GreenUX

Green UX — or eco-conscious design — goes beyond user-centricity. It’s about designing with the planet in mind. We call this planet-centric design.

Instead of focusing only on conversion rates and user delight, Green UX also considers energy consumption, hardware lifespan, digital sobriety, and the carbon footprint of each screen, click, and asset.

This page is dedicated to designers, developers, decision-makers, and clients who want to build clean, thoughtful, and responsible digital experiences that align with eco-friendly principles.

Core Principles

  • Less is lighter: Minimize content, layout complexity, and features. Every pixel costs something.
  • Purpose-driven design: Avoid adding decorative or redundant UI elements unless they add real value.
  • Reduce cognitive load: Simpler interfaces are not only more accessible, they also require fewer resources.
  • Design for low-spec devices: Ensure that users with older smartphones or limited bandwidth can still navigate easily.
  • Avoid dark patterns: Ethical UX is efficient UX. No sneaky tricks, pop-ups, or unnecessary loops that drain resources.
  • Fewer fonts & weights: Limit typography variations — they increase font requests and load time.

Best Practices in Figma

  • Use reusable components and design tokens to avoid redundancy and optimize design consistency.
  • Set up your design system to support low-impact UI from the start, focusing on efficient use of visual elements.
  • Keep file sizes low — delete unused frames, layers, and hidden components to reduce environmental impact.
  • Optimize images and graphics for web use, using compression and formats that balance quality with performance.
  • Use plugins like Carbon Design or Eco-Friendly UX Checklist to evaluate environmental impact during design.
  • Design with realistic content and use placeholders instead of large, high-resolution stock images in prototypes.

Development Strategies for Performance

  • Efficient CSS & JavaScript: Minimize CSS and JavaScript files to reduce HTTP requests and improve load times. Use bundlers like Webpack to optimize asset delivery.
  • Font Optimization: Utilize WOFF2 format for fonts due to its better compression and broader browser support. Preload critical fonts using <link rel="preload"> to prioritize loading.
  • Image Optimization: Compress images without sacrificing quality. Use responsive images and lazy loading to defer non-essential image loading until it's visible in the viewport.
  • Server-Side Rendering (SSR): Implement SSR to improve initial page load performance and SEO, reducing client-side rendering delays.
  • Reduce Third-Party Scripts: Evaluate the necessity of third-party scripts and minimize their impact on performance. Use asynchronous loading or defer scripts that aren't critical to the page's functionality.

Tools & Resources

  • Ecograder – Audit the environmental footprint of a website and provide actionable insights for improvement.
  • Website Carbon Calculator – Estimate the CO₂ emissions of your website based on various metrics.
  • Lowww Directory – Inspiration gallery of websites that prioritize low-carbon design and sustainability.
  • Sustainable Web Design – Framework and resources for integrating sustainability into digital projects.

Clients & Stakeholders

Green UX requires collaboration across all stakeholders involved in digital projects:

  • Encourage clients to challenge unnecessary features like autoplay videos, carousels, or infinite scroll that increase energy consumption.
  • Promote the philosophy of "less is more" to clients, emphasizing that simpler interfaces often lead to better user experiences and reduced environmental impact.
  • Advocate for eco-friendly design choices in client discussions, such as favoring static content over dynamic elements that require continuous server updates.