3. Simplify the journey and create a smooth user experience

The longer a user spends on a site to accomplish their goal, the higher the environmental footprint. Although this might seem obvious, we quickly realize this is not always the case, especially when the user experience competes against other goals such as customer acquisition or average basket size. A common outcome is that a bad user experience often has a large environmental footprint.

At this stage, it is also important to question our design habits, as his article from the Low Tech Lab suggests:

“Web design and web development have been largely influenced by the GAFAM models, (...). Therefore, it is important not to follow design trends without questioning them, and clearly define what is necessary for this project." (translated from the French)

Low Tech Lab, Faire un site low-tech (French)

Questions to ask yourself:

  • What is the functional unit?
  • How many steps and effort does it take to get there?
  • Is the journey accessible?

Example of a smooth navigation

Functional unit: Finding information on taxeAlthough it can be difficult to find information on administrative websites, the UK government website provides a simple and clear navigation.

Although it can be difficult to find information on administrative websites, the UK government website (gov.uk) provides a simple and clear navigation.

For example, in order to find information on tax cuts, the path is fairly straightforward: The journey is as short as 4 pages, and each page has an A or B EcoIndex score. The environmental footprint is low, unlike many other websites of the same type.

“Money and tax” page of the gov.uk site clearly shows the path, and the subjects in alphabetical order.

Except where otherwise noted, content on this site is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International license.

Come talk with us on https://slack.designersethiques.org, channel #projet_ecoconception.

Authors of the guide: Aurélie Baton and Anne Faubry.