The 'Trojan Horse' Strategy for Sustainable Service Design / James Chudley / Ep. #230

Let's be honest, unfortunately not many business truly cares about sustainable services... The energy debate around AI is finally highlighting digital services' environmental impact. But every service, digital or physical, consumes resources: energy, materials, and even our time. As service designers, we have a moral obligation to design with sustainability at the core.This episode tackles the real challenges: clients not asking, defining "sustainable," and measuring impact. Our guest, James Chudley, shares key lessons and real-world examples from his journey, showing how he integrates sustainability into daily design.Discover what it really takes to design services that are better for customers, better for business, and better for our planet. Plus, uncover a deceptively simple design principle that guarantees more sustainable services.Can you guess what it is? The clue is in this episode.Keep making a positive impact on customers, business, and our planet!--- [ 1. GUIDE ] --- 00:00 Welcome to Episode 23005:00 How to define sustainable service07:30 Are services sustainable?12:00 James' unique journey16:00 The Pivotal Decision22:00 Integrating Sustainability27:00 The power of minimizing30:30 Navigating Stakeholder Talks33:00 can we justify unsustainable services?34:40 From Sustainable to Regenerative35:30 Case Study: Circle Community38:15 Non-Digital Touchpoints39:57 Avoiding Measurement Paralysis43:30 Adding a "Sustainability Lane" to Journey Maps48:30 Principles42:00 Mental energy47:30 Community Design Principle Example54:30 Accessibility in Sustainable Design55:30 Sustainability as Personal Practice57:30 the trojan horse58:30 First Steps for Inspired Designers1:00:90 Resources1:02:00 Question to ponder --- [ 2. LINKS ] --- Connect with James Chudley:https://www.linkedin.com/in/jameschudley/http://www.jameschudley.co.uk/ James' 'Decarbonising User Journeys' approach to help you pragmatically decarbonise your highest value user journeysDecarbonising User Journeys @ UXGlasgow (Talk)Digital Sustainability Strategy template to help you build a clear, actionable plan for how you are going to minimise the environmental impacts of your digital services Simple Steps You Can Take To Decarbonise Your User JourneysThe principles for the design and delivery of greener servicesBooks:You Can't Make Money From a Dead Planet - Mark ShaylerDesigning for Sustainability - Tim FrickSustainable Web Design - Tom GreenwoodLet My People Go Surfing - Yvon ChouinardDecarbonise Digital - Eric ZieHow To Avoid A Climate Disaster - Bill Gates The Climate Book - Greta Thunberg World Wide Waste - Gerry McGovernClimate product leaders playbook Other Helpful Online Resources:https://sustainablewebdesign.org/https://sustainableuxnetwork.com/ https://www.sustainablewebmanifesto.com/https://designdeclares.com/ W3C Web Sustainability GuidelinesGDS Design PrinciplesGDS Service ManualTalktoFrank - The Government drugs advice websiteGreen Web FoundationWebsite Carbon CalculatorEcograderCardamon Website Carbon Calculator --- [ 3. CIRCLE ] --- Join our private community for in-house service design professionals. ⁠https://servicedesignshow.com/circle