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Digital pollution: social media's carbon footprint

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Digital pollution: social media's carbon footprint

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DIGITAL POLLUTION
SOCIAL MEDIA’S CARBON FOOTPRINT

by
Mengyi Zhuo

A Thesis Presented to the
FACULTY OF THE USC ROSKI SCHOOL OF ART AND DESIGN
UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA
In Partial Fulfillment of the
Requirements for the Degree
MASTER OF FINE ARTS

May 2023

Copyright 2023 Mengyi Zhuo

ii

To Mom, Dad,
and all my family members,
who give me all their love and support.

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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
I would like to show my appreciation to my group of mentors, Ewa Wojciak, Jason
Ellenburg, and Bruno Lemgruber, for their invaluable feedback and patience in guiding my
thesis. I would also like to thank other members of the Roski Master of Design faculty for their
outstanding teaching over the past two years: April Greiman, Laurie Burruss, Brian O’Connell,
Jean Robison, and Jenny Lin. I am grateful to our director, Ewa Wojciak, for helping me find the
theme of this paper and to Dean Haven Lin-Kirk for navigating the entire Roski community with
a quality art and design study structure.

I would like to emphasize my gratitude to one of my mentors, Bruno Lemgruber. His
wisdom on contemporary design and the digital world has been beneficial in completing my
projects, and I am so appreciative of the time he gave to help and inspire me to create a better
project version.

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TABLE OF CONTENTS
Dedication........................................................................................................................................ii
Acknowledgements........................................................................................................................iii
List of Figures..................................................................................................................................v
Abstract...........................................................................................................................................vi
Chapter 1. Introduction.....................................................................................................................1
1.1 My Story.........................................................................................................................2
1.1.1 Sustainable Designer Background...................................................................2
1.1.2 Heavy Social Media User................................................................................4
1.2 Digital pollution.............................................................................................................5
Chapter 2. Social Media Studies……………..................................................................................7
2.1 Popularity Trends in 2022-2023.....................................................................................7
2.1.1 TikTok...........................................................................................................10
2.1.2 Snapchat........................................................................................................12
2.2 Young Audience- Generation Z....................................................................................15
2.2.1 Gen Z Population: The Do-Gooders.............................................................17
Chapter 3. Sustainable UX.............................................................................................................19
3.1 UI/UX Designer...........................................................................................................20
3.1.1 UI/UX Design Thinking Process..................................................................21
3.2 Sustainable UX Definition...........................................................................................22
3.3 An Industry Example: Zalando....................................................................................27
3.4 Bespoke Sustainable UX Icon Design.........................................................................29
Chapter 4. The Green Community.................................................................................................32
4.1 The Impact of Digital Pollution on Humans and Ecosystems.....................................32
4.2 Green Community Application Design.......................................................................33
Conclusion.....................................................................................................................................38
Bibliography..................................................................................................................................39

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LIST OF FIGURES
Figure 1. Sustainable Project 1- Marine Pollution Illustration........................................................2
Figure 2. Sustainable Project 2- Product Branding Design.............................................................3
Figure 3. iPhone Screen Time Use Average....................................................................................4
Figure 4. Instagram Story Screenshot..............................................................................................4
Figure 5. Social Media Application Usage Classification...............................................................8
Figure 6. A survey of social media usage trends among teens from 2014-15 - 2022......................9
Figure 7. Carbon Emissions of Leading Social Media Apps in 2023............................................12
Figure 8. The Environmental Impact Compares Between Top Social Media Brands...................12
Figure 9. BeReal Onboarding Page...............................................................................................14
Figure 10. Snapchat Onboarding Page...........................................................................................15
Figure 11. Snapchat 2022 CitizenSnap Report..............................................................................18
Figure 12. The UI/UX Design Thinking Framework....................................................................21
Figure 13. User Experience Design Diagram................................................................................23
Figure 14. Personal Website with Dark Background.....................................................................25
Figure 15. Sustainable UX Icon Mockup in App Store Download Page.......................................26
Figure 16. Zalando Sustainable Fashion Icon................................................................................27
Figure 17. Zalando Sustainable Icon on the Product Page............................................................28
Figure 18. Sustainable UX Icon Design........................................................................................30
Figure 19. EcoSquare Onboarding Page........................................................................................33
Figure 20. EcoSquare - Login to the Specific Square ...................................................................34
Figure 21. EcoSquare - Adopt a Green Behavior .........................................................................34
Figure 22. EcoSquare Logo...........................................................................................................35

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Figure 23. EcoSquare- Home Page and Searching Page...............................................................35
Figure 24. EcoSquare Design Process Set.....................................................................................36

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ABSTRACT
This paper discusses the significant increase in the scale of global carbon footprints and
the severity of digital pollution under the context of increasingly expanding digital activities and
more updated functions and interactions on social media. As a result, green UX has been
recognized as a necessity rather than an option. Therefore, one solution to carbon-producing
digital waste is to promote sustainable digital practices. In response, I have created two relevant
design projects. One is a series of sustainable UX icons used to define the sustainable efforts
made by the media company. The other project is a green communication platform designed to
encourage young people to engage in more small green behaviors that will help reduce internet
emissions. The ultimate goal is conducive to raising awareness around more sustainable digital
existences.

Keywords: Digital Pollution, UIUX Design, Sustainable UX, Social Media, Green Community,
Digital Carbon Footprint

1
CHAPTER 1. INTRODUCTION
We are confronting new and alarming by-products of technological and digital progress.
The stakes for our planet may be just as high as they were during the Industrial Revolution. As
the steam engine and blast furnace heralded our movement into the Industrial Age, computers
and smartphones now signal our entry into the next age, defined not by physical production but
by the commercial internet and its ease of services.
As a young designer and art director, I work extensively with social media, branding, and
marketing campaigns. At the same time, as a member of the advertising industry, I also follow
social media trends and developments. I know firsthand the strong dependence of young people
on social media, which is reflected in their language, behavior, and thoughts. These social
patterns scare me and make me think about the more profound impact of social media on young
people.
Progress has always come at a price. Like the factories 200 years ago, digital progress has
increased pollution. However, “online behaviors such as sending documents electronically rather
than printing them, videoconferencing instead of flying to a client’s office, and ordering things
online rather than driving to a store to make a purchase are often considered more ‘green.’”
1
This
view is only partially true. First, “the data centers that help carry out these digital tasks produce
approximately 3.8% of global carbon emissions. Meanwhile, every online interaction we make-
each click, thumbs-up, or thumbs-down quietly contributes to climate change.”
2
As we approach
the tipping point of the eco implications from the digital world, sustainable digital practices are
more urgent than ever to be seriously considered and implemented.

