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Summary
If you’re interested in seeing the impact user experience designers can have on products tackling climate change, please join us for a free “show and tell” session. Moderated by Michael Leggett, we’ll hear from Manos Saratsis from Station A, Marissa Cui from MIT, and Rachel He from Stripe. They’ll recount the problems, their design solutions, and what they learned along the way.
Key Insights
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Frontier uses an Advanced Market Commitment model inspired by vaccine development to catalyze carbon removal funding.
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There is a fundamental tension in design between creating emotionally compelling narratives and providing dense, actionable data for experts.
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Carbon removal technology is expensive and in early stages, requiring catalytic investments from buyers like Stripe and Frontier.
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Stripe Climate targets SMBs who want to contribute to carbon removal but have limited climate expertise and resources.
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Making complex carbon removal impact data relatable (e.g., equating CO2 removal to driving or flying metrics) improves user engagement.
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Station A employs patented AI to grade buildings’ clean energy potential using only address input, lowering barriers to entry.
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Familiar interfaces like spreadsheets help users integrate new climate tech tools into existing workflows.
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Refreshing and updating data over time keeps users engaged and helps them track building decarbonization progress.
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Visual storytelling enhances trust and excitement by connecting users directly to funded climate projects and technologies.
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Providing users with sharable, customizable climate impact narratives supports advocacy and internal stakeholder engagement.
Notable Quotes
"The real value is getting to hear from each other and demystifying what’s possible and what’s going on."
"I always want to see the work, the design iterations, not just the finished product."
"Carbon removal is necessary to hit climate goals because reducing emissions alone won’t be enough."
"There’s a tension between showing urgency emotionally and delivering detailed data practically in one product."
"Most traditional offsets go for five to ten dollars per ton; we spent up to seven seventy-five to catalyze new solutions."
"Users want to feel that their dollars are making a difference and want clear storytelling about their impact."
"We built a carbon removal dashboard that turned complex data into immersive stories accessible to general audiences."
"You don’t need a lot of upfront data; we predict energy usage with AI from just a building’s address."
"We meet users where they are by integrating with tools they already know, like spreadsheets."
"The key is leading with simplicity and educating users over time to create lasting value."
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