How to design for sustainability and trust

I just watched a talk on Design for Climate Disaster and completely questioned my assumption about designing in climate. Most designers design for perfect conditions. We assume fast WiFi. Sunny days. Users who aren't panicking. But designing for climate resilience is the opposite of that. In her talk at Figma Config, Megan Metzger talks about her design work for Forerunner's disaster response platform. The features aren't flashy. They're functional: • Mobile-first design with high-contrast screens • Offline functionality that syncs when connectivity returns • Real-time FEMA calculations for immediate decisions The results: Damage assessment time dropped from 3-4 hours to 45 minutes. Over 15,000 assessments completed faster. This unlocked $2.4 billion in recovery funds sooner. Megan's approach: design for effectiveness over elegance. Her three crisis design principles: 1. Trust comes from reliability under pressure Your system must work with low battery. Weak internet. When everything else fails. 2. The right tools make impossible tasks possible Enable people to do hard things under difficult conditions. 3. Clarity enables action Clear design removes hesitation. Give users confidence to act decisively. Climate disasters aren't rare anymore. They're Tuesday. Every month brings new records. Heat domes. Atmospheric rivers. Category 6 hurricanes. The biggest climate companies are finally getting this: • Rivian designs trucks that maintain navigation during wildfire smoke. Not just daily commutes. • Sunrun designs solar systems that work during blackouts. Not just sunny days. • Climavision builds weather radar for extreme events. Not just forecasting. As more companies enter climate adaptation and disaster response, Megan's principles become survival requirements. The same principle applies to climate technology: • Solar panels that work during storms • EV charging that functions in extreme weather • Carbon tracking that doesn't glitch during peak usage As climate designers, we obsess over features. We should obsess over reliability. Your climate solution isn't just competing with other green tech. It's competing with the status quo when everything goes wrong. The fossil fuel system works reliably. That's why people stick with it. If your sustainable alternative fails during stress, you've lost more than a customer. You've lost trust in the entire climate movement. My takeaway: design for the worst day, not just the best day. Test your climate tech during power outages. During heatwaves. During floods. Because that's exactly when we need it to work. But this also begs the question - How do we balance reliability with efficiency?

In an industry focused on measuring everything from length of stay to readmission rates, we've overlooked our most fundamental metric: trust. This invisible foundation determines whether our sophisticated systems and advanced technologies actually improve health outcomes. When patients trust their providers, they share critical information, adhere to treatment plans, and return for necessary care. When providers trust their systems, they experience less burnout and make better clinical decisions. Trust isn't just a nice-to-have—it's the prerequisite that makes all other healthcare outcomes possible. The Trust Deficit Yet healthcare faces a profound trust crisis. Patients question whether financial interests outweigh clinical judgment. Providers wonder if systems support their work or just monitor productivity. Both navigate fragmented journeys where crucial information disappears between handoffs. We've designed systems that actively undermine trust: confusing billing, fragmented communication, and environments prioritizing efficiency over connection. Each frustrating interaction erodes the trust essential to healing. Trust as a Design Principle What if we designed for trust as intentionally as we design for efficiency? This means: +Creating transparency where there's typically obscurity: Making costs clear before services are rendered, explaining the why behind clinical decisions, and acknowledging uncertainty when it exists +Building consistency where there's typically variation: Ensuring care feels cohesive across touchpoints and providers share a complete picture of the patient's journey +Enabling human connection where there's typically transactional exchange: Designing environments and workflows that support meaningful conversation and relationship building +Demonstrating competence through thoughtful details: From clear wayfinding to seamless transitions between departments, showing that every aspect of the experience has been considered Measuring What Matters If trust is essential, we must measure it with the same rigor we apply to clinical metrics. This goes beyond satisfaction surveys to capturing specific moments where trust is built or broken: +Did you feel your concerns were taken seriously? +Was information shared in a way you could understand and act upon? +Were financial aspects of your care explained clearly and accurately? +Did your care team demonstrate they were communicating with each other? +Would you feel comfortable bringing up a sensitive health concern with your provider? Trust as Competitive Advantage The organizations that will thrive in healthcare's future aren't just those with the best technology or the most efficient processes—they're those that systematically build and protect trust at every touchpoint. In a world where patients have increasingly diverse options for care, trust becomes the differentiator that builds loyalty and word-of-mouth referrals.

Speed looks impressive on a dashboard. Trust looks invisible until it is the only thing left standing. In my time watching systems rise and fall across blockchain, governance, and enterprise, one pattern keeps repeating: yesterday's flashy launch becomes tomorrow's cautionary tale if people cannot rely on the system without second guessing. ⚠️🔁 Here is why trust is the real benchmark: ✅ Reliability wins. People forgive slow features. They do not forgive surprises that break their workflow or money. 🔍 Predictability compounds. Predictable behavior from your product and your team turns first-time users into habitual users. 🛡️ Safety builds adoption. Clear governance, transparent incentives, and recoverable failure modes let partners and enterprises say yes. 🤝 Reputation outlasts velocity. Reputation is earned by consistency, not by hype. A quick builder checklist you can use today: • Track trust metrics, not just usage metrics. Examples: time to first value, repeat actions, governance participation, dispute rates. • Design for observable failure modes so partners can audit and accept risk. • Make promises you can keep and communicate those promises plainly. Plain language builds credibility. • Invest in education and onboarding. Trust is taught more than it is coded. Fast can win rounds. Trust wins decades. If you want something that lasts, build for the latter. 🔥 Share one sentence about a time trust saved or broke a project you care about. I will highlight the most useful examples. 👇

