Bridging Design and Climate Science

Key Insights

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  Climate UX involves translating highly complex and evolving scientific data into usable, understandable formats tailored to different audiences like journalists, scientists, and consumers.

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  Victor Lombardi’s Climate Shift Index uses real-time algorithms to model climate change attribution for weather events, making attribution science accessible for daily media use.

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  Scientists strongly prefer literal, detailed representations of data over metaphorical or simplified visuals, as abstraction can cause mistrust and suspicion.

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  Designing for scientists requires embracing their mental models—frequently based on Excel-like grids and ‘clunky’ graphs—instead of pushing novel visualizations.

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  Ted Booth’s startup uses ambient sensing (monitoring the environment rather than equipment directly) combined with AI to predict HVAC system efficiency and maintenance needs.

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  Invention in climate tech often involves creating new units of measure and visualization approaches, like degrees Fahrenheit per hour to represent HVAC performance.

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  HK emphasizes the role of culture, art, and storytelling alongside science to interpret and react to climate change, as science alone cannot guide human response.

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  Learning to design in scientific domains often requires humility, asking many questions, and grappling with unfamiliar foundational knowledge rather than relying on metaphor.

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  Science prioritizes avoiding false positives (identifying phenomena that don’t exist) over missing some phenomena, which influences how risk and catastrophe are communicated.

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  Designers can provide cultural cover or guardrails that enable scientists to communicate nuanced and complex findings to broader audiences effectively.

Notable Quotes