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Project overview
A practice-based project exploring environmentally responsible web design by confronting the gap between ecological intention and real-world implementation.
The project developed and tested low-emission design strategies across devices representing different technological generations, revealing both the opportunities and contradictions embedded in sustainable digital development. Through real deployments and client collaboration, it translated abstract sustainability goals into measurable design decisions.
Main objectives
The project advanced sustainable digital design practice through:
☀︎ Developing websites based on minimal-resource design principles
☀︎ Educating clients on the environmental impact of their digital choices
☀︎ Analysing rebound effects, where efficiency improvements lead to increased consumption
☀︎ Implementing inclusive design systems that extend device lifespans
☀︎ Testing performance across multiple generations of hardware to ensure practical, not theoretical, sustainability
Achieved results
The developed projects increased client awareness of the environmental consequences of digital products, reflected in growing interest in environmental indicators alongside traditional performance metrics.
Cross-device testing exposed significant challenges in balancing usability with energy efficiency, particularly on older hardware, highlighting how quickly digital products become exclusionary through technological acceleration.
The project validated that sustainable design cannot be achieved through aesthetics alone, but requires systemic thinking and strategic compromise.
Main reflection
This project revealed that genuine digital responsibility demands a holistic approach that goes far beyond code optimisation.
It exposed how many “eco” digital initiatives function primarily as branding tools rather than meaningful environmental interventions, reinforcing the prevalence of greenwashing within the industry.
The most critical insight emerged through the rebound effect, where efficiency gains stimulate higher consumption, ultimately neutralising environmental benefits.
This paradox demonstrates that truly responsible digital design requires questioning dominant growth models and redefining success beyond speed, scale and engagement towards restraint, longevity and ecological accountability.