Environmental Sustainability for digital services:
How to Minimise Waste and Emissions While Influencing Sustainable Behaviours
Summary
This paper explores the intersection of digital transformation and environmental sustainability, and how companies can align their efforts to deliver digital services that support a sustainable economy.
Drawing on extensive research and expertise in Design Thinking and Sustainability Innovation, this paper argues that companies must rethink their design process to create environmentally responsible digital services that minimise negative environmental impacts while encouraging users to adopt sustainable behaviours.
As companies strive to achieve net zero carbon emissions by 2050, this paper provides valuable insights and practical ways to adapt the design process used to create digital services, for teams looking to achieve both digital transformation and sustainability goals.
‘The internet is a physical thing. And it is responsible for around 4% of global emissions — more than the entire airline industry, and is growing by 5% each year”.[1]
“Data centres consume 2% of global electricity, an amount that is on target to grow to 8% by 2030.” [2]
Note:
This paper is focused on the environmental impact of digital services due to the lack of tools and methods in this area. However, teams should be aware that environmental and social aspects cannot be considered in isolation as one may impact the other, and they both are vital aspects of creating a thriving future for all.
About this paper
Why create this paper?
Approximately 80% of carbon emissions can be reduced during the design phase[3] by implementing sustainable design practices. During the design phase, companies have the opportunity to identify and address the potential environmental impact of their products and services before they are released to the market. This includes considering factors such as energy consumption, resource extraction, waste generation, and other environmental concerns.
“Approximately 80% of carbon emissions can be reduced during the Design phase.”
Implementing environmentally sustainable design practices is not only beneficial for the environment, but it can also provide companies with a competitive advantage, as more and more consumers are looking for environmentally responsible products and services. Overall, reducing carbon emissions during the design phase is a crucial step in achieving a more sustainable future.
There are various design methodologies, such as Life Centred Design or Humanity Centred Design, that offer tools and frameworks for developing sustainable products and services. This paper explores how to reduce the complexity of these and other frameworks by embedding these practices in the daily work of teams and professionals that work in fast-paced digital industries, in order to minimise harm and increase net value for the business, people and the planet.
“What if teams creating digital services don’t need to convince anyone to put the planet as a key stakeholder because it is just part of their process and the way they do their work?”
How this paper is structured:
- Why embed environmental practices in digital transformation?
- How do digital services impact the planet?
- Opportunities to embed environmental practices into the service creation process
- A design process to create Environmentally conscious digital services
- Illustrative case study
Who is this paper for?
This paper was created to help all professionals involved in the creation of digital services, who are ready to take responsibility for the impact of the decisions they make on the environment, particularly teams who use Human Centred Design, User Centred Design and Design Thinking approaches. For example, Agile teams working in digital transformation programs, start-ups, and teams at the early stages of their digital service propositions, Design students and Design practitioners.
Why embed environmental practices in digital transformation?
A Gartner research study[4] reveals that almost all CEOs (94%) aim to continue or increase the pace of digital transformation initiatives that gained momentum during the pandemic. Virgin Media[5] estimates this could result in hundreds of billions of dollars in investment. However, The Shift Project[6], a Paris-based think-tank on energy transition, warns of the risk of increased investment in digital technology leading to a net increase in the environmental impact of the digital sector.
The integration of technology into our daily lives has brought about numerous benefits, but it also has a negative impact on the environment. The carbon footprint of digital technologies could account for about 14% of global emissions by 2040.[7]
‘If digital were a country, it would nearly surpass the US as the second largest contributor to climate change”.
The extraction of raw materials for hardware production, as well as the waste generated from frequent hardware updates, contaminates soil, water, and air. Moreover, the energy consumed during the creation, delivery, and use of technology services, especially if it’s derived from non-renewable sources such as coal, fossil fuels, or oil, results in significant CO2 emissions and pollution.[8] This highlights the need for a more sustainable approach to the use of technology and the development of digital services.
Companies are committing to reduce their carbon emissions in order to achieve their Net Zero targets by 2050, responding to the increasing demands of governments, shareholders, employees and customers to demonstrate how they will contribute to addressing global challenges such as climate change.
