger interconnected systems, both natural and social. It means understanding how our design decisions impact the environment, society, and the economy, both in the short and long term.
Designing a product that encourages excessive consumption might boost sales in the short term, but it could also contribute to resource depletion and waste generation in the long term. A systems thinking approach helps us consider these broader consequences and design products and services that are more sustainable and socially responsible. We would seek to learn from users how we might best keep their consumption of our product at a sustainable rate that can hit the sweet spot for both business and sustainability. If that doesn’t exist, you might not have a sustainable product, and you should attempt to address that immediately.
Advocating for change
We need to use our research findings to advocate for more sustainable practices within our organizations and the wider UX community. This could involve raising awareness of the environmental impact of UX, promoting sustainable design principles, and influencing industry standards and regulations. If we are to find out our product is unsustainable or promotes excessive consumption, we should be empowered to state this and offer a remedy. The alternative seems to be leading to a future that is less likely to be secure in terms of our impact on the world and the consequences of that impact.
Conclusion
Sustainability is not a one-time goal but an ongoing process. As technology evolves and our understanding of environmental issues deepens, we need to continuously iterate and adapt our UX research practices. This means staying up-to-date with the latest sustainability research, experimenting with new methodologies, and being open to feedback from users and stakeholders.
By embracing a systems thinking approach and continuously iterating and adapting our research practices, we can ensure that our UX research contributes to a more sustainable future.
