Log in or create a free Rosenverse account to watch this video.
Log in Create free account100s of community videos are available to free members. Conference talks are generally available to Gold members.
Decarbonising User Journeys: How minimising enables us to do more with less
This video is featured in the Climate UX Case Studies playlist.
Summary
- How to use this approach to create space for climate-conscious work in your UX role
- Why minimising benefits people, planet, performance and profit
- Pragmatic methods for achieving sustainable outcomes in real-world projects
- How to decarbonise high-value user journeys by minimising and applying the W3C’s Web Sustainability Guidelines
Key Insights
-
•
Optimizing website performance by reducing page weight can unintentionally reduce carbon emissions significantly, as shown by an 80% drop during the Talk to Frank project.
-
•
Minimalization in UX—doing more with less—aligns directly with sustainability goals and is already embedded in good design practices like simplicity and efficiency.
-
•
Visualizing carbon footprint as an added swim lane in user journey maps can effectively communicate environmental impact to stakeholders.
-
•
Sustainability efforts in UX can use performance improvements as a 'Trojan horse' to gain client buy-in without always explicitly naming climate goals.
-
•
Starting with focused, high-value user journeys makes decarbonization projects more manageable and actionable, avoiding overwhelm.
-
•
Tools like Google Lighthouse and website carbon calculators are accessible ways to quantify the environmental impact and performance of digital products.
-
•
Balancing accessibility with carbon footprint requires thoughtful design decisions since some accessibility enhancements may increase digital resource use.
-
•
Web sustainability guidelines contain valuable advice but often feel overwhelming; distilling them into actionable, prioritized steps increases usability.
-
•
Extending carbon-conscious UX thinking beyond digital journeys to service design and broader organizational ecosystems is possible but more complex to measure.
-
•
UX professionals already possess the skills to integrate sustainability seamlessly by leveraging familiar processes like information architecture, content audits, and journey mapping.
Notable Quotes
"We can make this thing go faster, more people can access it, but we can have benefits for the planet as well."
"Sustainability is already in our DNA as UX people because we talk about less is more and good design is as little design as possible."
"Minimalization feels like a secret mega principle with huge benefits for performance, people, planet, prosperity, and purpose."
"Performance could be a useful Trojan horse for sustainability in organizations where direct climate talk might not work."
"Starting small on a specific journey is key to avoiding overwhelm and proving value before scaling decarbonization efforts."
"Visualizing carbon emissions on user journeys provokes conversations that numbers alone might not evoke."
"We don’t put users in a position to make sustainability trade-offs; the design must do the heavy lifting upstream."
"The obsession with precise carbon calculations is less helpful than focusing on relative impact to guide improvements."
"Information architecture and digital housekeeping are lost arts that need revival to help minimize unnecessary digital clutter."
"Aim for progress over perfection; continuous improvement will get us closer to sustainable digital experiences."
Or choose a question:
More Videos
"Going from 100 to 200 people, suddenly product managers started hearing from a dozen people a week with conflicting requests."
Shipra KayanHow we Built a VoC (Voice of the Customer) Practice at Upwork from the Ground Up
September 30, 2021
"Information architects use nodes and links to create environments for understanding."
Peter MorvilleThe Architecture of Understanding
May 13, 2015
"If you make a pretty page, that’s great. But if the users can’t actually use the page or they’re frustrated, you just have a pretty page."
Renee ReidBecoming a ResearchH.E.R (Highly Enterprise Ready)
June 3, 2019
"The environment can disrupt critical interactions, like when Stacey gets caught up in cords and takes her eyes off the patient."
Dane DeSutterKeeping the Body in Mind: What Gestures and Embodied Actions Tell You That Users May Not
March 26, 2024
"A good two-factor system offers multiple methods, like authenticator apps, calls, and texts, with generous timeouts."
Sam ProulxOnline Shopping: Designing an Accessible Experience
October 3, 2023
"A poor experience on a web visit isn’t out of sight, out of mind; it impacts their entire history with the brand."
Andrew Custage Michael MallettThe Digital Journey: Research on Consumer Frustration and Loyalty
March 29, 2023
"It’s okay to be goofy and have fun—creating space for awkwardness and playfulness helps engagement."
Shelby SwitzerMaking Space for Community Knowledge-sharing in a Distributed World
December 10, 2021
"Volume is a losing game because we cannot outcompete full AI automation for sheer speed and quantity of insights."
Llewyn PaineCoexisting with AI: A practical guide for researchers to navigate tools, ethics, and integration
March 11, 2025
"The only thing any of us can control is how quickly we learn and then act based on that learning."
Robin BeersNavigating organizational systems: Rethinking researcher’s role in driving change
March 13, 2025