🌿 Learning to Design More Sustainably: Insights from an Eco-Product Expert In the rapidly evolving fashion industry, sustainability is moving from a niche concern to a core component of product design. As an eco-product expert, my mission is to guide and inspire brands towards more environmentally friendly practices, beginning right at the design stage. This commitment to sustainability is crucial because every decision in product design reverberates through the entire lifecycle of an item. 👖 Consider the anatomy of a simple garment, such as a pair of jeans. An attached image vividly breaks down the numerous components involved: from threads, buttons, and rivets to denim, labels, and dyes. Each component is an opportunity for sustainable innovation. 🔩 Take, for instance, the button. Traditionally, jean buttons are a challenge for recycling due to their permanent attachment. By redesigning the button as a screw-on, we not only facilitate easy removal at the end of the garment's life, enhancing recyclability, but also allow the button to be reused on another item, thereby extending its lifecycle and reducing waste. 🌱 Moving to the fabric itself, denim is typically cotton-based, which is water and chemical-intensive. An alternative like hemp can drastically reduce the environmental footprint as it requires significantly less water and fewer chemicals. Incorporating such materials into designs is not just about substituting one for another; it’s about rethinking the system to prioritise ecological balance. ♻️ Consider also the leather-like labels often found on jeans. These are usually made from plastics and are purely decorative. Eliminating these and opting for water-based ink prints directly on the fabric can significantly reduce plastic use and the overall environmental impact. Similarly, shifting from conventional dyes to environmentally kinder options can mitigate pollution and enhance the sustainability of the production process. 🌍 As designers and product specialists, we have the power and responsibility to lead the charge in sustainable design. By analysing and rethinking each component of a product from an eco-design perspective, we can make profound contributions to sustainability. This approach not only helps in reducing the environmental impact but also aligns with the growing consumer demand for responsible and ethical products. 💡 By supporting innovation and challenging traditional manufacturing processes, we can transform how products are designed, produced, and perceived. As an eco-product expert, I am committed to helping brands navigate this transition, ensuring that sustainable practices are at the focus of product design and development. 🤝 Together, let's design a more sustainable future. For more insights and guidance on integrating sustainable practices into your products, feel free to reach out. #sustainablefashion  #ecodesign

A new Fast Company article based on some of my research examining how #design, not #technology is essential to addressing environmental and sustainability challenges. 🧠 While so much attention is focused on flashy ideas of #greengrowth and how breakthrough tech will save the world, really what is needed is mindset shifts and the need to reform value chains, from materials through consumer use. ⚙️ Thus, it is the quiet power of design—how we conceive, build, and integrate products and services—that determines the scale and longevity of environmental impact. Research shows that such a wholistic perspective can influence up to 80% of a product’s environmental footprint. In the article I provide some examples form Chloé and Seventh Generation. 🔁 This isn’t about designing better gadgets per se—it’s about designing better systems. We need a shift in mindset across the corporate world to consider circularity, equity, and regenerative principles from the start, not an afterthought to try to address after a product is produced. Cross-functional collaboration and incentives that align with long-term value—environmental and social—are essential. 📚 This design-centric framing resonates deeply with the argument I develop in #TheProfiteers. As I argue, real change demands a rethinking of how value is created. Design is foundational to that perspective. By considering possible externalities from the start and embedding commons-first principles into design itself, more equitable and sustainable outcomes are possible.

Product design is becoming a more important exercise for companies to reduce tariff impacts and costs, drive down emissions, and capture revenue upside. A key first step is evaluating the bill of materials and conducting a lifecycle assessment to pinpoint where both tariffs and emissions are highest—from materials to manufacturing, usage, and disposal—allowing for targeted, high-impact changes. Switching to low-carbon or recycled materials, simplifying designs, and sourcing locally can significantly reduce costs and environmental impact. Modular, durable products also support circular economy goals by enabling easier repair, reuse, or recycling. Improving energy efficiency—both in production and during product use—can lower emissions and operating costs, making products more attractive to customers. Technologies like digital modeling and just-in-time production also help reduce waste. To fully realize the commercial potential, companies must clearly communicate sustainability attributes through credible claims, transparent labeling, third-party certifications, and marketing that highlights both environmental and performance benefits. Our research shows that appropriate claims can drive 6 to 25%+ revenue uplift.

Sustainability strategies don’t succeed behind closed doors. One of the biggest challenges I see in Sustainability and ESG implementation? Treating it like an internal checklist. But in reality, Sustainability and ESG only works when it's built with stakeholders, and not just for them or because of them. ✅ Investors want clarity. ✅ Employees want authenticity. ✅ Regulators want transparency. ✅ Customers want values that match their own. The most effective Sustainability and ESG strategies are co-created through meaningful, two-way engagement, long before a report is published. Here’s what I’ve seen work: 👥 Engage stakeholders early – Don’t wait for feedback. Bring people into the process from the start. 🚶🏻♀️ Walk the talk – Sustainability can’t live on paper. When teams see values in action, engagement deepens. 📊 Report what truly matters – Relevance builds trust. Focus your disclosures where it counts. Stakeholder engagement is more than just a checkbox, it’s a relationship. And in times of uncertainty, those relationships are what carry your strategy forward. Ready to make your Sustainability and ESG strategy more collaborative, credible, and effective? 🔗 Learn how my advisory services can support your stakeholder-driven ESG goals: https://lnkd.in/e9CWD9Vd 🔗 Stay in the loop with Sustainability best practices-subscribe to my newsletter: https://www.fulyakocak.com Real impact starts when people feel part of the process. #StakeholderEngagement  #ESGLeadership  #SustainabilityStrategy