1
Contributor, Cognizant. “How To Be Both Digital And ‘Green’ At The Same Time.”
2
Ibid.

2
1.1 My story
I am an art director/ UIUX designer/motion designer with a six-year background in
professional academic design and experience working as a designer in the advertising industry.
Also, sustainability occupies a big part of my personal design work. In the meantime, I'm a
heavy social media user with beyond normal use of online media. So paying attention to
environmental pollution caused by digital media seems to be one of the essential priorities in my
work.

1.1.1 Sustainable Designer Background
As a designer attaches much significance to sustainability, I would like to introduce two
of my past sustainable design projects.

Figure 1. Sustainable Project 1- Marine Pollution Illustration
The first one is my sustainable digital illustration work related to marine pollution. Under
this project, I drew various marine creatures entrapped by the waste dumped by humans into the

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sea. After living with the waste for a long time, they have it as part of their own bodies. Marine
pollution has now become a ubiquitous topic. By designing appealing posters and using some
photography, all members of the public could perceive the danger posed by these wastes to
marine life, which brings much attention to marine pollution. My thinking inspires such a
graphic design that most visual presentations of marine pollution projects are heavy and complex
for young children. Therefore, I created marine creatures in a cartoon image style in this
illustration. In seeing the surviving creatures, children can distinguish right from wrong.

Figure 2. Sustainable Project 2- Product Branding Design
Another sustainable design project is the product branding design of refillable toothpaste.
We usually brush our teeth twice daily. The toothpaste tube is always thrown away as soon as it
is finished but is intact. Each year, twenty billion non-biodegradable toothpaste tubes go to
landfills. This wreaks havoc on animal hormones and the environment. I have tried the eco-

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friendly toothpaste, Bite
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, which shaped the toothpaste into the individual solid dot. When bitten
in the mouth to brush teeth, it does not get foamy, making it feel different from the original
toothpaste. As a result, I pondered a refillable sustainable toothpaste product with a reusable
toothpaste tube and recyclable package refills. It extends the service life of non-biodegradable
toothpaste tubes, aiming to alleviate the enormous pressure from recycling and degradation.

1.1.2 Heavy Social Media User
4

Figure 3. iPhone Screen Time Use Average
Figure 4. Instagram Story Screenshot
I am also a super heavy social media user with too much time spent on social media. I
like being the first to get the news, and I like the feeling of receiving the information pushed to
me by big data. I also feel terrified that I am wasting my time and falling into the algorithmic

3
Bite is an oral and personal care brand on a mission to make every step of your daily routine more sustainable, starts with
plastic-free products touting clean ingredients. Bite makes low-waste, tube-free oral care bites that are 100% gluten-free, vegan,
cruelty-free, and free from harsh chemicals.
4
There is a drama gossip between Hailey Bieber and Selena Gomez during March 2023, I screenshot the response from Selena
on Instagram Story within a minute of her sending it

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trap. At the same time, when my phone started to get hot from prolonged use, it led me to
wonder what else I was doing while swiping my phone. An immediate consequence is that my
phone often needed to be charged. However, with no smartphones, it was common to charge
phones every three or five days. This observation made me realize for the first time that swiping
my social media increased energy consumption. From that moment on, I learned more about the
impact of excessive reliance on the Internet and the environment. Thus, I finalized the subject of
my research for this thesis - Digital Pollution, Carbon Footprint from Social Media.

1.2 Digital Pollution
While online behaviors are often considered greener than the alternative, this view is only
partially accurate. The event of 2020 pandemic is one thing that shifted how we think about
sustainability. We thought we had cracked the climate change code because we saw clear rivers,
quiet roads, and peaceful skies due to less physical travel and our staying at home during the
pandemic. However, consider what we did to replace outdoor behavior: we moved all the
activities online. We studied/worked online. We communicated/had fun online. We shopped/paid
online. “5 billion people rely on the internet.”
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Owing to the public perception that online behavior is a dematerialized resource and
mainly relies on renewable electronic energy, such as hydro or wind power, it is rarely
considered a contributor to climate change. However, the sad truth is that the Internet depends on
servers in data centers worldwide. Furthermore, most server energy support is generated by
burning oil, coal, and natural gas, which are responsible for high CO2 emissions as they burn
fossil fuels, giving the Internet a high carbon footprint.

5
Statista. “Internet and Social Media Users in the World 2023 | Statista”

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Especially the new online platforms that appeared these past several years, like NFT and
ChatGPT, are highly energy-consuming. For instance, “NFTs are usually bought and sold on the
Ethereum blockchain platform, which requires thousands of computers to validate transactions,
consuming as much electricity per year as that of the entirety of Libya.”
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Not only does the
enormous media platform cause climate change but all the small actions on smartphones can not
be ignored, as I mentioned in the introduction.
These environmental implications are more urgent and are higher stakes than ever due to
our digital technological advances and today’s increased digital activities. Redefining digital
pollution as a social problem and an individual problem is essential for raising awareness of
digital sustainability widely.

6
Law, Julienna. “Amid The NFT Craze, Is There A Place For Digital Sustainability?”

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CHAPTER 2. SOCIAL MEDIA
Following the progression of time, user behaviors, technological advancements, updates,
and iterations of applications are inevitable. As a frequent user of all leading social media
platforms, in 2023, I observed and experienced the ascent and decline of specific platforms from
their initial universal use to being superseded by new ones. It is widely understood that features
and interface designs tailored to user preferences and habits engender greater user loyalty. The
big data algorithms utilized by robust platforms are astonishingly sophisticated and analytical.
The results generated by these algorithms, based on user feedback data, are highly rational,
scientific, and technical. As data analysts summarize the data, they must make corresponding
modifications based on the feedback and then provide it to the user. As designers, our
responsibility is to make the user experience simple and comfortable, enabling the platform to
meet their needs promptly and accurately. Since users are highly emotional and consider their
feelings when using and selecting applications, their choices may sometimes be irrational.
Therefore, I will scrutinize and ponder the intricacies of the design of these leading social
platforms, as well as the rationale and underlying principles guiding the design.

