30. October 2024
Sustainable UX Design (SUX)
SUX: Rethinking Sustainable Design - Responsibility and Impact in the Digital Age
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SUX: Rethinking Sustainable Design - Responsibility and Impact in the Digital Age
SUX aims to consider non-human stakeholders in design and to look at digital products holistically. In 2021, UX designer Thorsten Jonas and others founded the SUX Network to promote sustainable UX. The network promotes the exchange of expertise and provides knowledge, tools and workshops on sustainability in the UX industry.
Sustainable UX recognises that digital products, despite their positive impact and influence on users, can also have a negative impact on the environment and society. In modern design, designers should look beyond pure user-centricity, as digital products are part of complex ecosystems that deserve more attention and have significant impacts.
New terms such as "life-centred design", "planet-centred design" or "human-centred design" follow the same idea of taking a holistic view of digital products.
Figure 1: Many hands hold a plant shoot together
For example, the CO2 emissions of websites due to high visitor numbers (around 5-20 tonnes for 2 million visitors per month), or an improved visitor experience on an online shopping platform that encourages excessive consumption and poses logistical challenges for suppliers of goods. These two examples clearly show that the decisions of an individual user always influence and involve other (non-)human actors.
It's all about transparency. How do the choices of an individual user affect the sustainability of the product? It can be as simple as selecting sustainable options by default, paying more attention to sustainability in the tools and processes implemented, using energy-saving image formats and avoiding superfluous features. Sustainability can also be considered in the design of a user journey, taking into account CO2 emissions and other impacts. It is important to remember that the effects of actions taken now will not be seen for several years or decades. Expectations of immediate, measurable results must be reduced. Even the smallest adjustments need to be assessed, and long-term sustainable effects need to be sought. The design focus should be on a continuous contribution to sustainability in the UX area.
The UN Sustainable Development Goals, to be achieved by 2030, serve as a guide for sustainable user experience. To achieve these goals, it is important to find and design solutions together with the community and users. Suggestions from the community for product improvement are usually productive and often more easily accepted.
Finally, it is important to remember that seemingly simple problems often have deeper and more complex causes. It is therefore important to identify where the real problem lies in order to develop a long-term and sustainable approach to solving it.
Figure 2: Young people sit around a table with their laptops and have a lively discussion
The SUX theme makes it clear that UX and product designers have a responsibility for digital products and their impact. A closer look at sustainability reinforces the awareness that "everything is connected" and enables UX designers to make a positive contribution through responsible design.
