Interactions - January/February 2019

In this forum we highlight innovative thought, design, and research in the area of interaction design and sustainability,
illustrating the diversity of approaches across HCI communities. — Roy Bendor, Editor
FORUM SUSTAINABILITY IN (INTER)ACTION

Between Purpose and Profit:
Breaking the Spell of False Trade-offs

sustainability or related topics. If I receive answers to my questions at all, I often hear:

My margins are slim enough already. Sustainability efforts are expensive...

It’s me and a handful of contractors. I don’t have a supply chain...

We do a pro bono project every year. That’s enough...

I give to charity...

We recycle.

While some of the efforts above are indeed laudable, this trade-off thinking—that sustainability should sit outside a company’s need to generate profit rather than integrate with it—keeps many organizations from realizing their potential for higher purpose and higher profits. If agencies consider sustainability at all—and most don’t—they focus on doing less damage—think recycling bins and LED light bulbs—rather than creating shared stakeholder value: net zero thinking versus net positive thinking. I believe we can do better.

MOVING BEYOND SHORT-TERM THINKING

Adopting the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs; Figure 1), a set of 17 goals meant to address the biggest global problems we face today, can motivate agencies to shift the way they see themselves: from simply pursuing profit to creating shared value and long-term gain for people and the planet. For a purpose-driven company, profit is the engine that runs our ability to create change. Fueled by profit, the ways in which we create that change are as limitless as one’s imagination. B the Change Media, Conscious Company

Design agencies are in a unique position to bring about positive societal change at scale, but a common misperception often stands in the way of such aspirations: that purpose and profit are antithetical. To create large-scale change, agencies need tools, principles, and standards that help us collectively create a better future for people and the planet while also enabling us to generate sustainable, long-term profit that will support these efforts. An easy-to-understand sustainability framework, coupled with a collective willingness to create change, could ensure that the digital products and services we create serve all stakeholders, are built ethically and securely, and align with larger global sustainable development goals.

BUSINESS VERSUS SUSTAINABILITY

I’m part of an agency-owners Facebook group that has nearly 4,000 members. These business leaders range from small startups to established companies with dozens of employees and many years in business. Their services include advertisement management and conversion rate optimization, website and UX design, content strategy, SEO, and software development.

Most questions shared with the
group relate to business practices:
project management, lead generation,
best tools for accomplishing x, y, or z,
and so on. Many posts receive a healthy
number of comments, but after a year
in the group, I noticed that though
everyone loved talking about their
businesses, few discussed mission,
purpose, or a desire to create positive
change in the world.
Curious about how others
communicated these things, I posted a
question to the group:
How do you all align your work with
a bigger picture, higher purpose, etc.? If
someone asked you what your mission was,
how do you ans wer?
After two days, the post received
four responses, the most compelling of
which was:
Get to retirement without being
replaced by a robot.
Hmm… Looking for more clarity, I
asked in another post:
Have any of you put specific
sustainability policies or practices in
place to address climate change or other
environmental issues?
Crickets. No response at all.
I’ve tried inciting similar
conversations in other online industry
groups, but unless said group is
specifically centered around change
making or social/environmental
impact, few want to discuss