2.1 Popularity Trends in 2022-2023
To begin, I surveyed to categorize the predominant social media applications based on
their intended usage. Several factors have motivated this endeavor:
1. Various intended usages have resulted in diverse designs and functional settings for
each platform, making several top social media platforms irreplaceable. Therefore,
categorization is deemed necessary.

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2. All online social media reports and surveys available were from 2022 and not the
current year of 2023. A year's worth of developments is significant in an era where yesterday's
news is considered outdated.
3. The researcher posits that there may be inconsistencies between the behaviors
described in these online surveys discovered and the actual social media usages of social media
by their younger acquaintances. Formal and systematic surveys will facilitate a better
comprehension of the latest trends in the social media preferences of young people.
As a result, the classification primarily relies on the researcher's personal user experience
and a survey conducted with ten USC Gen-Z alumni and ten Gen-Z high school students from
Los Angeles.

Figure 5. Social Media Application Usage Classification
One report from the National Research Group shows the change in the landscape of
social media: “Snapchat, TikTok, and Instagram are the top three social media platforms used by
Gen Z, according to a new study by the National Research Group. In the past, Facebook and

9
Snapchat were the most popular platforms among teenagers and young adults. However, in
recent years, Snapchat has lost ground to TikTok, and Instagram has gained popularity.”
7

8

Figure 6. A survey of social media usage trends among teens from 2014-15 - 2022
Source: https://www.pewresearch.org/
Another report released by the Pew Research Center on August 10, 2022, exhibited a
comparable result. The 2022 survey depicted YouTube at the top of the usage list, with TikTok
following closely in second place. Remarkably, these two social media platforms were absent
from the 2014-15 survey but rapidly ascended to mainstream social platforms in the subsequent
decade.
Based on the previous reports, video-based social media platforms emerged to have
dominated in 2022-2023. These platforms enable users to create original content and engage with
other users' content through likes, comments and reshares. Since TikTok's ascent, Instagram has
introduced a video feature called Reels with a similar function. On the other hand, Snapchat, the

7
M, Yaqub. “Gen Z Social Media Usage 2023: The State of Gen Z and Social Media.”
8
Teens, Social Media and Technology 2022

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leading communication-based social media platform, focuses on real-time sharing without
extensive editing. Although Pew's report indicates Snapchat's continued growth, the researcher
believes that it has reached its peak and is gradually being supplanted by alternative
communication applications. This assertion is founded on the researcher's user experience,
survey results, and comments on this report's tweet, which will be expounded on later in the
paper.

2.1.1 TikTok
TikTok is a multimedia-sharing platform with a user base of over a billion, where
creative concepts and videos are showcased. Videos on TikTok frequently showcase music in the
background and can be manipulated using filters, sped up, or slowed down. TikTok's "For You"
page, a stream of videos recommended to users, is based on the user's app activity and powered
by the platform's artificial intelligence (AI). The AI analyses the user's interaction with content
on the app, such as searches, likes, and interactions, and generates the content accordingly. In
contrast, other social network algorithms rely on the user's social connections and interactions
with other users to personalize the content.
The way the platform disseminates content positions them as a vertical-type media, a
condensed video-based platform similar to YouTube, promoting effortless sharing across social
media channels. Unlike YouTube, TikTok offers a broader range of content, allowing users to
upload spontaneously captured and meticulously crafted videos (including scripting, shooting,
and editing). YouTube remains predominantly a vertical search engine, where users enter the
platform to seek out content or influencers to view. Although YouTube also employs an

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algorithm that recommends content to users based on their preferences and interests, the decision
to view content is primarily determined by the creator, thumbnail image, and title.
In contrast, TikTok's user interface places video content front and center, providing users
with easy access to diverse content. Based on my personal projection, I anticipate that the survey
results on young people's social media consumption by the end of this year will indicate
significantly higher usage rates for TikTok than YouTube. This trend is expected to reflect
metrics such as user population, click-through rates, engagement, and loyalty.
Accompanied by extensive back-end operations, the rapid expansion of TikTok requires
an increase in the algorithmic output that can be sustained without additional computing power
and energy resources. In the meantime, “TikTok in Europe, data is stored at a data center in
Ireland, and the company recently announced plans to build two more centers on the continent
soon.”
9
Consequently, this results in large-scale substantial energy consumption, which increases
greenhouse gas emissions, thus exacerbating global warming and causing climate change. This
indicates whether the endless streams of short-term videos, like lip-syncing videos and souffle
tutorials, are worth their monthly budgets.
On the other side, there remains much uncertainty surrounding TikTok and the
networks, servers, and operations of its parent company, ByteDance. Neither TikTok nor its
parent company has published a sustainability report nor any sustainable future plan since March
2023
10
, which means Tiktok do not have a complete statistical report of its carbon footprint and
targeted solutions and responses ready until Q4 2022.

9
Frick, Tim, and Tim Frick. “Who’s Responsible for Your Digital Carbon Footprint?”
10
Ponte, Camilla, and Camilla Ponte. TikTok Sustainability Report.

12

Figure 7. Carbon Emissions of leading social media apps in 2023,
Source: https://www.statista.com/
Figure 8. The Environmental Impact Compares between Top Social Media Brands,
Source: https://www.banklesstimes.com/
Meanwhile, TikTok has already been at the top of the list in Statista and Bankless Times
2021 data. According to the survey data provided by the Bankless Times, the production of CO2
per minute from TikTok exceeds three times that of the other top social media- Facebook and
YouTube, with the number of daily active users being twice lower than the two. Additionally, it
is very likely for TikTok to continue its dominance of the carbon emissions list, given a
continuous rise in the number of hours used and the number of users from 2022 to 2023 Q1.

