Designing awareness into AI usage so innovation doesn't cost the planet.
Global AI Systems And Data Centers Consumed An Estimated 415 Terawatt-Hours Of Electricity In 2024.
(All About AI, 2025)
Summary
A passion project where I synthesized existing research on AI energy consumption and sustainability to identify key risks, misconceptions, and opportunity areas where design could increase awareness without fear-based messaging.
Team
1 AI Expert Consulted (Robbin Muliadi)
My Role
Sole UX Designer
Mockup of the Earth to AI dashboard home page.
Secondary Research
Grounding The Product In Credible Environmental Data
Understanding AI’s Environmental Cost
I synthesized existing research on AI energy consumption and sustainability to identify key risks, misconceptions, and opportunity areas where design could increase awareness without fear-based messaging.
Sample of the secondary sources used for research for more detail check my FigJam file.
Expert Consultation
Validate Assumptions With Real-World AI Practice.
Industry Perspective On Responsible AI
I discussed the future of AI and sustainability with AI-powered business coach Robbin Muliadi to understand how AI practitioners balance efficiency, ethics, and adoption, informing a more realistic and empathetic product direction.
Robbin Muliadi's linkedin profile.
“People worry that AI will replace them, but it will actually increase productivity.”
Persona Creation
Designing With A Clear, Human-Centered Focus
Designing For The Conscious AI User
I synthesized existing research on AI energy consumption and sustainability to identify key risks, misconceptions, and opportunity areas where design could increase awareness without fear-based messaging.
Persona Snapshot
Goals
- Leverage AI to enhance productivity, creativity, and problem-solving
- Stay informed about sustainable AI practices and platforms
- Minimize environmental impact of daily AI use
Frustrations
- Concerned about carbon footprint and energy consumption of AI systems
- Lack of visibility into environmental impact of AI tools
- Difficulty finding actionable ways to reduce AI-related energy use
User Journey Mapping
Identifying Moments Of Confusion And Opportunity.
The Perspective Of AI Users
I mapped the end-to-end user journey to highlight where users feel unsure about their AI usage and where gentle interventions could promote more mindful behavior.
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User journey highlights depicting the process of an AI advocate finding out about the environmental impact of their usage, then acquiring Earth to AI to reduce it.
Information Architecture
Reducing Cognitive Load For Complex Data
Making Sustainability Understandable
I organized content into a clear, intuitive structure that prioritizes clarity, transparency, and progressive disclosure of information.
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Information Architecture outlining the structure of the Earth to AI platform.
User Flow Design
Ensuring Frictionless Task Completion
From Usage To Insight
I designed a user flow that outlines the journey of AI users from initial interaction to gaining meaningful insights.
User flow outlining the steps, start to finish of an AI user building long-term sustainable AI use.
Visual Direction
Moodboard → Style Guide
Visual & Competitive Exploration
I explored nature-inspired visuals, soft transparency, and subtle glowing accents to convey calm helpfulness and technological optimism. These explorations were then formalized into a cohesive style guide defining typography, color, spacing, and UI components, ensuring accessibility, consistency, and scalability across the product.
Moodboard
Screenshot of designs explored from various sources.
Style Guide
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Screenshot of the Style Guide representing Earth to Ai's visual identity.
Wireframing
Testing Structure Before Visuals
Rapid Iteration On Layout
I created low-fidelity wireframes to validate layout, hierarchy, and content flow early in the process. All work available in my Figma File.
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Main Browser Overlay containing daily prompts used, recommended range, top AI sites, quick tips and nav to full web app.
Full Dashbaord expanding on the main browser overlay with additional usage data and navigtion to other pages.
History Page showing trends, patterns, and insights over time, high-emission activities, energy use estimates, and goal progress.
Personal Guidance page showcasing recommended ranges, interpreting AI usage score with imapct comparisons and detailed tips to improve.
Eco-mode Settings involving on and off toggle to automatically reduce eco-footprint by giving notifications to encourage batch AI requests, smaller models, and high-emission warnings.
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About Impact page to provide explanation on how AI impacts environment currently and where sources come from.
Settings to customize user preferences and manage notifications, accessibility, understand data use and privacy, and dark mode.
High-Fidelity Prototyping
Bringing The Experience To Life
Turning Insight Into Interface
I designed a high-fidelity prototype of the main browser extension screen that clearly summarizes AI usage while maintaining a calm, non-judgmental tone. All work available in my Figma File.
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Main Browser Overlay containing daily prompts used, recommended range, top AI sites, quick tips and nav to full web app.
Full Dashbaord expanding on the main browser overlay with additional usage data and navigtion to other pages.
History Page showing trends, patterns, and insights over time, high-emission activities, energy use estimates, and goal progress.
Personal Guidance page showcasing recommended ranges, interpreting AI usage score with imapct comparisons and detailed tips to improve.
Eco-mode Settings involving on and off toggle to automatically reduce eco-footprint by giving notifications to encourage batch AI requests, smaller models, and high-emission warnings.
About Impact page to provide explanation on how AI impacts environment currently and where sources come from.
Demo 1 — Short walkthrough of the main browser overlay in action during AI use.
Demo 2 — Example of eco-mode notification warning of a high-emission prompt.
Impact
Making invisible AI impact visible.
Turning complex environmental data into everyday awareness.
secondary research, expert interview, persona, journey mapping, IA, and user flows
translating abstract AI usage into understandable insights
from research synthesis to high-fidelity prototype
Reflection
Designing Awareness Without Overwhelm
Key Takeaways
This project reinforced that when designing for ethical and environmental topics, clarity and tone matter as much as functionality. I learned how to translate complex, invisible systems into calm, approachable experiences that inform without guilt or alarm. Balancing data accuracy with emotional sensitivity strengthened my ability to design products that educate, empower, and respect users’ cognitive load, especially in emerging AI-driven spaces.