Websites Can Be Sustainable. High-Quality UX Plays a Key Role.

What does sustainability in design mean to you?

Being aware that everything I do has an impact. I can help things prosper and flourish, or I can contribute to destruction in some way. Most things don't clearly fit into these two boxes; they are on a scale. In most of my actions, I can't determine the clear consequences. I don't have control over many things. But everyone in their position can do what makes sense to them. At the researcher level, this means, for example, considering whether in my research I focus only on the "good" of the users and the company I work for. Or whether I also give "voice" to others who will be impacted by the service or product. Within Climate Designers we agreed that a climate designer should be this kind of "spokesperson for those who cannot speak for themselves."

What is data smog?

Most of the content on the internet and social media. Everything superfluous, unnecessary, and useless. Everything that someone who created it or had it created didn't think about. Am I creating something that will serve someone I mean well by? A person, an animal, a plant, my surroundings… Or am I only focused on my profit? What could the flapping of my butterfly wings cause? A designer as a "gatekeeper" can prevent the spread of smog by, for example, revising fields in a form or creating a product that will not include such content.

What prompted you to create the "sustainability web check"?

Personal experience and the requests of designers. The sustainability web check is part of the Climate Designer’s Toolkit, which I created together with Zuzana Tancibudková. It is a set of practical methods for digital design that a designer can use according to their area and expertise, even tomorrow, without needing to cooperate with other team members. The goal was to create help for designers of digital services and products who are interested in doing something for sustainability but don't know how to start. It was created as an activity within Climate Designers, which we were part of. The sustainability web check is one of the methods.

Can you explain exactly what it is? How can a designer use it?

The Climate Designer’s Toolkit contains several toolkits for creating a sustainable website. They all focus on similar areas: e.g., the environmental impact of the website, accessibility, ethics, performance, economic impact, and conversions. They are essentially checklists. You answer questions about the website you are creating. You will focus, for example, on content creation, images and videos, fonts, privacy, accessibility, and speed. Overall, good UX contributes to sustainability.

Does this work the same for websites and web/mobile applications?

The checklist is intended for websites. However, the Climate Designer's Toolkit is full of other methods that can be used in the creation of applications or the design of other products and services and in other parts of the design process, for example, in research.

How can I find out if my website is sustainable?

Look in the Toolkit. Choose one source. For example, look at the website sustainablewebdesign.org. Go through the questions related to UX, and you will find out. I went through several methods from the Toolkit and combined the knowledge. To determine technological parameters such as site performance and size, loading speed, work with images/videos… just enter the name of the website you're working on into one of the online tools, such as ecograder.com. You can also find great information on reducing your carbon footprint in the Toolkit on the climateaction.tech.

What can I do to reduce the website's data load?

From a UX/UI designer's perspective, for example, optimize media and files, reduce the size of images, use modern image formats, and don't use video or many animations if it's not necessary. The simpler the website, the smaller it is, of course. But a lot can be done, for example, by choosing the right formats and settings. Again, the classic rule: think about what I'm doing and why I'm doing it, what impact it will have.

You can see how Lucia applied sustainability principles in the case study about the website for the software company Morosystems.

Why should I even care about my website's sustainability?

A website, like any other digital format, also has a physical representation. Primarily, these are the servers on which it runs. They consume energy, the production of which can be sustainable or destructive to the planet. Sustainability is often linked to efficiency and speed, as well as user-friendliness. For example, a well-organized website is easily accessible. The user easily finds what they need, whether they have a disability or not. The fact that the user finds what they need quickly saves them time, helps business goals, and consumes less energy. So it's a win-win-win.

Photo in header: Lenka Kandravá