2.1.2 Snapchat
Having briefly touched upon TikTok, the discussion will now turn back to Snapchat, a
communication-focused social media platform, to explore the factors that contributed to its
explosive growth in the past. In addition, this analysis will also include a paragraph dedicated to
BeReal, a representative competitor app, outlining why BeReal has captured the hearts of young
people and detailing Snapchat's response to this competition. By exploring these topics, it will

13
become evident how the development of these social media platforms impacts the issue of
climate change.
Allowing its users to send photos and videos disappearing after just seconds, Snapchat is
widely known for its ephemeral messaging app and takes the lead in gaining popularity due to its
unique features. Also, Snapchat was brought to a hit by the Snapchat filter, with fun and creative
effects added to user photos and videos. As the number of users and the amount of usage data
increase, they have contributed various significant innovations to the evolution of social media to
release different features that are more relevant to users' needs and easier to use to attract a
broader audience. Afterward, Snapchat launched two new significant features – “Stories” and
“Chat.” The story feature enabled Snapchat users to post a series of snaps that can be viewed for
24 hours. In addition to moving Snapchat higher up on the social media pyramid, its Chat
function also positioned it more explicitly as a messaging app from the camera company in the
top social media layout. Therefore, it gained a strong foothold in the market and developed a
more reliable bond with its users.
Unexpectedly, another social software called BeReal emerged to receive popularity
among gen-z, which makes it the 2022 iPhone app of the year, with a total of 50 million
downloads. Users are encouraged by the current photo-sharing APP to share what they are doing
at a random point in the day with their friends. At a random point in the day, there is a
notification sent to all of the users, who are allowed 2 minutes to photograph what they are
currently doing. Apart from that, both the front and the back camera can be used by the App to
show what users are doing. This is purposed to capture the realities of everyday life rather than
creating the perfect Instagram snap. Their tagline is it is now possible to be real, no filters, no
likes, no followers, no bullshit, no ads, just your friends for real. They aim to eliminate the

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perfect photo that fills people with fun and affects mental health with Be Real. It can be seen that
most people are similar in living mundane life.

Figure 9. BeReal Onboarding Page, Source: https://bere.al/en

It was once considered that he was a revolution in social media and would replace snap
chat. Judging from the trend shown in Q1 of 2023, however, it is still premature to replace the
head platform of the industry. However, a similar feature of dual camera shots was launched by
both Snapchat and Instagram in Q4 of 2022. Snapchat’s version is more robust than what BeReal
offers, with several different layout options, including windows stacked vertically, side by side,
picture in picture, and cutout. Nevertheless, the appeal of BeReal lies in the mineralization and
mundanity set of features. It only supports images, and there is just one layout for pictures, with
no editing tools provided.

15

Figure 10. Snapchat Onboarding Page, Source: https://www.snapchat.com/en-US

In 2023, Snapchat claims that the number of snaps produced in a single day will exceed 5
billion. ( A “Snap” is a photo or video that is exchanged using the Snapchat app) This figure is
up 25% from 4+ billion in Quarter 2 of 2020. As dual-camera shooting becomes trendy, the snap
originally sent one at a time is now doubled, doubling its carbon footprint. Despite the difficulty
in finding the exact carbon footprint of a single snap in the database, it can be inferred that the
carbon footprint of each dual-camera snap sent out is also doubled through an analogy with the
carbon footprint of an email with a photo attached. Due to this minor feature upgrade, an
exponential carbon footprint results. Also, each major innovation or system update is coupled
with large-scale carbon emissions and energy consumption, considerably impacting the natural
environment.

2.2 Young Audience- Generation Z
The user base has expanded with a shift in the development of the Internet from work and
academic use to communication and social services. Due to this expansion, there is a broader

16
range of user groups, which has given rise to more user needs. In this circumstance, the
classification of online platforms has expanded to cover more media and sections. Among the
most influential groups, young audiences account for a considerable percentage of the
population, and they are considered vital for high engagement.
Since their birth, generation Z, also known as the Internet Generation or Digital Natives,
has been exposed to the Internet, social networking sites, and mobile technologies. Many
members of Gen Zers have gotten used to the interaction in an "always connected" world. This
cohort, who are immensely dynamic on social media, has brought the digital domain to life.
Also, the structure of social media is significantly influenced by their behavioral patterns and
cognitive preferences.
This is where a large active group of social media users live, grow up, and build. Every
member of this group can find a comfort zone to stay in, "Twitch for live streaming and gaming,
Discord for private chat groups, BeReal for spontaneous updates, or Poparazzi for candid photos
of friends.”
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It is hard to imagine that these applications were launched in as little as one decade,
with social media has been around for just under two decades. Born with social media, gen-Z
cannot imagine life without it. During my childhood (born in 1998), communication can be made
only by sending text messages. There was no platform available to share life. The only channel
to access information books, not search engines or ChatGPT. So I believe he world in the eyes of
Gen-Z is totally different.
There is also a difference in the sense of time for Gen Z. They are accustomed to keeping
abreast of the latest news and topics. By the third quarter of 2022, the definition of “news” for
them has declined to less than a week. In case of failure to keep up with the current events, the

11
Fischer, Sara. “Gen Z Shapes New Social Media Era.”

17
meme's meaning in the latest statement will not be understandable to them. Because of the
increased communication cost and the need to keep up with current events, Gen Z spends more
time surfing the web, which increases the dependence of Gen Z on social media.

2.2.1 Gen Z Population: The Do-Gooders
What is more?
Gen Z is a group of new generations with strong eco-friendly conscience and social
responsibility. “This demographic group likes to stand for something else besides profits. 68%
say they are very conscious about their role in the world and do their part in turning it into a
better place for future generations. Other statistics about Generation Z as the do-gooders of the
century reveal that 56% believe they are socially responsible, and more than half buy goods
produced by eco-friendly and socially responsible brands.”
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is that a vast majority of the
youngsters in my research were ignorant of the environmental impact caused by their online
behavior. In contrast, many people twice as old know the correlation between some specific
online behaviors and carbon emissions. When hearing from me about the direction of the paper I
was working on, the young people understood the causal relationship between them immediately,
expressing their shock at the specific carbon emissions data. Also, they said that it was a big deal
and that they would definitely pay attention to it.
Many social media outlets have realized and started making an effort to reduce the
environmental footprint of our products across their life cycle. If these top social media were to
be widely publicized, not only would young people gain a better understanding of the issue, but
the care and responsibility of the platform for the planet could also be better understood. In

12
TrueList. “Generation Z Statistics 2023 - TrueList.”

18
addition, greater clarity can be gained on how to use the internet more eco-friendly way and
build a healthy planet through collective efforts.

