Spork’s Scoop On… Sustainable Design Practices for the UK’s Green Future

The shift towards a greener, more sustainable future is now a central business priority and C-suites are looking for ways to meet environmental goals while still prioritising business growth.

Spork Digital
19 June 2024
7 min

We all know that technology plays a central role in our lives, driving innovation, enhancing daily activities, and shaping the way we interact with the world. It’s also a critical tool in finding ways to not only mitigate climate change but adapt to the reality of climate change as well.

At the same time, it is essential to understand and acknowledge that despite technology offering numerous benefits, it also has significant environmental impacts in and of itself.

That is where the importance of sustainable design practices comes into play.

Designing for Sustainability

Globally, the UK’s stated environmental targets are considered reasonably ambitious, aiming for net zero emissions by 2050. That ambition might well change, but either way, the role of technology in achieving these goals cannot be overstated. Making choices based on eco-friendly design principles will enhance an organisation’s contribution to these efforts.

These principles involve considering the energy consumption of digital solutions, the way those solutions are designed, the materials used in hardware, and the overall lifecycle of tech products.

Energy-Efficient Software Design: Software design plays a crucial role in the overall energy consumption of digital activities. Optimised code, less complexity of applications, and using more energy-efficient algorithms mean software runs more smoothly and requires less energy. And not just a bit more smoothly. According to Accenture, companies can reduce application energy consumption by up to 50x by selecting the appropriate programming language for the task. Cloud-based solutions are another piece of the efficiency puzzle, as many providers utilise renewable energy sources and optimise data centres for efficiency.

Data minimisation is another way to make software more sustainable. Simply put — storing, processing and moving data requires energy consumption. And the more data you have, the more energy it uses, even just sitting in storage.

And when we say just sitting there, we mean that literally. Some of that data is JUST sitting there, not being used. It’s called ‘dark data’ — a term coined by Gartner to describe data collected, processed and stored in the course of ‘business as usual’ activities but generally not used for any other purpose. Not only is it serving no purpose, but it is the majority of the data currently in storage across the business world. According to from Splunk, 55% of organisational data is dark.

Collaboration and Compliance

Sustainable technology practices are not something that happens in silos. It requires collaboration between designers, developers, businesses, and policymakers. It is the only way to achieve standards and guidelines that promote eco-friendly design and are supported across industries.

And it is important to point out that compliance with environmental regulations, such as the UK’s Climate Change Act, isn’t about stifling creativity or out-of-the-box thinking. It’s about transparency and reporting, of course, but it can drive innovation as well.

Companies that engage and embrace these efforts will gain a competitive advantage as consumers become ever more eco-conscious. In fact, 3 in 4 consumers expect companies to take proactive steps to reduce their environmental footprint and to provide transparency about their progress so that they — the end users — can make informed sustainable choices. And what business doesn’t want to be seen as making a net-positive contribution to the UK’s green future?

The Role of Spork

“Sustainability in business is a multi-faceted challenge that requires a multi-faceted solution. By utilising design thinking, Spork ensures the solutions they deliver create the positive paradigm shifts that truly sustainable businesses require.”
Yuxuan Chua, UX Research @ Spork

At Spork, we are committed to making smart, sustainable technology decisions the norm when designing software products that give companies not just a competitive edge but a sustainable competitive edge.

But we do not see it as something to address only through the very specific lens of a single, specific digital product. We’ve said before that sustainability needs to be taken into consideration up and down the whole technology stack — the processing power required of the server, how much data is moving, how far and what it will take to download.

As technology continues to evolve, so too should our approach to sustainability. It’s not just about reducing the negative impact of our current activities but about designing a future where technology and the environment can coexist harmoniously.

Conclusion

The journey towards a sustainable future is complex, challenging, and most of all, crucial. But let’s embrace the challenge and grab the opportunities it presents to innovate, lead, and create a greener future. At Spork, we’re excited by the prospect and about supporting our clients on the journey with technology decisions that will shape our world for the better.