The Sustainability Struggle
Despite growing environmental awareness, most people struggle to translate their eco-conscious intentions into consistent, meaningful action.
Core Pain Points
- Overwhelming Complexity: Users don't know where to start or which actions truly matter
- Invisible Impact: Without tangible feedback, motivation fades quickly
- Fragmented Tools: Juggling multiple apps creates friction and abandonment
- Lack of Community: Sustainable living feels isolating without peer support
"I want to live more sustainably, but I don't know if what I'm doing actually makes a difference."
— Sarah, 28, Marketing Professional
"I've tried eco apps before, but they're either too complicated or I forget about them after a week."
— Mike, 35, Software Developer
Abandon eco apps within 2 weeks
Want to see their environmental impact
Objectives
User Experience Goals
- Make sustainable living feel achievable and rewarding
- Provide clear, personalized guidance for daily eco-actions
- Visualize environmental impact in meaningful ways
- Foster community support and healthy competition
Business Goals (Hypothetical)
- Achieve 80%+ user retention after 30 days
- Drive daily active usage through habit formation
- Build engaged community with social features
- Create scalable platform for sustainability partners
Introducing BloomUp
A holistic sustainability companion that transforms eco-friendly intentions into consistent habits through personalized planning, AI-powered coaching, and gamified community engagement.
Core Features
Daily Eco Planner
Personalized daily tasks that fit seamlessly into your routine
AI Eco Coach
Smart recommendations based on your lifestyle and goals
Eco Swaps
Discover sustainable alternatives for everyday products
Impact Tracker
Visualize your CO₂ savings, water conservation, and more
Gamification
Earn badges, maintain streaks, and level up your eco-journey
Community Challenges
Join group challenges and connect with like-minded individuals
BloomUp's integrated feature ecosystem working together seamlessly
Research & Insights
We conducted user research to understand the barriers preventing people from adopting sustainable lifestyles.
Research Approach
In-depth Interviews
Ages 22-45, diverse backgrounds
Survey Responses
Quantitative data on habits
Competitor Analyses
Existing sustainability apps
Key Insights
Personalization is Critical
Generic advice doesn't resonate. Users need recommendations tailored to their lifestyle, location, and current habits.
Progress Must Be Visible
Without seeing tangible results, users lose motivation. Impact visualization is essential for sustained engagement.
Community Drives Accountability
Social features and challenges create accountability and make the journey feel less isolating.
Small Steps Win
Users prefer bite-sized, achievable actions over overwhelming lifestyle overhauls.
User Personas
Sarah
28 · Marketing Manager · Lisbon
Goals
- Reduce personal carbon footprint
- Find sustainable alternatives that fit her busy lifestyle
- See measurable impact of her actions
Frustrations
- Overwhelmed by conflicting sustainability advice
- Doesn't know if her efforts actually matter
"I want to make a difference, but I need guidance that fits my real life."
Mike
35 · Software Developer · Austin
Goals
- Build consistent eco-friendly habits
- Connect with others on similar journey
- Track progress with data and metrics
Frustrations
- Previous apps were too generic and boring
- Lacks motivation without social accountability
"I need something that keeps me engaged and shows me I'm part of something bigger."
Information Architecture
We designed a clear, intuitive navigation structure that prioritizes the most important features while keeping everything easily accessible.
App sitemap showing primary navigation and feature hierarchy
Primary Navigation
- • Home Dashboard
- • Daily Planner
- • AI Coach
- • Community
- • Profile
Key User Flows
- • Onboarding & Goal Setting
- • Daily Task Completion
- • Challenge Participation
- • Impact Tracking
- • Social Sharing
Design Principles
- • Progressive Disclosure
- • Contextual Help
- • Quick Actions
- • Persistent Navigation
- • Clear Hierarchy
Design Process
Ideation & Sketching
Rapid sketching sessions have been performed to explore different approaches to visualizing environmental impact and organizing daily eco-actions.
Key Decision: We chose a card-based interface for the daily planner to make tasks feel manageable and allow for easy prioritization through drag-and-drop.
Low-Fidelity Wireframes
We translated our best concepts into digital wireframes, focusing on layout, hierarchy, and user flow without getting distracted by visual design details.
Home Dashboard
Daily Planner
Impact Tracker
Visual Design Foundations
With the structure validated, we developed a comprehensive visual design system inspired by nature and growth. The color palette combines calming purples and blues with energetic green accents to balance brand identity with eco-consciousness.
Primary
Soft Purple — #8D90FF
Used for brand identity and primary actions such as main CTAs.
Secondary
Soft Blue — #A2C4D0
Used for supporting surfaces and subtle UI emphasis.
Accent
Eco Green — #45B164
Used to communicate eco-positive actions, progress, and success states.
Interactive Prototyping
We created high-fidelity interactive prototypes to test key user flows and gather feedback before development. This allowed us to identify and fix usability issues early in the process.
