?? The Sustainable Experience Designer (SXD)
Welcome to the new designers to create experiences of a more sustainable world
Introduction
As usual, we begin by defining the two concepts that make up the title.
Sustainable: nowadays talking about this topic has become more of a fashion item than a real application. With durability we mean taking into account all the actions that do not produce unnecessary waste, with a circular life cycle and that last over time doing good for the planet, for people, making the process less energy intensive by working on accessibility and social inclusion. In itself we must speak of Environment, Social and Governance (ESG).
The designer is the one who first tries to identify the needs of people and the blocking points in a process and then looks for the good solution before moving on to the information architecture to the comprehensibility of the user path making it all usable and understandable.
Let’s get to the point and be simple...
Today’s problem in the design of products or services
What are the problems in conception nowadays ?
Let’s see the solutions to these problems
1) Egocentrism We are used to think User first from the beginning of our project because of course if we meet the people needs our business will be viable at the same time and everyone will be happy…eh well no. This system of conception based only on the needs of human beings has brought us to this situation making human beings to unhealthy habits and making them less attentive and slackers. Do we really need to say “ok, Google turn on the light ?”…can’t we turn it off with our little finger ? At this point we have to move away from a User Centric vision and take into account the whole ecosystem we live in and the purpose of our mission. In this case we will move from an egocentric vision to an eco-systemic and ecological one taking into account the needs of all important stakeholders. And this is a good step to connect to the 4 main criteria to take into account during the sustainable conception.
2) The criteria for a sustainable design
During the ideation and conceptualization of a value proposition, and therefore before really developing the product or service, we need to define our strategy on not only our users but on 3 other items:
A) Planet: what impact does our solution have on the planet ? What good and what bad ? How can we make it more durable? What impact will it have in 5 years?
B) People: what impact on society ? Are we meeting their essential needs? What psychological impact does our solution have ? What negative or positive factors can it have in 5 years ? How can they use our solution in a negative way ? Did we create the product in a healthy place without stress or abuse ? Do we build positive and non-destructive behaviors? How? Do we think about staying simple in human relationships ?
C) Process: Have we thought about the best possible process? And the most efficient without using unnecessary resources? Are we using good resources ? Are we wasting a resource ? What about the logical process without blocks ? Does the process retrieve information it already has ? Does it reduce the demand for additional documents ? What kind of energy do we use in the process ? Is it renewable ? Do we adapt the process to the situation?
D) Inclusion: Is it accessible to everyone? How is it adapted to people with motor or cognitive disabilities ? Is access easy? How does it facilitate people’s lives for the better? Are we ad-hoc and not generalist? Do we bring people closer?
3) Thinking that solutions can only be technological or digital
How many times have we heard “Green IT”? How many times do we hear “so we thought about a digital platform for…” or “We need to think mobile-first”?
Mobile first ? Desktop first ? STOP. Think first about the situation and habits but especially the use of each device and their strengths and weaknesses before venturing to such statements.
Taking into account the criteria for sustainable design, we need to move away from the idea that technology and digital can be the answer to everything. The low-IT or low-tech approach is preferred in these situations, always in response to specific needs.
Example
At the restaurant, arriving at the table we are given a QRCODE to choose what to eat, order and pay on our smartphone. This solution, besides not solving any clear problem, creates additional problems:- The human experience is totally lost with the server.- Instead of talking to friends or girlfriend we still spend time in front of our smartphone- Difficult to make a choice given the size of the cell phone screen- Experience not designed for elderly people- High cognitive effort in a moment when one should only think about pleasure and relaxation- If not well thought out, the application can make the customer nervous and make him leave
In all of this, the restaurant, thinking they have done something right, sees losing customers thinking that the cause may be another just because they have called a person who only thinks digital without thinking about the service around the customer and the human relationships important in these moments.
4) Importance given only to CO2 leaving out the other important aspects that have an impact on the climate change of our planet
Reducing carbon dioxide emissions CO2 is measured by carbon footprinting to determine the amount of greenhouse gases we produce that are needed to manufacture or use items we use every day. But what about the other problems that are destroying the world ?
We all agree that the high level of CO2 is the first cause of many problems related to climate change (such as warming) but we try not to forget other problems that may become serious in the future as the emission of greenhouse gases (including methane).
5) An inconsistent strategy between the current actions, image and vision of a company
How many times do we remain skeptical of people who are not consistent between what they say, think and what they actually do, making excuses.
Do these things also happen to large companies that between their vision, brand image and current actions create a totally controversial strategy without a logical thread.
We have recently seen oil powers change their vision and strategy to a “greener” brand but at the same time continue their actions and their main business of oil; banks that finance oil companies think green with products that are borderline on greenwashing.
When thinking about a sustainable strategy, first try to change your habits that are at odds with the future vision and think about your customer’s perception of you and try to solve these problems first and then have a sustainable story.
So what tool should a sustainable designer use?
There are two situations here: - We already have a product/service on the market - We are creating a new business and product/service.
In both cases, the main action is to rethink the business and its design using the:
Sustainable Value Proposition (SVP)
Compared to the classic Value Proposition, we meet in this canvas to create sustainable concepts 3 main items
So what a Sustainable Designer needs to do ?
1) Be Eco-centric instead of User Centric by taking into account the problems of the planet
2) Verify multiple solutions and not just one
3) Be IT agnostic
4) Think about all the consequences and features of the solutions on the 4 basic criteria → People, Planet, Process & Inclusion
5) Think about the well-being of the team during the conception of the product: because the environment of how the service/product is designed also affects and is important
6) Try to minimize waste before, during and after product development (Lean Strategy & Management).
7) Think about the life cycle of the solution in a circular system.
Grazie e ciao ciao ?
Fredy Pascal
Senior UX Designer | Product Designer | Service Designer | Passionate about accessibility and inclusive design
1 年This is a great read. Quick question, where did SVP came from? Is this something you created by yourself?