Turning Everyday Habits to Real-World Impact
This project was completed as part of the Google User Experience Design Certificate, centered on designing an app for social good.
Many commuters want to reduce their environmental footprint but struggle to understand whether their daily choices make a real impact. Clear feedback and meaningful incentives can connect everyday actions to tangible environmental outcomes.
Problem
People often struggle to maintain sustainable habits because they can’t clearly see the impact of their actions. When feedback is unclear or missing, even motivated individuals revert to familiar routines, leading to inconsistent engagement with eco-friendly behaviors.
Process
User Research
To understand which social issues people feel most motivated to act on, seven qualitative interviews were conducted. The research focused on participants’ motivations and the barriers to sustaining action.
Research Goals:
• Identify social and personal issues participants feel motivated to act on.
• Explore motivations and barriers to sustaining values-driven behaviors.
• Understand how people currently maintain cause-related habits.
Research Findings
Environmental concern emerged as a consistent priority. Participants wanted their daily choices to reflect their values but often lacked confidence that their actions made a meaningful difference, causing them to default to familiar routines.
Insight:
When people can’t clearly see the results of their actions, sustaining values driven behaviors becomes difficult.
“I want to do the right thing, but I’m not always sure what that looks like day-to-day.”
“When life gets busy, I end up doing whatever’s easiest.”
“There are so many ways to ‘make a difference’ that I don’t know where to start.”
Persona
Emily wants to act on her environmental values but struggles to understand whether her daily choices make a difference. While managing multiple responsibilities, she finds it difficult to maintain sustainable habits. When her impact isn’t visible, she defaults to familiar routines.
Insight:
Emily represents an eco-conscious user whose behavior depends on feedback. Without visible outcomes, even motivated individuals fall back on habit over intention.
Problem and How Might We Statements
Many users want to act sustainably but struggle to understand the impact of their daily choices. When outcomes aren’t clear, even motivated individuals default to familiar routines instead of maintaining eco-friendly habits.
Competitor Analysis
A review of Ciclogreen, Miles, and Pave Commute showed how tracking visibility, incentives, and feedback influence engagement with sustainable commuting. These elements shape how users make eco-friendly decisions and sustain habits over time.
Insight:
Many platforms provide partial tracking or incentives, but few communicate environmental impact clearly or consistently enough to support sustained behavior.
Sketching
Early sketches explored how to surface feedback, habit cues, and incentives across key moments in the journey without overwhelming users, identifying where visibility would most effectively reinforce sustainable choices.
Prototype
User Flows
User flows mapped key decision points where unclear impact could reduce engagement, defining where feedback, reminders, and incentives needed to appear to support habit formation.
Wireframes
The prototype translated these decisions into layouts and interactions, prioritizing quick scanning and clear feedback to reinforce eco-friendly behavior at each step.
Test
User Testing
Six moderated usability sessions evaluated how users interacted with the prototype and completed key tasks. The goal was to identify which elements improved engagement and shaped understanding of progress.
Planning a Trip
Could users easily select and complete eco-friendly routes?
Tracking Progress and Impact
Were points, rewards, and CO₂ savings clear, understandable, and motivating?
Redeeming Rewards
Could participants efficiently locate and redeem rewards from partner businesses?
Test Findings
User behavior revealed clear moments where engagement increased or dropped, highlighting where progress needed to be more visible and easier to understand.
Progress Visibility Impacts Motivation
Participants struggled to track points and proximity to rewards, reducing engagement.
Access to Key Information Matters
Difficulty finding key details, such as redemption locations, reduced confidence in completing tasks.
Clarity of Metrics Drives Understanding
Unclear purpose or calculation of the StrideScore made progress and environmental impact difficult to interpret.
Design Improvements
Insights from usability testing informed targeted refinements, improving alignment with user needs while strengthening support for sustainable commuting behaviors.
Progress Tracking
A clear progress indicator shows how close users are to earning rewards, reinforcing motivation.
Simplified Access
Streamlined access to reward locations and directions makes redemption easier.
Enhanced Context
A redesigned dashboard clarifies the StrideScore, helping users quickly understand their eco-impact.
Solution
Integrate Sustainable Travel
Flexible Routes: Travel anywhere using eco-friendly options that reduce carbon impact without limiting flexibility.
Smart Comparisons: Compare routes by time, CO₂ savings, rewards, and impact to balance speed and sustainability.
Instant Feedback: See emissions saved and rewards earned in real time to stay motivated and build lasting habits.
Tailored Rewards: Discover rewards that match your lifestyle through filters or featured offers.
Store Pages: Support eco-conscious brands with key details, exclusive deals, and built-in directions.
Smart Management: Save, track, and redeem rewards easily so sustainable choices remain rewarding.
See Environmental Impact
StrideScore: A single score reflects overall progress, with insights to help improve sustainability efforts.
Progress Snapshots: View real-time updates on eco-friendly goals in a clear, easy format.
Green Insights: Track long-term trends in travel habits to understand overall impact.
Product
Welcome to GreenStride
Sign up or log in with your preferred method to begin earning rewards for sustainable choices.
Sign Up
Create your account in a few taps with a quick sign-up process to get started.
Onboarding
Home and Notifications
Trips
Travel freely and track your journeys, earning rewards for every sustainable choice you make.
Destinations
Directions
Choose the greenest route, get real-time updates, and track your progress to reach your destination sustainably.
Trip Summaries
Redeem Rewards
Use points to unlock rewards and activate them anytime to enjoy benefits in-store.
Profile
View and update your details, track progress, and manage goals to stay on track with your eco-friendly journey.
Impact
Track your environmental impact, monitor progress, and stay motivated with real-time insights into your sustainable choices.