Creating environmentally conscious digital services contribute to the companies’ net-zero strategy, which can enhance a company’s reputation and brand, attract investment, and reduce regulatory risks associated with climate change. It also provides opportunities for cost savings, innovation, and growth in low-carbon industries. Failing to adopt a net zero strategy could result in reputational damage, increased regulatory costs, and reduced competitiveness in a rapidly changing business environment. [10]
Digital transformation must consider both people and the environment to contribute to a sustainable future. This means that digital services should be both human-centred and environment-centred. While a focus on humans has led to improved outcomes for people, it must not come at the cost of neglecting the needs of society and the planet.[11]
How do digital services impact the planet?
Digital services can have direct and indirect negative impacts on the environment.
Direct impacts:
Digital services need equipment (Hardware and software), technology, and energy in order to exist.
Design and production
The design and production of a digital service requires energy, hardware, and software to create digital assets such as images and videos, which generate a large amount of data. Additionally, online shops must also consider the environmental impact of packaging and delivery, which generate waste and CO2 emissions.
Distribution
To make the service accessible to users, energy is required for the equipment used for storing, manipulating, and displaying bytes (such as servers, user terminals, routers, etc.). This equipment is created using natural resources, and the infrastructure that hosts and connects them, such as networks and data centres, can also generate pollution and waste. Additionally, constantly updating the hardware and software due to design obsolescence can contribute to this problem.
“Data storage represents about 40% of the environmental impact of data centres. Therefore, to lower the environmental impact of your digital service, teams must reduce the amount of data that is produced, processed, transported, and stored as much as possible.” [12]
User consumption
When a user visits an online service, they download data to their devices, which requires energy and hardware. The user’s consumption and generation of data also need to be stored, further contributing to the energy and resource usage of the digital service. E-waste and pollution are also generated due to planned obsolesce of their digital devices.
Indirect impact:
Technology enables people to act in a certain way and these actions are impacting the environment. This impact can be positive or negative and can lead to unintended consequences. For instance, Uber Eats can have a direct influence on millions of users by introducing behavioural nudges to help them to choose a plant-based diet in order to reduce the carbon footprint generated by meat consumption.[13]
Digital services can lead to unwanted consequences such as addictive behaviours and negative effects on the environment, society, mental health, and well-being. The increased energy consumption and concerns around data privacy, security, and AI bias only compound these challenges.
Opportunities to embed environmental practices into the service creation process
When designing end-to-end services, teams have to design not only the user-facing elements of a digital service such as apps, websites, and communication channels, but also the behind-the-scenes processes, systems, and organisational culture that are necessary to deliver the service. Examples of digital services are, for instance, an app, an online platform, and an e-commerce website.
There is an opportunity for teams to consider the environment and assess the direct and indirect consequences of their decisions at each stage of the design process to minimise harm to the environment both in the user-facing and behind-the-scenes aspects of the service.
To create successful services, teams have been using the Design Thinking approach[14] to consider business viability, people’s desirability and technological feasibility which maximises the chance for a successful outcome: one that works, is attractive for people, and is financially stable.
Clive Grinyer, Head of Service Design at the Royal College of Art, proposed in his post ‘Purposeful, Ethical and Socially Beneficial — the new paradigm for business, technology and people.[15] to include environmental and social sustainability into these 3 lenses in order to help companies to demonstrate a greater responsibility for their future outcomes and impact.
A design process to create environmentally conscious digital services
The proposed enhancements in the Design Thinking approach takes into account existing sustainability design thinking frameworks such as the Planet-Centred Design[16], Life centred Design [17], Humanity-Centred Design [18], and Stop Designing For Yesterday [19], the Circular Design guide [20] as well as the needs of teams who design digital services in a fast-paced environment. These teams need practical methods and tools that can be adopted as part of their ways of working, and not as an afterthought.
The Design Thinking approach prioritises mindsets[21] such as understanding the problem, embracing ambiguity, empathy, optimism, learning by doing, and creative confidence over processes, tools, or step-by-step guides. These mindsets are essential for sustainability transformation. However, a regenerative mindset[22] is also crucial, which is about embracing nature’s ability to renew and regenerate, recognizing human interdependence with nature, and valuing universal rights and potential for prosperity. Professionals who adopt these Design Thinking and regenerative mindsets take responsibility for their decisions in order to reduce harm to the environment and increase net positive impact for all regardless of their job role.
