Designing for Web Sustainability: The Potential of Nudges and Sustainable Web Design in Reducing the Environmental Footprint of Communication Platforms : Development and evaluation of a fictional communication platform with a sustainability-focused approa

Abstract: Digital communication through communication platforms has increased and changed significantly during the last decade and recently not least because of the corona pandemic, which has shifted many face-to-face activities to the internet (Obringer R. , et al., 2021). This paper firstly contains a quantitative survey study that investigates human behaviour and their experience on digital communication platforms with a focus on media transfer of photos and videos. Afterwards, the data sizes of various media after transfers through diverse communication platforms are explored in an experiment. This is followed by the development of a prototype in which sustainable design is implemented and aim to nudge the user to more sustainable-friendly digital behaviour relating data transfers of media and the settings of a communication platform. Finally, the prototype undergoes usability testing through which the user experience and positive environmental impact is evaluated. The findings reveal that the implementation of sustainability-focused nudges, features and design within a communication platform can lead users to more sustainable decisions in one or more areas of the platform and thus improve its environmental footprint.