5 ideas to make user research greener
User researchers, interaction designers and other UX folk tend to be caring. It’s in our nature. It’s why we do what we do. Many of the UX people I know are activists, campaigners and volunteers for good causes.
So it goes without saying that many of us, if not all of us care about the environment and our impact on it. Especially as we’ve got 11 years left to fix it, against some pretty difficult challenges in today’s political and economic climate (pun not intended).
Recently when I was buying supplies for some user research I was conducting, I got thinking about how my work impacts the environment. I get through marker pens, sticky notes and brown paper like nobody’s business. Not to mention the travel involved doing user research. But what impact is this having? What’s happening to the marker pens when I am done with them? Where’s all this paper come from?
I want to open up a discussion about how we can make the good work we do as UX professionals greener and lessen our environmental impact. And to do that, I want to start by committing to trying 5 ways I can make my user research greener.
1. Find an alternative to marker pens
I get through a lot of Sharpies when I am running labs, workshops or notetaking. They’re invaluable to getting people writing down observations and ideas, so we can all read them. But although Sharpies are advertised as non-toxic and recyclable, the way they are manufactured isn’t friendly to the environment, as illustrated here.
Instead of my usual Sharpies, next time I stock up on supplies, I will be trying out refillable marker pens like Copic Ciao or Staedtler Lumocolor, markers made from waste products like Remarkable or coloured pencils.
2. Use better sticky notes
I have met a lot of UX and agile folk who are scarily passionate about sticky notes. They’re another amazing resource for several reasons. Many of us opt for Post-it Super Stickies for their ability to remain sticky after being moved about or sat on a wall for weeks.
But a lot of paper goes into making those Super Stickies. That’s why I am going to be buying these Bora Bora Post-its or these 100% recycled versions of our favoured sticky notes made from recycled paper.
3. Reuse brown paper
Brown paper is great to take to workshops and labs to stick all those notes and observations on sticky notes to, so you can roll them up and take them with you. But I find myself taking a lot of sheets of brown paper to be recycled, and buying new rolls for next time. This brown paper is often perfectly good.
I have already started reusing my brown paper; taking off the sticky notes, rolling it up and taking it with me to the next session. I’m going to continue doing this.
4. Travel better
Travel is a necessary part of my job as a user researcher. I travel to moderate research labs and workshops, or to people’s homes to carry out research. Sometimes travel can’t be avoided, and we need to research in person for it to be useful.
I want to make sure that I travel in the most environmentally way possible. So I will commit to using public transport like trains wherever possible, or even running research sessions remotely over Hangouts or something similar when travelling isn’t totally necessary.
5. Try out online tools instead
I wrote above how many marker pens and sticky notes I get through. Although I am committed to making my use of them more responsible, it would still be better if I didn’t always have to use them.
Where possible I am going to try out tools like Reframer for allowing people to note-take in research sessions in a way we can collate and share notes in one place. I am also going to encourage participants in workshops and meetings to write things down and interact in tools like Miro instead of relying on sticky notes and printed matter stuck on walls.
I will write a new post in due course to report on how things are going in my bid to be a greener user researcher. But in the meantime, it would be great to hear fellow UXers tips on working more environmentally friendly. Tweet me @we_are_margot or post in the comments.
