How UX Design can Shape the Future of Sustainability

The things we do, the transportation we use, and the products we consume all contribute to an alarmingly negative impact on our planet. Over time, they’ve caused irreversible damage that brings concern for the well-being of future generations. We need to start strategizing and implementing more solutions to preserve our resources and reduce our negative impact on the planet.

Believe it or not, as UX designers, we have the influence to create products today that can reduce depletion of natural resources and shape the behaviors of future generations.

What is Sustainable UX and why is it important?

Sustainable User Experience (UX) is a practice aimed to drive sustainability in digital products to reduce carbon footprint by rethinking how we design and build technology. The practice of sustainable development was first coined and has since evolved from the famous Brundtland Report, “Our Common Future”(1987), to include designing for sustainability. It evolved the meaning of sustainable design into creating an efficient user experience and empowering users to pick more sustainable decisions.

Oftentimes people think about how physical products are handled when they hear the word sustainable such as plastic bottles, fast fashion, or landfills. However, they often overlook the impact of digital products that require hardware, large amounts of energy, and servers needed to power the internet. The usage of digital products have increased exponentially in the last 20 years and environmental impacts reflect that today. According to Mike Hazas, a researcher at Lancaster University, the carbon footprint from internet usage equates to the same amount as airline industries at 3.5% of global greenhouse emissions. As designers, we can make a big impact by being advocates for sustainability through our design.

How can Designers practice Sustainable UX?

Sustainable design is about making products efficient, sustainable, and accessible to all. Here are some ways you can practice sustainable UX:

Be an advocate for sustainable UX

• Educate yourself on sustainability and consider whether your design contributes to sustainable efforts.
• Start the conversation about sustainability with colleagues to build awareness and bring attention to social responsibilities. Bring this topic into meetings and have a discussion with your team on ways they can contribute to sustainable UX.

Reduce Energy Consumption

• Reduce energy consumption through simple modifications in your design such as eliminating unnecessary data and making the product more efficient. Finding opportunities to minimize plugins, animations, and unnecessary content without taking away from the user experience, can reduce load time and therefore use less energy.
• Design for accessibility and inclusivity for all users to be able to accomplish a task seamlessly and quickly. For example, improving SEO and searchability of a product can decrease the number of times users use a search engine which requires multiple servers. Check accessibility standards from WCAG and your company guidelines.

Empowering users to pick more sustainable decisions.

• Consider green designs or nudge designs when building products. Leveraging content strategy and default settings can subtly guide a user’s decision to opt into sustainable options. For example, highlighting and setting the default shipping option that causes least carbon emission will sway users to more likely choose it.

How Sustainable UX Support Business

While sustainable practices drive positive social and environmental impact, they can also improve user experiences and sales with a circular business model. Circular business models create supply chains that are able to recycle their resources to be reused again in their products. Consumers are now more informed and conscious than ever, and feel good contributing to sustainability and aligning with companies that share similar values. One-third of surveyed consumers expressed they would choose to purchase from sustainable companies over unsustainable alternatives.

Sustainable Design Efforts at Wayfair

At Wayfair, we believe in taking care of the planet (our shared home) and doing our part to reduce negative environmental impacts. Wayfair has made a commitment to sustainability and pledged to reduce Scope 1 and Scope 2 emissions by 63% by 2035 from global facilities and managed vehicles.

We have also integrated sustainability into the whole shopping experience by incorporating sustainable options into the user journey. Customers are able to utilize search functions to quickly identify products that have sustainability features such as ENERGY STAR certified and recycled material. We use recyclable packaging and packaging design to encourage customers to recycle and reuse packaging supplies after shipping. We have also started investigating dark mode for our platforms which would contribute to a better user experience and reduce energy consumption.

Wayfair hosts an annual event called Intern Innovation Sprint for Summer interns to come up with creative solutions to create a positive impact on our community and planet. This event was what sparked my interest to dive into sustainability design and write this article.

Let’s Create a More Sustainable Future

As designers, we have the brains and power to influence and make a significant impact through our work. Let’s create a future together for all generations to enjoy!

Additional Great Reads and Information

Product Design for Sustainability

5 Approaches for Sustainable UX

Report Shows a Third of Consumers prefer Sustainable Brands

Photos by rawpixel.com on FreePik

Vicky Huang was a Product Design Intern in Summer 2022, working in Homebase, Wayfair’s Design System.

About Wayfair’s Global Experience Design Entry-Level Programs:

Wayfair offers a variety of programs across the company that enable students and recent graduates to gain valuable industry experience.

The Global Experience Design Community offers three entry-level programs: the GXD Apprentice Program, the GXD Co-op Program, and the GXD Internship program.

Learn more about Wayfair’s student-centered programs here: in the US and Europe.

About Wayfair’s Global Experience Design Community

Global Experience Design at Wayfair is a cross-disciplinary function including product design, user research, and content strategy. We create experiences for all of our end-users, including suppliers, customers, agents, field champions, and internal employees. The Wayfair experience supports our mission to be the destination for all things home, helping everyone, anywhere create their feeling of home. Join the team reinventing how we shop for it. 🎉