To help with that mindset shift in the digital industry, The Sustainability Web Manifesto[23] lines up the principles of creating clean, efficient, open, honest, regenerative, and resilient web services to put people and the planet first. In practice, these principles mean that teams need to
- Design for creating value for all actors of the system, not just the user
- Design for saving energy and minimum waste
- Design for reducing the use of natural resources in the creation and delivery of the service
- Design for helping users to act in a sustainable way
- Design for balance instead of growth
- Design to avoid harm and increase net positive impact for the business, people and the planet
To achieve the above, the design process needs to evolve and leverage other disciplines such as System Thinking, Circular Design, Behavioural Science, Design Futures, Ecodesign, and Biomimicry. It is important as well to introduce the Sustainability Development Goals (SDGs) in the design process to align all efforts into creating services that contribute to a thriving future.
Design for a circular economy or Circular Design provides a method and tools to move away from the linear design process of ´Take > Make > use > Dispose’ which is one of the key contributors to energy consumption, waste and pollution. For that reason, this paper has used the Circular Design Guide underpinned by the Design Thinking approach, as an inspiration to create an environmentally sustainable design thinking process for digital services. The details of the process used to create this approach can be found in Annex 1.
The image below summarises the key activities to consider at each stage of the design process in order to minimise harm and increase value creation for the business, customers and the environment.
Define strategy
The Design Thinking process is typically initiated by identifying a problem that needs to be addressed. Instead of immediately jumping to solutions, the process guides you through a thorough understanding of the problem by considering the perspectives of those impacted and analysing the internal and external factors of the business context. This phase entails extensive research and data collection to define the underlying issues that require attention accurately.
Understand the problem as a system and engage with key stakeholders. Teams require to understand the system around the problem to solve and get the buy-in of this approach from stakeholders who can control or influence change to reduce negative impacts. Leyla Acaroglu and UnSchool introduce us to the key concepts and tools of system thinkers.[24]
When mapping the system teams should take into account the needs of all related stakeholders, including non-human elements such as air, water, soil, and biodiversity which should be represented throughout the design process. Monika Sznel explains why and how considering all stakeholders or ‘actants’ in her post: Tools for environment-centred designers: Actant Mapping Canvas.[25]
Challenge the project brief to consider value for the planet. At the outset, it’s essential to understand the brief and align the team on the problem to solve and its relationship and impact on the environment. The project brief plays an important role in ensuring that the project is developed in an environmentally responsible manner, as described in a video from Design for Planet[26] Align the brief and objectives with the company’s sustainability commitments and include objectives related to minimising any negative environmental impact, by outlining any specific environmental considerations that need to be taken into account, such as energy efficiency. Additionally, the project brief should also include a plan for monitoring and measuring the project’s impact on the environment, as well as any steps that will be taken to mitigate or offset any negative impact.
Understand the relationship between the environment and the problem to solve. Assess the complexity of the problem and define the scope of research needed to comprehend the system and its impact, adopting a continuous learning approach to test, learn, and make progress, rather than waiting for a complete picture. Identify relevant subject matter experts, such as sustainability managers, planet lawyers, scientists, researchers, animal academics, indigenous experts, and conservationists, to consult. Supplement your understanding through desk research to address key questions.
Conduct research activities considering the environment. When conducting research, the team can explore the challenges and opportunities by including the environment in the following activities
- Analyse changes in the market and technological trends
- Competitor analysis to identify their positioning in relation to sustainability and best practices
- Measure the current environmental impact of the service or industry standards by calculating its carbon footprint, energy consumption, and resource usage. Use the results to create a benchmark to use as a reference to measure progress
- Current and future regulations in relation to the environment that may impact the industry
- Understand the political, economic, social, technological, legal, and environmental factors related to the problem with a PESTLE analysis.[27]
Adapt design and research tools to include the environment. In the Design Thinking approach, the focus is on creating a delightful customer experience and then defining what platforms, processes, systems and people are required in order to deliver it. Teams can adapt the Design Thinking tools to consider the environment. For example, enhance the Experience map [28] as explained by Greentheweb.com; or use Design sprints[29] to explore how sustainability influences customer behaviour in relation to a product or service, gather insights and test stakeholders’ assumptions.
