SustainableUX #9

Designers vs Doom

Aug 23, 2022

In this issue:

Map design
Get a job
Ecosia update
A bunch of interesting links
SustainableUX sells out

Map design, color choice, and climate denial

There was a lot of drama surrounding TV weather maps. It blew up so much it ended up on Snopes, and Reuters published an extensive fact-check.

From a design perspective, there’s a lot to unpack in terms of color choice, accessibility, color psychology, and science communication. Also, it was a nice distraction from discussing, you know, the actual heatwave, wildfires, doom.

Leo Hickman @LeoHickman

You will no doubt have seen climate sceptics sharing this comparative image below in an attempt to say the media is "manipulating" us to be alarmed about the extraordinary heatwave. But, as ever, it's the sceptics who are doing the manipulating. Let me explain how... THREAD 1/4

Climate jobs

All jobs should be climate jobs, sure. But if you want an Official Climate Job, check these out:

ClimateAction.tech

5,000 or so members; 1-2 jobs posted a day, usually by someone who works at the company, so you can get some quick answers.

Work on Climate

Broader than ClimateActionTech, but lots of jobs. Slack, resources, climate education, “more”. Here’s a FastCo article about where they came from.

This newsletter

SustainableUX reader Elsa Plumley sends in current jobs to share in the newsletter. Apologies to Elsa - she sent these more than a month ago. I’ve taken out the expired roles.

Senior UX/UI designer @ Climate Partner (DE) consultancy that supports companies and individuals in calculating and reducing their carbon footprint

Graphic Designer @ the Ellen MacArthur Foundation (UK) non-profit working to accelerate the transition to a circular economy by mobilising governments and business to act

Product Manager @ InFarm (DE) vertical farming scale-up helping reduce food miles and improve self-sufficiency in cities through urban farming

Senior Product Manager @ Dott (UK/FR) e-mobility start-up on a mission to reduce congestion and pollution in inner cities by offering electric scooters and bikes

Chief Technology Officer @ Provenance (UK) software solution for supply chain transparency, helping brands share credible, compelling and fact-checked social and environmental impact information with consumers

Here’s some inspiring stories from job changers:

Akshat Rathi @AkshatRathi

Time for a thread about people leaving their jobs to fight climate change. If you have a related story to share, please do so in replies. 🧵

Every job is a climate job (Drawdown)

Not changing job, but want to do more in your current role? Drawdown has a new podcast for you.

Newsletter recommendation: Oxymoron by Tom Greenwood

Tom wrote the ALA book on Sustainable Web Design, and is worth subscribing to.

Oxymoron

Whose idea was carbon footprinting?

In my book, Sustainable Web Design, I tell the story of how the junk food industry addressed the growing problem of litter in the 1970’s. As companies such as Coca-Cola increasingly promoted products sold in disposable packaging, towns and cities became cursed by litter on their streets. In one of the greatest public relations successes of modern histor…

8 months ago · 7 likes · 4 comments · Tom Greenwood

Ecosia’s big update

Techcrunch has the details

[…] the search engine said it’s grown global usage to 20 million monthly active users — up from 15 million between mid 2019 and 2021 — and is now serving half a billion searches each month. Usage of the search engine is highest in Germany, France, the U.K. and the U.S — and Ecosia tells us it’s looking to capitalize on the opportunities presented by a growing audience of climate aware, and often young, users.

Ecosia has planted 150 million trees to date, via partner Eden Projects. They rate highly in standards of tree stewardship and survival rates. Eden Projects is also where I’ve been planting the bulk of my trees.

And also

Action plan for a sustainable planet in a digital age

Via Sparkblue.org, an arm of the UNDP.

Digitalization has the potential to help transform society and business models to a more sustainable and equitable world but only if there is a conscious and deliberate effort to steer it in that direction. This Action Plan offers a vision on three systemic shifts needed to achieve this goal together with a set of 9 Impact Initiatives to spark immediate collective action and multi-stakeholder collaboration.

I’ll be honest, I have not read this yet, despite it only being 68 pages and generously illustrated. But I am intrigued by some of the new (to me) concepts mentioned - “Planetary Digital Twin”, anyone?

Learn to code green

From Terra.do. “Get a crash course on climate science and impacts and find the highest leverage solutions for your skills.” Climate Change for Software Engineers

SustainableUX Sells Out

You may have noticed that this newsletter now has a subscription option. If a few folk subscribe, that will cover my (modest) costs and give me extra motivation to put this newsletter out more frequently.

Subscribing enables the commenting feature. I guess subscribers might get other benefits, if I can think of any.

Thanks for reading!