UX Connect 24 Masterclass

Become a Sustainable UX Designer

UX Connect 24:
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- who’s joining us?
- speakers
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Date: Monday, June 10
Duration: 13.00 - 17.00

"We need to move from a human to a humanity and environmental centered design approach."
—- Thorsten Jonas

Learn how to incorporate sustainable UX practices in your daily work to create sustainable digital products. This 4-hour masterclass has six modules with a mix of lecture and hands-on exercises. Upon completion you’ll get a personal Sustainable UX certificate.

Your host is Thorsten Jonas, the founder of the Sustainable UX Network.

11 things you will learn

  1. How can designers help saving the world and design towards a better future

  2. What are the negative impacts UX and design have to the world.

  3. What are the different aspects of Sustainability and how do they in detail are affected by our work as designers

  4. Eco-Systems: The surrounding eco system of every digital product, its actors - human and non-human and how to take them into account.

  5. Negative Impacts: The negative impacts of digital products and experiences and how to uncover them

  6. Going beyond human-centered design

  7. From high-level bird view to execution: how to get from understanding to action

  8. Tools: all the tools of Sustainable UX as well as the Web Sustainability Guidelines (WSG 1.0 and how to apply them

  9. The business side of Sustainable UX: Why it is good for planet, society and the future, but also for business

  10. How to make Sustainable UX practices default in the whole design process

  11. The sustainability impacts of AI and how to use it sustainably and responsible.

Sustainable UX: Opportunity to impact and responsibility to accept

As designers we have the power create huge impact on shaping the world of tomorrow - for good, but also for bad. Our creativity and our toolsets can help us to create sustainable solutions for a better future. Our mindset, empathy and problem understanding can be key for creating a better future.

But we also need to ask ourself, when do the beautiful experiences we create for our users cause harm on other ends. One big problem with UX and Human Centered Design is the fact that it focusses so much on the user that forgets about all other actors that are impacted by what we create to fulfill user (and business) needs.

As Tony Fry once said: "Does what we create justify what we destroy?" We need to learn to see the digital experiences we create for our users as part of bigger eco-systems that impact a lot of other actors (human and non-human).

UX as it is executed nowadays very often is exclusive and harmful to other people, the environment (and if we are honest, even to our users). But, if we transform our understanding of UX, we can play a key-role in making digital products sustainable - by default. For a better future, for us, our children and the planet and also for our design career.

Six masterclass modules

The masterclass teaches "Sustainable UX" through lectures and practical exercises in six modules. Part of it will be the Web Sustainability Guidelines. The learning modules cover all aspects of Sustainable UX and build on each other.

In the final module you will learn about the impacts of AI and how to use AI responsibly and sustainably.

Module 1: Sustainability and digital products

  • Negative impacts of digitale products

  • The role of UX and design

  • Sustainable UX (SUX)

  • Web Sustainability 

Module 2: Understand the negative impact

  • The systemic context of digital products

  • Actors & unintended consequences (+Exercise)

  • Consequences vs. needs

  • Non-user and non-human personas

  • Sustainable User Journey Mapping (+Exercise)

Module 3a: From understanding to solutions: The Web Sustainability Guidelines (WSG) 1.0

  • What are the WSGs and who builds it

  • Overview of all parts

  • What’s in for designers

Module 3b: From understanding to solutions
Methods and tools (from SUX, WSG, etc.)

  • From Systemic to product, Sustainability User journey Mapping, Simplification and positive nudging, Techniques for carbon friendly design, Impact brainstorming

  • Exercise

Module 4: Making Sustainability Default

  • How to make sustainability default in your daily work and in the entire design/product process

  • From ideas to roadmaps

  • From Setting complementary goal and KPIs

Module 5: Sustainable UX, business and stakeholders

  • The business case of sustainability in digital

  • Including and convincing stakeholders

Module 6: How to use AI sustainable and responsible

  • How do AI technologies affect the environment & society

  • How can AI help to create more sustainable experiences

  • Get principles how to use AI in a responsible and sustainable way

Did you know: Sustainable UX is also good for business

Customer Relationships
Incorporating sustainability in your digitale experiences becomes crucial for a good relationship to your users/customer. Customers demand sustainable products and are willing to pay higher prices for sustainable services.

Infrastructure Costs
Web Sustainability Guidelines and Sustainable UX practices help creating more effective digital solutions and thereby directly impact the infrastructure costs of your digital solutions.

Compliance and Regulations:
Regulations already begin to demand more sustainable digital solutions. New green deal, CSRD, etc. You can compare it to what happens with Web Accessibility at the moment. Expect the same to happen with web/digital sustainability soon.