Understand the entire service creation lifecycle and its impact on the environment. Map out the linear process and identify opportunities to introduce circular design practices as described by the Service Design agency Koos’ whitepaper.[30] and on the Circular Design guide. Measure the energy consumption of the servers and other infrastructure used to support the digital service. Additionally, gather data on the carbon footprint, e-waste, materials, water usage and biodiversity impact of the service.
Empathise with the environment. To make sense of data and identify key insights, it is important to synthesize the needs, challenges, and opportunities in relation to non-human stakeholders to help the team empathize with them as much as with customers or end users.
“We need to recognise that we are part of nature and not separate from it. But as we migrate to cities and spend around 90% of our time indoors, we are losing our connection to the natural world. This shift has altered the way we understand our environments and, in turn, become embedded in our design decisions. Reconnecting to nature helps us understand how entwined we are with it and helps us see natural ecosystems as equal stakeholders”. Design Council. Beyond Net Zero: A Systemic Design Approach.[32]
Damian Lutz in his article ‘Non-human and non-user personas for life-centred design’ [33] explains how by creating a “non-human persona” teams can empathise with the animals and the environment.
Identify opportunities to reduce the negative impact on the operations and the end-to-end customer journey. Find ways to minimise the harmful effect that digital services have on the environment by examining the different stages of the service, from the operations required to create and deliver the service to how it is used by customers. For example, a company may look at the energy consumption of its data centres and servers and find ways to reduce this, or it may assess the materials used in its devices and find alternatives that are more sustainable.
Frame the problem in a way that benefits people, the planet, and profit. Define with the team the level of impact that they want to have in relation to the environment and be open to exploring alternative and more environmentally conscious business models. Making bigger changes can have a greater impact on the environment compared to making small incremental improvements. Aim to move from a ‘Be less harmful’ mindset to a ‘Build capacity for justice and regeneration’ mindset. A compass for just and Regenerative Business [35] was designed to help businesses assess and understand their current mindset and what would be needed to adopt a just and regenerative one.
“A just and regenerative mindset will be the key to unlocking new ways of working and living. It sets out a new guiding star for businesses: an economy that sustains the wellbeing of all and the capacity of our natural world to replenish itself, while enabling long-term, broad-based prosperity.”
Explore and define how your service will contribute to creating a desirable and sustainable future. To define the vision, strategy, and outcomes, it is important to envision the desired future in 3, 5 and 10 years. Use the trends identified to explore potential scenarios and consider disruptive changes to the industry to drive the transformation toward sustainability. E.g. Use strategic foresight to explore future and desirable scenarios, such as the Lean Futures Creation Toolkit from Futurice.[36]. To create a sustainable business model for digital services is important to explore how the business can contribute to the company ESG’s objectives[37] in all areas such as business partners, tech, channels, and value propositions. The sustainable business model canvas[38] below offers a common language for sustainable innovation.
Explore how to include specific targets for carbon reduction as part of the vision and roadmap of the service. E.g. Reduce 10% of C02 emissions by 2025. Define short-term and long-term strategies for interventions in order to invest in creating the desired future. Include in the vision how the service will influence beliefs and behavioural change in relation to the environment in order to contribute to the cultural shift needed towards creating a more sustainable society. Anne Van Lieren from Live|Work talks about this in her article ‘Behavioural interventions in service design’ [39]
Prioritise risks and opportunities based on value and impact on the business, people and the planet. Reframe environmental goals as opportunities for the business. E.g. Reduce costs, increase employee engagement, and attract new markets. Figure out what aspects of environmental sustainability can be improved, and later measure and communicate improvement on those aspects.
“We found that organisations that focus on sustainable product design not only stand to gain from improved compliance, reduced emissions, and reduced resource scarcity concerns, but can also reap benefits such as increased revenue growth and improved relationships with customers and employees.” Capgemini[40]
Reframe the opportunities considering the planet. Brainstorm “How might we” questions that consider an environmental perspective as well as a human and business perspective. This will ensure that ideas for solutions balance the impact on all stakeholders. Examples: “How might the planet…”; “How might we help the planet to…”; “How can the business achieve growth while also delivering value for the environment?” How might we create awareness in our users? How might we avoid customers generating waste/ CO2 on this part of the customer journey? How might we empower our users to act and shift their behaviour towards more eco-friendly practices? How might we replace/reuse/recycle parts of the experience to minimise waste?