Figure 11. Snapchat 2022 CitizenSnap Report, Source: https://www.snapchat.com/en-US
For example,13 pages of Snapchat 2022 CitizenSnap Report are dedicated to their long-
term plan for carbon emissions and the progress made. With very encouraging results achieved,
it is a worthy study for top platforms regarding sustainability. They have the largest group of
gen-z users, and the public's awareness of digital carbon pollution will be significantly increased
if their platform can be made good use of to publicize their report.

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CHAPTER 3. Sustainable UX
In a program development team, the programmer and UI/UX designer corporate, playing
different roles and presenting different flows. Programmers code the structure and visual
performance of the mobile application planned and designed by UI/UX designers into the real
interface.
13

As a designer who cares about sustainability, I have been influenced by what a
programmer does with sustainability. He is a programmer named Danny Van Kutton and has
contributed to sustainable software design in his field of expertise. He has always been
sustainable by not eating beef or flying to reduce his carbon footprint. He decided in 2019 to
make some sustainable contributions to the world with his expertise in coding. Then, he
developed “WordPress plug-in that helps the site use a little less energy every day. Install van
Kooten's plug-in and a server has to send part of van Kooten's code to every visiter's browser.
Sending data to a browser uses energy, the less code you send, the less energy you use. So now it
sends 20 KB less data. Of course, 20 KB is a teensy reduction. But since 2 million websites use
his plug-in, it adds up. By his crude estimate, trimming the code reduced the world's monthly
CO2 output by 59,000 kilograms, roughly the equivalent to flying from New York to Amsterdam
and back 85 times.”
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As a designer and also the programmer partner, this cumulative reduction
in carbon consumption led me to wonder if I could make a similar contribution to the design
process.

13

14
Thompson, Clive. “How ‘Sustainable’ Web Design Can Help Fight Climate Change.”

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3.1 UI/UX Designer
Let us start with the general meaning of UI and UX design. It will help sort out the
process and sustainable UX design and construction later on. UI stands for User Interface, the
visual elements of an online portal or app, like pages, buttons, icons, backgrounds, and moving
parts like animations that a person uses to interact with a product or service. Moreover, the user
interface comprises graphic design, interaction design, and information infrastructure. A great UI
ideally involves enhancing usability and the user experience. UX stands for User Experience, an
individual's overall experience as they interact with every product or service aspect, such as a
website or app.
UI/UX Designers are visual practitioners with creativity and technology and those who
integrate all of the various elements that comprise an interactive system and visualize media
strategies and updates. “Make things as easy as possible by designing products with easy access
to features that enhance the user’s life. The value of all the aspects coming together in one
interface has driven many application and website designers into continuously updating the user
interface of social networks.”(Hayes, 2014)”
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An energetic and evolving UI/UX designer needs
to keep an eye on the latest developments in social media and the diverse needs of users and
update their applications with the best version possible. In particular, Gen Z has become a
significant part of the user base. To anticipate the demands of these young people and achieve a
social media blossom through the user interface, and designers must take a deeper look at the
context of creation. The aesthetically pleasing design creates positive responses.

15
Hayes, J. R., User Interface Design for Online Social Media. DigitalCommons@CalPoly

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3.1.1 The UI/UX Design Thinking Process

Figure 12. The UI/UX DesignThinking Framework, Source: https://www.nngroup.com/
1. Empathize: Conduct observation and UX research adequately to understand the users'
perspectives/needs better.
2. Define: Define the problem through analysis of UX Research and construct the information
architecture to identify where the users’ problems lie.
3. Ideate: Explore and start sketching different ideas of how to satisfy the unmet user needs
identified in the second phase.
4. Prototype: Explore the possibilities of the ideas by building prototypes and drawing
wireframes for a subset of the ideas; visualize the UX to evaluate the impact and feasibility of
the design.
5. Test: Conduct a usability test with the actual user to ensure the users’ needs are
accommodated and update the version based on the feelings and feedback of users.
6. Implement: Once the test is completed and the solution is materialized, it is time to
implement it and delve into the lives of the end users.

22
In addition, behind a beautiful design is the need for comprehensive study, research, and
construction support to make it strong and practical. The method is to blend humane factors,
technological breakthroughs, and business considerations of desirability, feasibility, and viability
and solve challenging problems. These strict requirements for UI/UX and the intensity of
creation aims to make viewers feel comfortable and relaxed when viewing the website, using the
right font, excellent visibility and readability, and a refined choice of colors.
Understanding the psychology behind users' behaviors and interactions with digital
interfaces is the most valuable non-design skill a designer can have. The most elegant design can
fail if it forces users to conform to the design instead of working within the blueprint of how
humans perceive and process the world around them. Hence, designers should build products and
experiences that are more intuitive and human-centered and build experiences that adapt to how
users perceive and process digital interfaces.

3.2 Sustainable UX Definition
According to the BBC, “The carbon footprint of our gadgets, the internet, and the
systems supporting them account for about 3.7 percent of global greenhouse emissions.”
16
With
the expansion of digital activities and the updates of more functions and interactions on social
media, the scale of global carbon footprints is also on the rise. Given the sheer scale of
consumption, even a slight change in how we design experiences can make a big difference to
energy utilization. As the average digital designer produces annual emissions equivalent to a
one-way flight, increasing sustainable digital practices is one solution to carbon-producing
digital waste for UI/UX designers.

