About

Helping buyers understand their environmental impact by showing CO2 emissions saved when buying second-hand items on Carousell. The project transforms complex sustainability data into meaningful moments throughout the shopping experience.

Role

Led the design process to transform complex CO2 data into meaningful visuals and messages, working closely with Strategy team and UX Writers to make sustainability relatable for users.

Duration

2 months

📌 Overview

At Carousell, we believe every second-hand purchase makes a difference to our environment. This project began with a significant milestone: our Strategy team had just completed a comprehensive study on how second-hand trading impacts carbon emissions. The findings were so significant that they were presented at a sustainability report launch event, where Singapore's President Tharman Shanmugaratnam was the Guest of Honor.

As a follow-up to this meaningful initiative, I took on the challenge to translate these environmental impact findings into something tangible for our users. The goal wasn't just to show numbers – it was about helping people see how their everyday choices to buy second-hand items add up to make a real difference for our planet.

🌱 Where Sustainability Meets Design

1. While Browsing:
• Simple sustainability indicator
• Easy-to-scan impact
• Option to learn more
2. Diving Deeper:
• Visual story of impact
• Relatable comparisons
• More about how it helps

🎯 The Challenge

🔍 Learning From Others

I started by looking at how other platforms talk about sustainability:

The opportunity? Show people their actual impact when they're making choices about what to buy.

💡 Making It Real

Finding the Right Placement

After analyzing user behavior and listing page structure, I identified the item condition section as the perfect spot to highlight sustainability impact. Here's why:

• Integrated sustainability note with item condition details
• It's where users naturally check if items are new or used
• Creates immediate connection between choosing second-hand and environmental impact
• Reinforces positive impact right when users are evaluating item condition
• Designed for quick scanning while browsing
• Research showed users spend average 3-4 seconds scanning each listing
• Simple metrics help users make quick comparisons between items
• Avoids cognitive overload during browsing experience
• Added expandable view for deeper engagement
• Caters to different levels of interest in sustainability
• Provides deeper context without cluttering the main interface
• Allows curious users to understand the impact calculation

Making It Engaging

I got together with other designers for a creative workshop to explore ways to make this visually interesting:

Making It Meaningful

Working with our Strategy team and UX Writers, we focused on making the message resonate:

We worked on:

1. Building Trust
• Being transparent about our calculations
• Showing where our data comes from
• Making details available for those interested
2. Making It Relatable Instead of just showing CO2 numbers, we compared it to everyday things:
• "Like taking X cars off the road"
• "Same as planting X trees"
• "Equal to X hours of Netflix streaming"
• “Charge your phone X times”
• “Doing X loads of laundry”

🤝 Working Together

📈 What's Next?

💫 Growth & Insights

1. Making Data Human
• Complex numbers can tell simple stories
• Visual metaphors help understanding
• Layer information for different interest levels
2. Team Effort
• Early conversations save time later
• Different perspectives make the product better
• Keep checking back with real users
3. Personal Impact
• Environmental choices should feel achievable
• Trust comes from transparency
• Small moments add up to big change

🌟 Final Thoughts

This project showed me how design can help people see the impact of their choices. By making sustainability visible and relatable, we're helping people feel good about choosing second-hand – one purchase at a time.