Ensure the team has the skills to develop an environmentally conscious digital service. Plan the rest of the project considering the need to set up a team that understands how to optimise the service development process to minimise harm and increase value creation for the environment.
Execute solution
Once you have identified the key issues to address, you can begin brainstorming potential solutions. This requires creativity to generate ideas that go beyond the obvious, and an experimental mindset to test and iterate on different concepts through a prototype/test/iterate/learn cycle. This process allows you to gather feedback from customers and stakeholders, make adjustments, and continue to refine the solution until it meets their needs.
Get inspired by nature and co-create with subject matter experts. To generate ideas that consider the targets of reducing carbon emissions and being inclusive, it is important to collaborate with directly impacted users, stakeholders, sustainability experts, and non-human persona experts. Biomimicry thinking can also be used to find inspiration in nature’s problem-solving methods. Sampada Bhatnagar describes the Biomimicry thinking approach in her post ‘Nature-inspired innovations: Applying design thinking to biomimicry’[41]. Additionally, teams can explore how to create a solution that encourages ecologically conscious behaviours through user interaction with the service. Damien Lutz gives examples of how brands can influence behavioural change in consumers In this post ‘7 behavioural UX approaches encouraging sustainable purchases’.[42]
Evaluate the potential consequences of your ideas. When selecting and developing ideas into concepts, it is important to take into account the carbon footprint of potential solutions throughout their service life cycle. Tools such as Consequence scanning[43] can be used to evaluate unintended consequences for all stakeholders. It is also important to consider how the ideas help achieve the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)[44] as well as potential negative effects on the end user.
Consider trade-offs between user needs, environmental impact, and business goals. Weigh different ideas against each other, taking into account the pros and cons of each option and their potential impact on different stakeholders, including non-human personas. To do this the team should take into account the environmental impact of materials, energy consumption, and waste throughout the service lifecycle as well as the benefits of the service, such as reducing carbon emissions or promoting sustainability. The Planet Centred Design toolkit[45] by ‘Impossible’ has included a canvas to describe ideas including the benefits for the user, the business, society and the planet.
Incorporate green technology, ecodesign and sustainable web design principles and best practices[46] during the development and implementation phases. Regularly assess the unintended consequences of the solution, and run experiments to mitigate the potential carbon footprint through test and learn cycles. Also, consider the risks of fast delivery and quick iteration which generate waste and generate negative impacts on the environment. For example, launching an MVP without being tested or assessed in terms of its negative impact on the user and the environment.
Reduce carbon emissions from your supply chain and adopt circular design practices. Assess the carbon footprint of suppliers and work with them to reduce their emissions by the use of renewable energy sources and more energy-efficient processes. Consider the Circular Economy principles: 1. Eliminate waste and pollution, 2. Circulate products and materials (at their highest value), and 3. Regenerate nature[47] in the entire service lifecycle, from production to disposal. Transform every element of the take-make-waste system: how to manage resources, how to make and use products, and what to do with the materials afterwards with the goal of reducing waste and promoting resource efficiency to benefit everyone within the limits of our planet.
Consider the environmental constraints of the solution. Assess the effectiveness of the service in reducing carbon emissions and influencing sustainable behaviours in the end user, by launching a pilot in a real-world environment. It is also crucial to advocate for and document the environmental constraints of the solution, similar to how accessibility is widely accepted as a constraint today.
Be transparent in your communications around the environmental impact of the solution. Include in your communications how the carbon emissions of your solution are calculated and the plans to be improved in the future. Create and share guidelines for users on how to use the service in an environmentally conscious way.
Introduce systems and controls to review their impact on the environment as the solution is scaled. Guidelines for choosing sustainable partners and operating the service in a sustainable way can also be created. Additionally, continuing to measure the impact of the solution on the business, customer, society and planet after launch is crucial.
Capture, measure and report emissions after launch and seek new opportunities to improve the environment and demonstrate accountability to stakeholders and build trust. Help others in the industry by becoming a benchmark for eco-friendly solutions and sharing the methodology used to reduce harm. The organization’s efforts to create an eco-friendly service can also be validated by obtaining a sustainability certification such as BCorp.
The above is an exploration of how teams that create digital services can consider the environment at each stage of the design process. This is not a step-by-step process, and it’s not sequential. Teams can adopt these activities at any stage of the process, as they see fit.
