Designing for Sustainability: A Guide to Building Greener Digital Products and Services

by Tim Frick

Overview

Pixels use electricity, and a lot of it. If the Internet were a country, it would be the sixth largest in terms of electricity use. That’s because today’s average web page has surpassed two megabytes in size, leading to slow load times, frustrated users, and a lot of wasted energy. With this practical guide, your web design team will learn how to apply sustainability principles for creating speedy, user-friendly, and energy-efficient digital products and services.

Author Tim Frick introduces a web design framework that focuses on four key areas where these principles can make a difference: content strategy, performance optimization, design and user experience, and green hosting. You’ll discover how to provide users with a streamlined experience, while reducing the environmental impact of your products and services.

• Learn why 90% of the data that ever existed was created in the last year
• Use sustainability principles to innovate, reduce waste, and function more efficiently
• Explore green hosting, sustainable business practices, and lean/agile workflows
• Put the right things in front of users at precisely the moment they need them—and nothing more
• Increase site search engine visibility, streamline user experience, and make streaming video more efficient
• Use Action Items to explore concepts outlined in each chapter

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781491935774
Publisher:	O'Reilly Media, Incorporated
Publication date:	09/02/2016
Pages:	369
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x 0.80(d)

About the Author

A frequent speaker and conference presenter, Tim offers workshops and presentations on web design, content strategy, digital marketing, social impact business, and sustainability. He is passionate about the global B Corporation movement and co-hosts Chicago area B Corp networking events.



Tim is also the author of three books, which are used at higher learning institutions across the U.S. and Europe, including Johns Hopkins University, Columbia University, the Art Institutes, and Full Sail University, among others.



Tim sits on the board of Climate Ride, a national charity bike ride for sustainable solutions. He is also co-host of Content Jam, a one-day conference for those who create or curate content for the web.

Table of Contents

Preface ix

Chapter 1 Sustainability and the Internet 1

What You Will Learn in This Chapter 1

A Greener Internet 1

Sustainability Defined 4

Sustainability in Business 9

Sustainability and the Internet 28

Virtual LCAs 41

Conclusion 48

Action Items 48

Chapter 2 A Sustainable Web Design Primer 49

What You Will Learn in This Chapter 49

Sustainable Web Design 49

Conclusion 65

Action Items 65

Chapter 3 Sustainable Components 67

What You Will Learn in This Chapter 67

A Greener Apple 67

Other Sustainable Components 82

Potential Barriers and Workarounds 98

Conclusion 105

Action Items 105

Chapter 4 Content Strategy 107

What You Will Learn in This Chapter 107

The Content Conundrum 107

Potential Barriers and Workarounds 147

Conclusion 148

Action Items 149

Chapter 5 Design and UX 151

What You Will Learn in This Chapter 151

Users Versus Life Cycles 151

Visual Design 167

Web Standards 183

Potential Barriers to Sustainable UX 188

Conclusion 188

Action Items 189

Chapter 6 Performance Optimization 191

What You Will Learn in This Chapter 191

Performance Counts 191

A Balancing Act 194

Speed Is Just One Metric 200

Performance Rules 210

Speed, Reliability, and Version Control 214

Workflow Tips 221

Accessibility and Sustainability 225

Potential Barriers and Workarounds 227

Conclusion 228

Action Items 228

Chapter 7 Digital Carbon Footprints 229

What You Will Learn in This Chapter 229

Estimating a Carbon Footprint 229

Proposing a Framework 234

Ecograder: A Case Study 241

Ecograder Benchmarking 257

Conclusion 261

Action Items 261

Chapter 8 A Future-Friendly Internet 263

What You Will Learn in This Chapter 263

Future-Friendly Web 264

Interviews: Industry Leaders Predict 279

Final Word 284

Appendix A Figure Attributions and Links 285

Acknowledgments 291

Index 317

About the Author 333