A co-speculative study of environmentally sustainable digital futures — investigating how students understand the carbon footprint of their everyday digital behaviour, and what design can do about it.
In the context of the global climate crisis, this project explores the relationship between digital practices and sustainability — focusing on the often-overlooked carbon footprint of everyday digital behaviour. Drawing on Social Practice Theory and Self-Determination Theory, we set out to understand how students perceive the environmental impact of their digital lives.
How might designers open up environmentally sustainable digital futures — by exploring students' awareness of their digital carbon footprint, co-speculating with them about alternative practices, and translating the findings into insight the design community can act on? The aim: help designers embed sustainability into everyday digital culture, so sustainable behaviour becomes part of how people use technology day to day, not an afterthought.
Eight guidelines for designers, grouped under the themes above.
Embed informational cues into interfaces — a real-time indicator of the carbon cost of streaming or storage — kept intuitive enough that people feel capable of understanding and managing their own footprint.
Make energy-saving modes, data minimisation, and offline-first options the default, so the sustainable path is also the easiest one.
Usage analytics and habit trackers that people can customise to their own goals — reflection as a feature, not a lecture.
Reframe mindful streaming and selective data use as modern and aspirational, not restrictive.
Promote intentional disconnection and slower digital interaction as a cultural value, not a compromise.
Let people see and celebrate the cumulative impact of their choices alongside others working toward the same goal.
Prioritise energy efficiency and minimise data-storage waste at the platform level, with agentive actions users can take part in.
Automatic deletion of unused files, compression by default, customisable to fit personal sustainability goals.
The clearest lesson from this project: sustainability in digital design isn't just an interface problem. It sits across systemic infrastructure, social norms, and individual motivation at once — and a guideline only lands if it speaks to all three.