At Citizen Voice, a multidisciplinary research team at TU Delft, I worked as a Digital Product Designer on Citizens meet Climate, a project aimed at exploring how digital tools can support climate action. We developed a tool to increase awareness on climate change and motivate, support, and empower citizens to take climate action.

Research

To inform our design, we conducted a comparative analysis of 13 existing digital platforms for public participation and climate action and a literature review on participation processes and case studies. We then identified the most common design elements employed across these platforms and analyzed their intended purposes, such as fostering engagement, informing users, or guiding their actions.

Problem definition and design goal

The research, combined with previous knowledge of the research team, led us to define the main problems and design goal.

Problem 1: the existing platforms provide an overwhelming number of information and functions that scare users away

Problem 2:the existing platforms rely on technical communication which isn't clear or engaging to non-experts

Problem 3:the existing platforms don't provide guidance on how to take action in the real world, so the engagement stops online

Problem 4: the existing platforms are not visually appealing to citizens and are not designed to be intuitive to use

Design goal:design a platform that motivates and empowers citizens to take climate action in real life.

Design guidelines

Based on the problems and on the research findings we also developed a 6-point rubric, a set of actionable design guidelines for creating effective civic platforms focused on climate. We iteratively refined this rubric on later steps of the project based on user tests findings.

Informing citizens and valuing their knowledge

Balancing negative and positive framings in communication

Providing locally, temporally, and personally relevant perspectives

Providing tools to take both individual and collective action

Providing clear, reliable, and open scientific data

Including appealing and engaging elements

Design process

Having the guidelines and the problems as a foundation, we ideated and iteratively prototyped a new digital platform that could address all four problems and meet all six criteria. The design process followed three prototyping-testing cycles, from low-fidelity paper interfaces to a refined, high-fidelity digital prototype in Figma.

Each iteration allowed us to explore:
Effective data visualizations that communicate climate impact clearly and in an engaging way, without being overwhelming or demotivating.
Tone of voice and content style that motivates users to act.
User flows and interaction patterns to ensure usability and accessibility.

First user test with lo-fi paper prototypes

Screens from the first digital prototype

Detailing the interface

Building on the insights gathered from our research, we developed an information architecture inspired map that illustrates our communication strategy and defines the design elements needed to effectively support it.

Once all the features and elements were mapped out, I realized an interactive prototype in Figma that we used for evaluating the tool, aiming to discuss the results in a publication. The visual identity is aligned with the one of Citizen Voice to show belonging, the style is friendly and colorful to appeal to non-expert users.

Final concept

Personalization and storytelling: Users navigate through the platform following the story of a persona they relate to the most. Additionally, at multiple times during the experience, they get to personalize the content based on their input.

Clear and local climate data:
Through the everyday experiences of the persona, users discover and understand climate change data and local climate risks. The data is communicated through relatable stories and familiar visuals.

Sharing opinions and contacts with the community:
Users are invited to share with other users and with the municipality their opinions and perceptions about the city, climate change, and climate adaptation. They can also see the opinions and perceptions of fellow citizens, creating a sense of community.

Using AI to visualize the future:
Through the life journey of the persona, users explore both dramatic and optimistic future (AI-generated) scenarios of the city with respect to climate change. This helps them to visualize the negative impact of climate change and the positive impact of climate action and climate adaptation.

Call to action and possible ideas:
Users are informed and connected to a range of local individual and collective initiatives for climate action that are tailored to the users' profile. This gives them the necessary tools and knowledge to take climate action in real life.

Final considerations

Since this project was conducted within an academic research context, we concluded our work after completing and testing the third prototype due to funding reasons. While the testing phase yielded positive results, I see further opportunities for refinement through additional iterations. Particularly focusing on the details of the multiple interactive elements, enhancing UI details, improving visual design, and optimizing the tool for mobile responsiveness.

Achievements of Citizens meet Climate

During this one year long project, we had the chance to present the concept at the AMS institute Scientific Conference, at the Climate Action Festival organised by the Delft University of Technology and at the Out-Mathenesse Lentefeest in Rotterdam. Furthermore, Citizens meet Climate was selected by 4TU.Federation as part of the 2024 portfolio of design projects that explore how design can drive change.

Read the 4TU.Federation article

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