16
Griffiths, Sarah. Why Your Internet Habits Are Not as Clean as You Think.

23
Sustainable UX aims to build sustainable systems and frameworks from environmental,
social, and economic perspectives throughout their lifecycle. It is thus significant to figure out
how to achieve sustainable UX. For this reason, I will analyze and draft a sustainable UX
direction using the user’s conscious awareness diagram below. The diagram in “The Elements of
User Experience” was drawn by a User Experience Designer, Jesse James Garrett, who
summarized and named user awareness and demonstrated the relationship between user
awareness and the essence of UX design.
17

Figure 13. User Experience Design Diagram,
Source: The Elements of User Experience: User-Centered Design for the Web
Among the practices aimed at a sustainable UX, content delivery and usability are
considered the top priority, the most significant intention that draws the user to the page.
Therefore, it is necessary to collaborate with the copywriter to work on sustainable UX during
the written language layer for better/clear navigation words. Minimizing the clicks that direct the

17
Garrett, Jesse James. The Elements of User Experience: User-Centered Design for the Web.

24
user to the most-valued information ensures that the least time is allowed for the user to access
the content.
18

The solution to taking the delivery message to the next comfortable, fun user experience.
One crucial way to improve environmental friendliness in this regard is to reduce the use of data
on the site, such as “using smaller image sizes (rendering graphics as CSS/SVG or compressing
the original images) by default.”
19
The difference in size is significant. Moreover, jpg image
rendering is performed to calculate the pixel value relative to the surrounding pixels, which
makes jam-packed images have a much larger file size than those otherwise. In summary,
compressing images is conducive to reducing the pressure on the site's back end to run and
cutting the carbon footprint of storing and delivering the files.
On the other side of graphic design, color selection is used to build a sustainable UX in
user experience. “Apple introduced ‘dark mode’ to iOS in 2018 with the intention of decreasing
battery usage on OLED devices. Studies found that with brightness at 100%, dark mode could
save up to 47% of power usage.”
20
The darker background extends electronic use and reduces
carbon emissions by reducing the work required for each pixel. Web design has historically had a
‘start with a white background’ and ‘add lots of white space’ mentality. That may reverse it, with
a darker background to reduce carbon footprint.
21
Also, it is worth bearing in mind that
accessibility guidelines need to be balanced with the darker color simultaneously. This prompted
me to switch my personal website’s background to a darker background.

18
JennyJudova. “What Makes a Website Green? A Guide for Front End Devs.”
19
Great State. “Curb Your Co2 Emissions with Streamlined UX.”
20
Ibid.
21
Greenwood, Tom. “The Dark Side of Green Web Design.”

25

Figure 13. Personal Website with Dark Background, Source: https://www.zhuomengyi.com/
“Almost two-thirds of us are visual learners. Most of us more readily absorb information
when it is presented visually rather than in writing or verbally.”
22
As UI/UX designers, we are
passionate about beautiful interfaces and well-designed interactions. We also know how much
coding is required for a single interaction on a website, which consumes plenty of power and
bandwidth.
23
At least 100 lines of code are involved in one graphic design interaction, let alone
interactions of more complexity. It is shameful that no data was found to show the specific
carbon footprint for individual interaction or how it can be counted for web interaction design.
However, it is supposed to be costly. As a designer, I feel saddened that our actions will damage
the planet. It is reasonable that a static page is dedicated to conception saving. Nevertheless, it is
challenging to say stop doing it entirely because it is so workable to attract users' attention and

22
Rudnicka, Guest Author Marta. “Visual Learning Statistics.”
23
Shukla, Gaurav. “What You Can Do To Reduce the Carbon Footprint of Your Website.”

26
drive business metrics. What we can do only is to balance it by simplifying the interaction
process and minimizing the coding.
Furthermore, cloud storage contributes significantly to the back-end load.
24
As designers,
we habitually retain every version of our work because of some circumstances where we head
back to revisit and reuse something from previous decisions. However, the current data centers
lead to a more significant carbon footprint than expected. It is terrible to leave all the obsolete
files, forgetting about them there. It should be a warning to promptly clean up and remove
expired files to reduce page weight.

Figure 15. Sustainable UX Icon Mockup in App Store Download Page
I call on the top social media platforms with millions of users to participate in and take
responsibility for their carbon emissions in the real world. To encourage digital sustainability, I
created a series of Sustainable UX icon designs, which drive users' attention to the efforts made
by the application and the website around sustainable UX and carbon footprint. Furthermore, the
icons will be shown on the app store’s each download page if the media company performs the
relevant climate action.

24
Great State. “Curb Your Co2 Emissions with Streamlined UX.”

27
3.3 An Industry Example: Zalando
This idea was derived from a Berlin fashion and lifestyle online platform named Zalando,
which aims to assist customers with searching and shopping for more sustainable fashion. There
are more than 500 sustainable fashion brands in cooperation with Zalando. Also, a series of
sustainable fashion icons with different material standards and sustainability certifications have
been created to make customers access sustainable fashion fast.

Figure 16. Zalando Sustainable Fashion Icon, Source: https://www.zalando.co.uk/
Furthermore, the Icon will display on the page the items compliant with their criteria. In
the interview conducted with the product designer Cecilie Falk at Zalando, she made mention of
the journey embarked on when the team started the sustainable project: “One founding principle
challenges us to keep it simple: ‘Complicated solutions are often a sign that we have not

28
understood the problem yet.’ As designers, it is crucial to dig into the weeds of these
complexities and aim to stay with the issues instead of trying to treat them as a customer
problems that can be smoothed over with a simple solution. My team, Digital Experience
Sustainability, takes care of how customers interact with the topic of sustainability when they
shop at Zalando. It is our job to help customers identify that some products are more sustainable
than others, explain why that is, and decide where in the customer journey this information is
relevant and useful.”
25

Figure 17. Sustainable Icon on the Product Page, Source: https://www.zalando.co.uk/
These sustainable fashion icons are remarkable designs because they explore the user
mindset in depth during e-commerce shopping. They break down the part of the garment
production process that is hardly quantifiable in terms of sustainability, which is highly complex.
By systematically enumerating the sustainability classification in the garment industry, they
visualize the theme of sustainability to their customers frankly. It is necessary to inform
customers about a product's various environmental and social aspects by combining many pieces
of the puzzle, from using recycled materials, innovative materials, natural ingredients, Etc.

25
Falk, Cecilie. “How We Navigate the Complexities of Sustainability - Zalando Design - Medium.”

29
Moreover, this initiative allows customers to view the specific breakdown and data of
each product's environmental attributes by showing them the brand's dedication and efforts to
preserve the planet. For the execution of these icon designs, there are learning aspects from the
user’s perspective, showing simplicity and significance. It also reinforces the trust placed by
customers in the brand and makes them identify with its image and values. The brand makes its
achievement by supporting the user to build a channel as a contribution to protecting the earth.