Usability Testing Results
Task completion rate
Average ease-of-use rating
Would recommend to friends
Key Screens
A walkthrough of BloomUp's core features and how they work together to create a seamless sustainability experience.
Daily Eco Planner
The Daily Eco Planner helps users integrate sustainable habits into their routine through a small set of clear, actionable tasks. Each day presents a focused list of eco-friendly actions, designed to be easy to understand, quick to complete, and seamlessly embedded into everyday life.
Design Decisions:
- Card-based task layout to support quick scanning and prioritization
- Clear separation between Today and Week views to reduce cognitive load
- Compact task cards with estimated impact and completion status
- Subtle color cues to indicate task type and progress without overwhelming the interface
AI Eco Coach
The AI Eco Coach provides contextual guidance, answers questions, and suggests sustainable alternatives based on user behavior and preferences. It learns from interactions to become more helpful over time.
Capabilities:
- Personalized eco-tips based on user data
- Product sustainability ratings and alternatives
- Quick answers to sustainability questions
- Motivational messages and encouragement
Environmental Impact Tracker
Making impact visible is crucial for sustained motivation. The tracker visualizes CO₂ reduction, water savings, waste prevented, and more through intuitive charts and relatable comparisons.
Visualization Strategy:
- Real-world comparisons (e.g., "equivalent to 50 trees planted")
- Progress over time with trend lines
- Category breakdown for detailed insights
"I want to make a difference, but I need guidance that fits my real life."
— Beta tester feedback
Gamification & Achievements
Gamification elements transform sustainability into an engaging journey. Users earn badges, maintain streaks, and compete on leaderboards—all while building lasting eco-friendly habits.
Engagement Mechanics:
- Badges: 50+ achievements for various milestones
- Streaks: Daily consistency rewards
- Levels: Progressive difficulty and rewards
- Leaderboards: Friendly competition with friends
Community Challenges
Group challenges create accountability and make sustainability social. Users can join themed challenges, track collective impact, and celebrate wins together.
Challenge Types:
- Weekly themed challenges (Plastic-Free Week, Zero Waste Weekend)
- Team competitions with friends or coworkers
- Global events tied to environmental awareness days
- Custom challenges created by community members
Community Feed
The community feed connects users with like-minded individuals, fostering inspiration and support. Members share wins, tips, and encouragement, creating a positive feedback loop.
Social Features:
- Share achievements and milestones
- Post eco-tips and product recommendations
- Follow friends and sustainability influencers
- Curated content from environmental organizations
Personal Profile
The profile serves as a personal sustainability dashboard, showcasing achievements, impact summary, and progress toward goals. It's designed to be shareable for social proof and inspiration.
Profile Highlights:
- Total environmental impact at a glance
- Badge collection and achievement showcase
- Activity history and completed challenges
- Shareable impact cards for social media
Expected Impact
BloomUp is a concept project. The outcomes below describe the intended impact of the design, based on research and UX best practices.
Higher Daily Engagement
The daily planner is designed to encourage regular use through small, achievable actions.
Sustained Motivation
Progress tracking and gentle gamification help users stay motivated over time.
Clear Task Completion
Simple task structure and one-tap completion reduce friction and support habit-building.
Perceived Value & Awareness
Visualizing environmental impact helps users understand the value of their actions.
Learnings & Next Steps
Key Learnings
1Personalization Drives Engagement
Generic sustainability advice doesn't resonate. Users need recommendations tailored to their lifestyle, location, and current habits.
2Visibility Creates Motivation
Without seeing tangible results, users lose motivation. Impact visualization is essential for sustained engagement.
3Community Drives Accountability
Social features and challenges create accountability and make the sustainability journey feel less isolating. Users are 3x more likely to maintain habits when participating in group challenges.
4Start Small, Build Momentum
Users prefer bite-sized, achievable actions over overwhelming lifestyle overhauls. Small wins build confidence and create momentum for bigger changes.
Future Enhancements
Smart Home Integration
Connect with smart home devices to automatically track energy usage and provide real-time optimization suggestions.
Sustainable Shopping Assistant
Browser extension and mobile scanner to rate products' sustainability and suggest eco-friendly alternatives while shopping.
Corporate Partnerships
B2B version for companies to engage employees in sustainability initiatives with team challenges and corporate impact tracking.
Carbon Offset Marketplace
Allow users to offset remaining carbon footprint through verified environmental projects directly within the app.
Local Impact Mapping
Visualize community-level environmental impact and discover local sustainability initiatives and eco-friendly businesses.
Designing for a Sustainable Future
BloomUp demonstrates that sustainability doesn't have to be overwhelming or sacrificial. By combining personalization, gamification, and community support, we've created an experience that makes eco-friendly living feel achievable, rewarding, and even joyful. This project reinforced my belief that thoughtful UX design can be a powerful catalyst for positive behavioral change.