Alternative Personal Carbon Footprint Tracker
Comparing collaborative and competitive interaction design to reduce the gap between environmental intentions and real-world actions
Role
Timeline
Tools
UX Designer & Developer
1 Semester Individual University Project
Figma, Visual Studio Code, Firebase
The Challenge
Many people want to live more sustainably but struggle to translate good intentions into meaningful action. Carbon emissions are often communicated through abstract numbers and technical metrics, making it difficult for users to understand which everyday behaviors have the greatest environmental impact.
The challenge was to design an experience that transformed invisible carbon data into intuitive, emotionally meaningful feedback. Rather than displaying kilograms of COâ‚‚, the goal was to explore whether visual metaphors and social interaction could motivate long-term behavioral change.
Project Overview
This project explored how interface design can encourage sustainable behavior by making environmental impact easier to understand. Instead of presenting users with abstract COâ‚‚ statistics, I designed and evaluated two mobile concepts that translated carbon data into engaging visual experiences. Through user research, prototyping, and real-world testing, I investigated how different motivational strategies influenced users' daily decisions.
Research
User Interview
Semi-structured interviews with Vinted users to understand their shopping habits, motivations, and experiences with buying and selling second-hand clothing. These conversations helped uncover pain points and opportunities that informed the rest of the design process.
Shadowing
To observe authentic user behavior, we shadowed participants while they used Vinted. Watching users interact with the platform in real time revealed behaviors and frustrations that would have been difficult to capture through interviews alone.
Expert Interviews
To broaden our perspective, we interviewed experts with knowledge of sustainable fashion and resale ecosystems. Their insights helped us better understand the wider context surrounding clothing consumption and circular economy practices.
Ecosystem Mapping
We synthesized our research into an ecosystem map illustrating the relationships between buyers, sellers, manufacturers, and the Vinted platform. This exercise helped identify two key opportunity areas that guided our concept development.
Timeline
A place to explain how the project unfolded over time.
Research
1
Gather qualitative and quantitative data to understand user behaviors, needs, and market context.
Problem Definition
2
Synthesize research findings into a clear, focused problem statement that defines the exact challenge to solve.
3
Ideation
Brainstorm a wide range of creative concepts and potential solutions without immediate constraint.
Low-Fidelity Wireframes
Sketch basic structural layouts to rapidly explore user flows and content placement without visual detail.
High-Fidelity Design
Develop polished, pixel-perfect visual interfaces complete with final typography, colors, and interactive components.
6
Developing
Translate the final designs into functional, production-ready software code across target platforms.
7
2 week User Testing
Evaluate the working prototype or build with real users over a two-week sprint to observe real-world usability.
8
Interview analysis
Examine user feedback and testing transcripts to identify patterns, validate assumptions, and prioritize final refinements.
Exploring Two Design Directions
Rather than committing to a single solution, I explored two distinct interaction models to understand how different forms of motivation influence sustainable behavior. Each concept translated environmental data into intuitive visual metaphors while encouraging users to reflect on their daily habits through a different psychological approach.
Concept One: The Shared Garden
The Shared Garden visualized the collective environmental impact of a group through the health of a shared ecosystem. As users logged sustainable or high-impact behaviors, the garden evolved in real time, encouraging collaboration, accountability, and a shared sense of responsibility rather than individual competition.
Info Button
Concept Two: The Nature Trail
The Nature Trail transformed sustainable actions into physical progress along a shared path. Users could compare their progress with friends, creating a friendly competitive experience that motivated everyday environmental decisions through visible achievement and social comparison.
Info Button
Shared Features
Daily Reflection
Users recorded everyday activities through a simple guided questionnaire that focused on common lifestyle choices rather than complex carbon calculations. This reduced friction while helping users reflect on the environmental impact of their daily routines.
Social Activity Feed
Real-time notifications highlighted actions completed by other participants, creating transparency, encouraging discussion, and reinforcing positive environmental behaviors through social awareness.
Group Messaging
Integrated messaging encouraged participants to discuss progress, celebrate achievements, and motivate one another, turning sustainability into a shared social experience rather than an individual task.
Testing & Results
Testing revealed that both concepts successfully replaced abstract carbon statistics with more intuitive mental models. Participants stopped describing their impact in kilograms of COâ‚‚ and instead referred to "healing the garden" or "moving further along the trail," demonstrating that visual metaphors made environmental information more meaningful.
While the Nature Trail generated stronger short-term motivation through competition, the Shared Garden fostered collaboration and reduced feelings of judgment. Many participants ultimately suggested combining both concepts into a single experience.
Reflection
This project reinforced how interface design can shape not only usability but also human behavior. I learned that emotional feedback, visual storytelling, and social interaction can communicate complex information more effectively than numerical data alone. Designing and evaluating two competing concepts also highlighted the importance of testing multiple approaches before committing to a final solution.