3.4 Bespoke Sustainable UX Icon- Design and Definition
This project is a series of sustainable online designs of UX icons. The inspiration and
definition of such designs are related to the research I did above and the climate strategy
proposed by Snapchat in their 2022 report
26
. In the above research paragraph, the focus is placed
on how designers use sustainable UX in the design process. The climate strategy report from
Snapchat explains the sustainable strategy of the digital media platform company and its use
from the workplaces to the products and throughout the company chain. Moreover, there is a
detailed, comprehensive description is made in the report of the eco-friendly behavior performed
by Snapchat for climate change, which strongly supports this project. For this reason, most of the
icons I designed were inspired and set up according to my sustainable UX research and the
sustainable behavior performed by Snapchat. For me, this project will drive more media
companies, and users genuinely support sustainability, with more time given to green digital
development.

26
Snapchat 2022 CitizenSnap Report

30

Figure 18. Sustainable UX Icon Design

Sustainable UX Icon Title and Definitions:
Minimize Navigation
To minimize the number of clicks that direct the user to the most-valued information ensures that
the amount of time is required to access the content for waving unnecessary page views.
Smaller Image Size:
To compress images or reducing the image size is conducive to alleviating the pressure on the
site's back end to run and is beneficial to cutting the carbon footprint of delivering the files.
Storage Maintaining
Cloud storage contributes significantly to the back-end load. By removing expired files, the page
weight can be reduced promptly.
Simplified Coding
The programming quality is balanced with energy usage under a few processor instructions to
reduce the cost of processing the code for the machines. Green coding leads to algorithms with
minimal energy consumption.
27

27
Makers. “Calling All Software Engineers — Here’s How to Code Your Way to a Better Climate.”

31
Renewable Electricity
Fully renewable electricity is used for the facilities with the Green-e®
28
certification.
“(Renewable Energy Certificates (RECs), Energy Attribute Certificates (EACs)) The direct
electricity consumption is below the threshold of 100,000 MWh (or 100 GWh) required by
RE100
29
for new members to join the initiative.”
30

Green Algorithms
The algorithmic feed and prediction for the user's interests are reduced by stopping the
algorithmic order and changing it back into chronological order.
Set the Page Weight Budget
“Setting the budget of the size of files transferred over the internet when a webpage is loaded and
delivering each key page of the website in no more than the agreed budget.”
31

Carbon-Tracker Collaboration
Real-time digital carbon usage is tracked and visualized by adding carbon-tracker extensions on
the home page as “the electricity consumption and greenhouse gases (GHG) emissions that the
Internet browsing leads to.”
32

Green UX is becoming a necessity, not an option. To build a more sustainable world,
designers and programmers must understand that green UX design benefits both the environment
and humans.

28
Center for Resource Solutions' Green-e® certification program is the trusted global leader in clean energy certification
29
Re100 2022 Annual Disclosure Report
30
Snapchat 2022 CitizenSnap Report
31
Greenwood, Tom. “How to Set a Page Weight Budget for a Greener, Faster Website.”
32
“Carbonalyser – Get This Extension for 🦊 Firefox (En-GB)”

32
CHAPTER 4 THE GREEN COMMUNITY
4.1 The Impact of Digital Pollution on Humans and Ecosystem
The environmental impact of the digital world involves not only carbon footprint but also
the production and disposal of digital devices and the relevant infrastructure. They are common
in causing a profound impact on the ecosystem, such as “Greenhouse gas emissions, Overuse of
water resources, Contamination of natural environments, Damage to biodiversity, E-waste
generation, etc.”
33
As wildlife, human health, and society come under the threat of digital
pollution, it is essential to reduce the negative impact on the environment and community by
promoting the responsible disposal of e-waste and sustainable energy used and encouraging
sustainable technological practices.
The ultimate objectives of this paper are as follows:
1. Alert people to the detrimental effects of digital pollution caused by everyday online activities.
2. Minimize digital pollution and digital carbon footprint.
3. Create a more environmentally friendly community for people, society, and the ecosystem.
“While we may be comfortable relying on companies and government regulations to take
action on climate change, we must not forget that the ultimate recipients of many supply chains
are individual citizens. The greenhouse gases (GHGs) we emit directly from our homes account
for around 20%
34
of the global total.”
35
Therefore, for us, the primary internet users, are there
any individual and collective actions that can be taken to reduce and offset the emissions from
the internet? That is the question I ask myself. Green living is a solution to reversing the effects
of ongoing climate change. Therefore, I decided to launch a design project of a green community

33
McNutt, Louise. “What Is the Environmental Impact of Digital Technology?”
34
Xu, Ming. “5 Charts Show How Your Household Drives up Global Greenhouse Gas Emissions.”
35
Conocimiento, Ventana Al. “Ignoring the Climate Impact of Digital Technologies | OpenMind.”

33
application proposal. I believe individual behavioral changes can make a significant difference to
sustainability.

4.2 Green Community Application Design
The project named “EcoSquare” revolves around a complete UI design for a green app
aiming to build a green community by encouraging youngsters to engage in more green
behaviors, “such as diet, travel, household energy use, consumption of goods and services, and
family size,”
36
and by creating a culture of sustainability and minimal waste. This echoes the
strategy of reducing carbon emissions from the digital world.

Figure 19. EcoSquare Onboarding Page
The project focuses on a complete UI design for a green app that aims to build an
enjoyable and social green community by encouraging the engagement of young people in more
green behaviors, such as participating more in waste recycling, reducing waste in general, and
assisting the creation of a culture of sustainability and minimal waste. The waste can be

36
Wikipedia contributors. “Individual Action on Climate Change.”

34
minimized by raising awareness of a culture of sustainability and small actions, which is
consistent with the strategy of reducing carbon emissions from the digital world.

Figure 20. EcoSquare - Login to the Specific Square
Named as EcoSquare, the application is designed for community use. Therefore, the
signu process is the same as Slack, with each association/organization/company/university
having its specific suffix and square.

Figure 21. EcoSquare - Adopt a Green Behavior
Since different people have different interests and experiences with green living, each
user can adopt one green behavior and post the habits/moment and tips/news for this behavior.

