Digital sustainability benchmark tool
Helps design teams benchmark and improve the sustainability of their digital projects.
Domain
Ethical design
Client(s)
Luis Rodil-Fernández, Design Agency
My role
UX Designer, UI Designer
Project duration
2 months
Team (4)
Sebastian Jaime Moncada, Julie Reyes Villalta, Muskan Jain, Stefan van Brummelen
Design challenge
How can we help design agencies understand and improve their digital sustainability impact on a project level through a benchmarking tool?
Problem statement - reduce digital footprint design agencies
Digital design agencies lack clear, project-level insights into their digital sustainability impact, making it difficult to measure and improve their digital footprint.
Digital sustainability benchmark tool
The benchmark tool is designed for design agencies or companies with a dedicated design team. It helps them understand and improve their digital sustainability impact at the project level through benchmarking.
The solution
A benchmarking tool for design teams to assess and improve project-level digital sustainability.
Definition of digital sustainability
The 5 core values of digital sustainability
Based on research and expert reviews, we defined a value set for the tool to assess projects according to five digital sustainability values.
Clean
Stewardship principles
Avoiding manipulative design
Product lifecycle
Operational digital efficiency
Design process
Design-by-doing
Approach
Shifted from the Double Diamond framework to a design-by-doing methodology, combining research for design and research through design.
Target audience
Focused on design agencies after mapping stakeholders and assessing influence areas.
Research
Explored existing digital sustainability tools, frameworks, and certifications. Collaborated with Faraday (Amsterdam-based design agency) through weekly sessions and expert interviews.
Key insights
"We need to balance profitable projects with sustainability." "AI adoption is critical to stay competitive."
Iterations
Tested early concepts with the agency and peers. Digitized the value-mapping workshop, removing physical elements for better usability. Developed a digital benchmarking tool to evaluate sustainability through targeted questions.
Final outcome
Validated with experts, confirming the tool’s value in assessing projects, raising awareness, and providing actionable insights. Highlighted ethical considerations around AI’s role in sustainability tools.
Interactive prototype
Digital sustainability benchmark tool
xxxx
Try it out yourself below.