Let’s see how some of these activities can be applied in an illustrative case study.
Illustrative case study
The hypothetical example below explores how a team can apply some of the activities proposed in the design process. The activities related to the environment have been highlighted in bold.
Conclusion and next steps
The rise of digital transformation presents both opportunities and challenges for environmental sustainability. Teams responsible for creating digital services have the power to change their mindsets and ways of working in order to design better solutions that optimise resources and increase value for the environment.
Since change affects humans, it’s essential for them to be at the centre of any change process. The level of effectiveness of the change is determined by the degree to which humans are involved in driving it. This will make a significant difference in whether change is rejected or embraced. By fostering emotional connection, commitment, positive reinforcement, and investing time in change efforts, teams can embrace change and adopt behaviours that drive environmental sustainability.
Change takes time and resilience, but also courage, relentless optimism and the conviction that every little change matters. It’s important to acknowledge that it’s a marathon not a sprint. The important thing is to get started and drive change one step at a time. Teams can getting started by:
- Asking impactful questions, seeking stakeholder buy-in, and understanding their level of influence at each stage of the design process
- Taking small steps in relation to their job role and involvement in the design process such as conducting a PESTLE analysis, setting a page weight budget as a metric for success, or researching market trends related to the environment
- Introducing environmental considerations as a standard part of the digital services industry’s job, just as Human Centred Design, Design Thinking and Accessibility have become widely adopted
- Starting conversations with influencers and building a community of like-minded individuals in order to develop the skills, behaviour and mindsets required, and influence cultural change
- Co-creating a roadmap with defined milestones to achieve a larger goal in order to get a sense of accomplishment and progress.
The adoption of an environmentally conscious design approach for creating digital services as a universal standard will be a gradual process led by the collective efforts of professionals creating digital services worldwide. The expectation is that this approach will help to accelerate the implementation of these practices in digital transformation programmes of work in organisations globally.
If you are interested in collaborating with case studies, sharing experiences on putting this approach into practice or just getting involved in the conversation join the Sustainability Transformation Linked In Group.
Annex 1 — Methodology
The methodology for the creation of this paper followed the Design Thinking approach. It was based on a collaborative approach, in which more than 50 people participated, with different profiles and expertise in relation to Design and Sustainability. The process had 4 phases: Understand, Define and Make and Release. The result from each phase was incorporated into the First and second drafts in order to get feedback and iterate to get to the final document. You could find more information about key contributors in Annex 2.
Annex 2: Contributors
Author and Project leader
Paola Miani, Design for impact | Service Design & Innovation Consultant | Coach | Facilitator
“Building on the experience of creating the ‘Value Circuit’ approach for Lloyds Banking Group, which combines Design Thinking and Agile to learn rapidly what matters, and a 7h online course to scale it up, I felt the need to explore how this approach can be enhanced to consider the planet as a key stakeholder in order to support organisations in their sustainability transformation. This report brings together the resources, tools and methods I have discovered over more than 2 years of learning about sustainability and the role Design can play to create a desirable future for all”.
Subject Matter Experts
Julia Goga-Cooke, CEO Academy of Design Thinking
Laura Korčulanin, Founder Give a Shit | Sustainable Innovation consultant I Mentor | Design Anthropologist
Workshop participants
Katharina Clasen, Freelance UX Designer and Lecturer, founder of LifeCenteredDesign.Net and co-founder of the Life-centered Design Collective.
Veronika Marfina, Sustainability / Strategic Design & Innovation / Startup ventures
Laura Duarte, Service Design I Systemic Thinking I Organisational Design
Marta Javaloys, Founder ImpactLab.design. Change agent facilitating sustainable transformation & circular economy. Lead, facilitator, trainer, TEDx speaker.
Wouter Smeets, Founder | innovator | startup coach | speaker
Chris Bellamy, Marketing & Concept Manager at Salomon | Sustainability | Design Thinking
Andy Thornton, Nature ⧖ Counterculture ⧖ Strategy ⧖ Design
Neil Clark, Service Design Lead at Manifesto and Planet Officer at TPXImpact
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Environmental Sustainability for digital services: How to Minimise Waste and Emissions While Influencing Sustainable Behaviours © 2023 by Paola Miani is licensed under CC BY 4.0
