Signal’s Eco-Mode
Integrating a digital sustainability feature into an instant messaging app
Signal's Eco-Mode is a digital sustainability feature that allows you to keep track of of your messaging habits and reduce their impact on the environment.
The process has included:
Research on digital sustainability
Competitive analysis of media storage of instant messaging apps
Research on Signal’s mission and main features
OVERVIEW
Product Designer, UX Researcher
ROLE
Figma, Notion, ChatGTP, Perplexity
TOOLS
TIMELINE
1 month
Digital Sustainability
B2C
INDUSTRY
The Problem
Since the invention of instant messaging systems, media exchange has exponentially increased, resulting in massive data production, and over the years, users have continued to produce excessive digital material without being aware of it.
So how can we propose more eco-friendly and mindful media exchange habits through instant messaging systems?
01
Research
Research Summary
To start the research phase for this project, I needed to find an instant messaging platform that aligned well with the mission of digital sustainability. Signal, an independent nonprofit app with a strong focus on privacy, seemed like the best choice.
But before proceeding with Signal, I wanted to explore other more widely used instant messaging systems around the world to identify their unique value propositions, advantages, and disadvantages.
After consulting statistical articles, I identified three that I believed were most suitable for this analysis: Whatsapp, Telegram and Snapchat.
So I proceeded by
Analyzing if any of them had already proposed solutions in terms of digital ecology
Analyze their business model
Identify their user base
These three systems had different approaches in terms of data storage and management, which led me to investigate how Signal handles this issue.
After researching, I discovered that Signal stores media locally on the user's device and they are protected by end-to-end encryption, meaning only the users can access them. The app, in this sense, not only demonstrates an outstanding ability in maintaining user privacy, but it also shows a focus on avoiding accumulation of data in external data centers. For this reason, it proved to be the most suitable choice for this digital sustainability project.
Once confirmed as the best choice, I conducted research on Signal's main target users, and I identified three main categories. In some way, all of them demonstrate their interest in digital sustainability in different ways.
Based on this preliminary research, I conducted interviews with individuals who fit into these target groups, and with the help of Dovetail I identified these key findings:
🤓 Awareness about digital sustainability was lower than expected, but the intentions towards greater understanding are very high.
💬 Text messages remain the most sent media, but there is a strong use of voice notes, especially in specific situations.
😨 Generally, there is widespread fear of deleting media.
In addition, many people showed different instant messaging habits such as:
This data allowed me to carefully work on a affinity mapping and gave me insight into the types of users that would be using this feature
02
Define
After collecting and organizing the data from my research, I asked myself three fundamental questions:
🖇️ How can I seamlessly integrate a digital sustainability feature into an istant messaging app?
📕 How can I educate users about digital sustainability in a way that encourages positive behavior without creating feelings of discomfort?
😊 How can I incorporate this feature without disrupting users' messaging habits?
Based on these three questions, I was able to define the project goals in more detail.
03
Ideate
To allow users to continue having a smooth experience with their messaging habits, I realized that seeking a one-size-fits-all solution would not be a winning strategy.
This is why I decided to create an Eco-Mode that each user could customize, which included:
✅ Eco-Filters to apply to the main media sent such as voice messages, photos, and videos, and to the main communication actions such as phone calls and video calls
✅ Customization of the Eco-Mode for different chats
✅ A carbon wheel to track the impact of one's messaging habits
✅ A digital green guide to instruct users on leading a more eco-friendly digital life
Branding
When it came to branding, I faced the challenge of creating an icon for the Eco-Mode that would integrate with the language, colors, and existent design of Signal.
For this reason, I first studied the logo, identified the main color palette and explored the icon set of the app, and then proceeded to create an icon for the Eco-Mode.
Logo
Color Palette
Eco-Mode (On/Off)
Icons
04
Design
Interaction Design
After outlining the features, I began working on the task and user flows to illustrate how they would be integrated and used in Signal.
Task Flows
User Flows
Wireframes
The high-fidelity wireframes have finally provided greater refinement and could finally be presented to the users and I could iterate on them.
HI-FI WIREFRAMES
Scenario 1
Explore Eco-Mode
Tap on Eco-Mode
Tap on “Eco-Filters”
Explore Eco-Filters
Explore Voice Notes Alert
Explore Photo Compression
Explore Video Compression
Explore Phone Calls Alert
Explore Video Calls Alert
Explore Eco-Chats
Visualize Carbon Wheel
Open Signal’s app
Open settings
Explore Digital Green Guide
Scenario 2
Send an Eco media
Select a media to send
Activate/Deactivate Eco-Mode
Click on the “+” icon
Open Signal’s app and click on John’s chat
05
Test
After testing my product with the users I was able to gather some interesting feedback:
Digital Green Guide - Heavy content displaying
The digital green guide was appreciated by everyone, but most of the respondents admitted that it was a bit heavy in terms of content displaying, which is why I decided to re-design it in the form of a carousel.
Two interviewees noted that the Eco-Mode deactivation icon was unclear due to similar colors with adjacent icons, leading to confusion about its status. To address this, I opted for a toggle switch instead of an icon to clearly indicate activation and deactivation. This makes sense since image compression happens on the back end, ensuring more certainty about the action.
Uncertainty about switching Eco-Mode for media sharing
Before
After
Before
After
Final Design
Conclusions
➡️ What didn't go as planned and why?
The initial idea for this project was to associate an ecological feature with media that can only be viewed once. Ephemeral media, in fact, would reduce the overall data footprint of instant messaging apps by being automatically deleted after a set period. But after conducting the interviews, I realized that the Eco-Mode I wanted to design could have many more features, so I decided to create a dedicated space for this mode within the Signal app.
➡️ What could have I done better?
One of the biggest challenges of this project for me was proposing new, more environmentally friendly instant messaging habits. I would have liked to have more time for research to explore multiple solutions and test them with users.
➡️ What did I learn?
This project made me realize how much most of us are emotionally attached to the media we produce, and also how much we produce them without limits.
Technology has allowed us to not worry about how many photos, videos, or voice messages we send or receive, and helped us simply storing them somewhere. Throughout this project, I confronted the lack of widespread awareness that the digital is physical, leading to interesting reflections on our cognitive biases.
Additionally, after the project, I wrote an article on Medium to share my reflections.