35

Figure 22. EcoSquare Logo
Adobe Photoshop and Adobe Illustrator are also used to assist with graphic element design.

Figure 23. EcoSquare- Home Page and Searching Page
The leading media I worked with was Figma intended to create the prototype design of the UI
wireframe.

36
Figure 24. EcoSquare Design Process Set
Slides to help organize and show the design process.

Under this project, as the founder and designer, I expect to share my efforts on
sustainable UX. For example, a striking interaction design infuses a lot of vitality into an app. As
a UI/UX designer, I often sought innovations in interaction design through experiments under
my previous projects, such as introducing mouse cursor interaction design or game-type
interaction design. As a motion designer, I also like to interpret some beautiful dynamic design
effects through video to demonstrate a design from more different perspectives. However, I
abandoned what I was originally good at in this project, focusing more on graphic design and
layout. This is purposed to make the interface attractive enough to young people without the
stunning interactive effects. In the survey I did with 20 users, 95% of the respondents said that
they were willing to download the app mainly for my interface design

37
In addition, as a proposal, it faces various problems arising from newbies. Through
communication with the professor, many parts and features have been updated. Despite this, I
believe this is not the finalized version, and I will keep following up on it for improvement.
During undertaking this project, I have gained a lot of valuable knowledge, which indicates the
direction of my future career as a designer. I am willing to continue the research of sustainable
design.

38
CONCLUSION
Dr. Seuss’ Lorax
37
:
“Unless someone like you cares a whole awful lot. Nothing is going to get better, it is not.”

In addition to creating new worlds, human development, and digital development have
also caused new problems. Digital pollution is a fact, and its environmental impact is likely to
continue on an upward trend. It is undesirable for all of us to see the degradation of the
environment in which we all live together. Now that is an environmental reality, the only
solution to which is to confront it and try to resolve it as much as possible. As a UI/UX designer,
a builder as well as an explorer of the digital world, I feel responsible for delivering more
sustainable experiences towards a more transparent, greener future of UX; this is how a designer
plays his or her part in tackling the crisis. I believe that we can do our own bit through this
creative process, and it is our responsibility.

37
Theodor Seuss Geisel (March 2, 1904 – September 24, 1991) was an American children’s author, political cartoonist,
illustrator, poet, animator, screenwriter, and filmmaker. He is known for his work writing and illustrating more than 60 books
under the pen name Doctor Seuss (abbreviated Dr. Seuss)

39
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Contributor, Cognizant. “How To Be Both Digital And ‘Green’ At The Same Time.” Forbes,
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Falk, Cecilie. “How We Navigate the Complexities of Sustainability - Zalando Design -
Medium.” Medium, March 31, 2022.https://medium.com/zalando-design/staying-with-
the-trouble-of-sustainability-54910469e344.

Fischer, Sara. “Gen Z Shapes New Social Media Era.” Axios, July 26, 2022.
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Frick, Tim, and Tim Frick. “Who’s Responsible for Your Digital Carbon Footprint?”
Mightybytes, March 6, 2023.https://www.mightybytes.com/blog/whos-responsible-for-
your-digital-carbon-footprint/.

Garrett, Jesse James. The Elements of User Experience: User-Centered Design for the Web and
Beyond. New Riders Pub, 2011.

Great State. “Curb Your Co2 Emissions with Streamlined UX,” February 15, 2023.
https://www.greatstate.co/blog/articles/streamlining-ux-to-curb-co2-emission.

Greenwood, Tom. “The Dark Side of Green Web Design.” Wholegrain Digital, March 30, 2022.
https://www.wholegraindigital.com/blog/dark-colour-web-design/.

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https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20200305-why-your-internet-habits-are-not-as-clean-
as-you-think.

Hayes, Jackie R. “User Interface Design for Online Social Media.” DigitalCommons@CalPoly,
n.d. https://digitalcommons.calpoly.edu/grcsp/108.

JennyJudova. “What Makes a Website Green? A Guide for Front End Devs.” DEV Community,
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-end-devs-df8.

Law, Julienna. “Amid The NFT Craze, Is There A Place For Digital Sustainability?” Jing Daily,

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February 9, 2022. https://jingdaily.com/digital-sustainability-nfts-blockchain/.

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Climate.” Medium, January 4, 2022. https://blog.makersacademy.com/calling-all-
software-engineers-heres-how-to-code-your-way-to-a-better-climate-f806a4b7e83b.

McNutt, Louise. “What Is the Environmental Impact of Digital Technology?” Wedia, February
16, 2023.https://www.wedia-group.com/brand-content/what-is-the-environmental-impact
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M, Yaqub. “Gen Z Social Media Usage 2023: The State of Gen Z and Social Media.”
BusinessDIT, March 14, 2023. https://www.businessdit.com/gen-z-and-social-media/.

Ponte, Camilla, and Camilla Ponte. TikTok Sustainability Report. Impakter Index, 2023.
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Abstract (if available)

Abstract This paper discusses the significant increase in the scale of global carbon footprints and the severity of digital pollution under the context of increasingly expanding digital activities and more updated functions and interactions on social media. As a result, green UX has been recognized as a necessity rather than an option. Therefore, one solution to carbon-producing digital waste is to promote sustainable digital practices. In response, I have created two relevant design projects. One is a series of sustainable UX icons used to define the sustainable efforts made by the media company. The other project is a green communication platform designed to encourage young people to engage in more small green behaviors that will help reduce internet emissions. The ultimate goal is conducive to raising awareness around more sustainable digital existences.

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Asset Metadata

Creator Zhuo, Mengyi (author)

Core Title Digital pollution: social media's carbon footprint

School Roski School of Art and Design

Degree Master of Fine Arts

Degree Program Design

Degree Conferral Date 2023-05

Publication Date 04/21/2023

Defense Date 04/20/2023

Publisher University of Southern California (original), University of Southern California. Libraries (digital)

Tag digital carbon footprint,digital pollution,green community,OAI-PMH Harvest,social media,sustainable UX,UIUX design

Format theses (aat)

Language English

Contributor Electronically uploaded by the author (provenance)

Advisor Wojciak, Ewa (committee chair), Ellenburg, Jason (committee member), Lemgruber, Bruno (committee member)

Creator Email mandizhuo@usc.edu,mzhuo@usc.edu

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