Green and sustainable UX/UI design
For websites, shops, portals and applications
Sustainable and green UX/UI design is the chance to create great, innovative, beautiful, user-friendly AND also environmentally friendly websites. Not only for better usability, but also for best performance, minimal loading times and higher SEO rankings.
Hi, I’m Sandy, UX/UI designer
As designers, we have a responsibility. Our websites shape society. They frustrate or inspire. They have an impact on our planet. And it is this responsibility that I would like to use wisely. With you. Away from User Centered Design. Towards Environment Centered Design.
Green and sustainable design
Green and sustainable design means little data, fast loading times, great SEO, high usability, accessibility, inclusivity, transparent communication, ethical marketing, happy users and a healthy planet.
Let’s work together
––– 01 –––
UX Research
You want to find out if your website or app is truly user friendly?
Usability Testing
Empathy Mapping
Personas
Card Sorting, etc.
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UX / UI Design
You want to relaunch or create a new website, app, store or portal?
Design strategy
UX architecture and wireframing
UI Design
Prototyping
––– 03 –––
Reviews and workshops
Would you like another angle on your website or app?
UX / UI expert review
Eco website analysis
Various UX/UI/Eco workshops
My vision
… is a green, climate-friendly web with happy users, super fast websites, healthy and loving communication, high accessibility, diversity, green patterns as opposed to black patterns and brands and designers who love their digital products and jobs. In balance with the planet.
Sustainability step by step
Customers demand it, competitors demand it, the planet demands it. “Sustainability” cannot be answered in one sentence and includes environmental sustainability as well as our social, societal and economic responsibility.
As a designer, I have the opportunities to create a positive impact. That’s why I do it. Step by step.
Ecological sustainability
Social sustainability
Societal sustainability
Economic responsibility
Ethical standards
Support for designers and entrepreneurs
As designer or self-employed person, you would like to live up to your values professionally. That’s exactly what I can help you with. Right now, some courses, workshops and trainings are on the way.
Subscribe to my newsletter for up to date information
Do you want to train the whole team? Feel free to ask me for a team session
Recommendations, instructions and links
––– Tools –––
Tools for analysis, office, WordPress and more
Looking for green and sustainable work tools? Browse through the list of tools for analytics (e.g. digitalbeacon.co), sustainable cloud alternatives and image compressors.
––– Recommendation –––
Articles, podcasts, studys and Co.
Want to get more information? Scroll through articles, studies, podcasts, talks, workshops, communities, books, ebooks, manifestos, directories and guides.
––– Action plan –––
6 steps to a greener website
Ecohosting, tech stuff, content and communication – It can be so simple. Go through the 6 steps and find your own way to green website design.
––– Top blog posts –––
Environment Centered User Journey Maps (incl. example and template)
Read about what User Journey Maps are, when they can be used and how environmental and social sustainability can be brought into it.
Mother Nature as a Persona for more sustainability in user research
Learn what Environment Centered Personas are and why Mother Nature is a good Persona for your project. Incl. template and examples.
Mental health and green web design
How nice would that be: Notifications only flash when you want them to. You won’t be bombarded all the time, but only when it fits into your daily schedule. You don’t feel like you’re missing something all the time.
My website relaunch: Only 0.1g CO2/page view
I really tried out a lot, rethought and rebuilt. But it was worth it. The website is now only 0.1g CO2/page view and in comparison really far ahead.
FAQ
What’s the impact of green UX/UI design?
The world wide web has a big impact when it comes to energy consumption, the usage of water for cooling data centres and the emission of CO2 that comes with it. The average of a website is 1,76g CO2/page view*. Mulitiply that with roughly 10.000 page views every month. Suddenly those super small numbers get quite big. For just one website. And there are millions of websites out there.
What’s the web’s footprint?
Every mouse click starts a dialogue with data centers, that run 24/7 on energy and are cooled down with huge amounts of water. Telecommunication networks and end-user devices add to the massive needs of energy and emit all-together more than 830 million tons of CO2 per year, estimates rising.*
What are the benefits?
Sure, ecological sustainability and a smaller footprint are two of the obvious reasons. But next to that you get amazing benefits such as faster loading times, better usability, findability, SEO and reputation. That concludes into happier and most often more users, that trust your brand and buy your products.
How can loading times be reduced by green UX/UI design?
Green design means reducing data load, requests and scripts that are integrated on the website (which doesn’t mean boring design). Less data and an optimized technical structure concludes directly into less loading times and therefore into a super fast website.
Who’s addressed?
Everyone! All businesses and brands are welcome to join the journey whether you are already a deeply sustainable brand, startup, self-employed person, freelancer, initiative or NGO or whether you are in the process of becoming such. We all started somewhere.
“My boss will never ever commit to this.”
Let’s see… Sometimes higher hierarchy steps can be tricky to get on board but honestly, this is one of the easy ones. It all comes down to money, reputation and joy of use. And green web design covers all of that by needing very little money while integrating and brings in more money due to better usability, findability and conversion. If you’re not sure, how to convince your stakeholder, don’t hesitate to send me an email. I’m happy to help!
Who is the designer behind the scenes?
Hi you, I’m Sandy Dähnert, a freelance UX/UI designer from Cologne, Germany. I’ve been freelancing since 2016 and love my job to the core. My main skills cover UX/UI design, user research, green design and content creation. If more skill sets are needed, such as a developer, SEO consultant, social media manager or project manager, I have a lovely network we can ask for support.
How can you get in contact with me?
Feel free to send me an email or to connect on LinkedIn, Xing or Instagram. Whatever suits you. It can be about just connecting, networking, asking for support or planing on working together for a bigger project. I’m happy to hear from you!
Connect with me on Instagram
Want more? I regularly share my thoughts on Instagram. And I’d really love to meet you! So come on over and let’s share.
Joint project? Questions? Feedback? Let’s chat!
Whether networking or planning a project together – I look forward to hearing from you! Just drop me a line or let’s network on LinkedIn, Xing and Co.
