Personalized marketplace with business footprint calculation and expert recommendations
Client
Date
Role
MosCoW
Overview
ESGentle is a platform connecting companies in the ESG space with top cleantech providers, addressing the challenge of finding climate solutions efficiently.
The Problem
Corporations and mid-size companies face a challenge in finding cost-effective climate solutions to achieve high ESG ratings. They must navigate complex, time-consuming research, unclear CO₂ data, high consultation costs, and increasing regulations, which delay environmental action.
Solution
Over the course of 7 months, we launched a climate tech marketplace, developed a concept for a footprint calculator, and created personalized recommendations, helping users reduce GHG (greenhouse gas) emissions without the need for costly consultants.
My Role
In a team of seven, I worked on creating personalized recommendations using business footprint calculations. Collaborating with the ESGentle founder, an ESG advisor, a software engineer, a QA analyst, and two designers, I contributed to the marketplace, catalog, checkout, product pages, and other interface elements.
Results overview
View Prototype
research
Market Research
The global climate sustainability market is expected to reach USD 41.62 billion by 2028, growing at 20.3% annually.
Emerging online marketplaces equipped with personalized and analytical tools are expected to become essential resources for businesses in the coming years.
These platforms will play a key role in carbon emissions reduction strategies.
Competitive Analysis
The startup gathered the team to build such a platform.
Personally I analyzed 6+ competitors to understand their visual design patterns for cart, product and list pages.
Regarding footprint calculators I analyzed 13 competitors to understand industry standards, gaps.
The bad
No reliable marketplace with sufficient carbon solutions.
Lack of transparency, accountability, and guidance for companies.
Calculations results are limited and ambiguous.
No assistance with understanding information.
Only 15% of compared calculators use 3 Scopes of emissions with details that can give precise results.
The good
There are many marketplaces with carbon credits. Most of them have an easy flow and are user friendly.
Many individual footprint or simple business calculators are free on the most of platforms.
Some competitors provide educational content related to sustainable practices.
Mini User Interviews
Due to a lack of budget for research and difficulties connecting with ESG officers, I initiated participation in the SF Climate Week 2023 networking event.
This allowed me to engage directly with nine potential users from our target audience, providing a unique and cost-free opportunity to gather valuable insights.
At the same time, another team member conducted an online survey targeting individuals interested in sustainable living, broadening our understanding with additional data and perspectives.
What is the most important factor for you in the work with the sustainable climate solutions?
Target Audience
Based on research and stakeholders interview we identified 3 main roles for users of our platform:
Solution buyers
They include corporations, government agencies, SMEs, and eco-conscious consumers, driven by regulatory compliance, cost savings, and environmental responsibility.
Solution providers
They include companies in renewable energy, energy efficiency, and environmental consulting, offering services and products to help reduce environmental impact.
Offset vendors
These include organizations like Climate Action Reserve that certify and sell credits from renewable energy, reforestation, and other emission-reduction projects.
Our initial research revealed that many in our target audience struggle to find marketplaces for verified climate solutions, calculate emissions data, and addressing ESG concerns.
Conceptualization
Climate Tech Marketplace
Defining pain points
Using the available data, I applied a CJM to analyze the user journey and pain points on every step of the purchase and define the user requirements for our platform. By focusing on client priorities, we mapped the journey of sustainable solution buyers.
By extracting pain points, we identified possible solutions to address them.
Key User Pain Points
Possible solutions
Time constraints for learning & research
Sustainability catalog:
One place with B2B climate solutions
Uncertain and fragmented diverse market
Search and navigation complexity
Search functionality: Advanced filters
Solution categories
Affordability and solutions access
Pricing transparency: Costs or it’s range
Subscription plans
Solutions prioritization
Based on meetings with stakeholders, brainstorming sessions, and gathered information, we created a MoSCoW analysis to prioritize all the ideas.
Collaborative design direction
I initiated the Sticky Decision technique by anonymously sharing our work in a document, creating a heatmap for voting on the best design solutions, and discussing the highlights. The founder, acting as the Decider, made the final call using a supervote. Our tasks included the Landing Page, Marketplace List, Cart, Registration, etc.
Personalized CO2 Solutions
Integrating calculator and recommendations
I developed a Personalized Recommendation feature based on an advanced user calculations. The foundation was a corporate Excel calculator previously used by customers to estimate their CO₂ business emissions. To enhance the user experience, I designed a user flow and integrated the feature into the website.
To include recommendations on the website, I needed emission numbers from the calculator.
I sketched several initial ideas, which were revised multiple times before creating the first digital wireframes.
After the first digital version, I made 2 iterations.
First wireframes
design iteration
Addressing User Challenges
Delving into the climate tech realm and analyzing user feedback allowed us to process numerous examples and insights, leading to iterative design improvements for the marketplace. After other team members left, I independently conducted the second usability study and iteration, focusing on finalizing the personalized recommendations feature. Here are some screens from the last iteration:
Testing
Prototype Validation
Users need more details
to trust provider
Colors should be more accessible
Moderated Usability Study
I conducted a usability study with 6 participants, and extracted and prioritized insights:
Priority 1
Unresponsive interactive elements
Uncertainty about scope’s data
Results are hard to interpret
Overwhelming comparison details
Invisible delegation option
Priority 2
Priority 3
Gestalt principles are broken
Delegation pop-up disrupts flow
Uncertainty regarding bureaucracy
Confirmation steps are too fast
Unclear if the account is free
Results and reflection
Guiding buyers in climate tech solutions
Online purchase of carbon credit products
Advanced detailed analytics based on 3 scopes
Delegating or sharing data collection tasks with colleagues
Project Outcome
We built the MVP from scratch to create the marketplace and showcase it to investors through demos.
5
Contracts for Marketplace placement were signed after the 1st release launch.
25
Vendors
are finalizing contracts by the end of Q2.
40%
Buyer trust increased after the second usability test compared to the first.
News about ESGentle Marketplace Launch was published in famous web fintech journal MarketWatch and we increased recognition of this Startup in Climate Industry of the SF Bay Area.
Lessons Learned
I learned how to
identify key components for project initiation and incorporate my project management skills,
effectively collaborate with team and use some of the sprint techniques,
work in fast-paced evolving startup environment with changing product requirements,
enhance product through design iterations, incorporating user and stakeholder feedback to deliver value,
organize our design with design system, and increase speed of work with Figma plugins,
articulate decisions, present the work for stakeholders,
perform a developer hand-off,
combine knowledge of new climate tech and e-commerce domains.
What Would I Do Differently
Prioritize flow for solution providers.
Simplify onboarding for solution providers, enabling easier management of their listings.
Standardize documents and agreements for consistency.
Include region-specific contracts and agreements to ensure compliance with local regulations and streamline onboarding.
Automate data collection. Create a tool to automate data collection, reducing errors and boosting efficiency.
Revise online sales and installation process. Streamline the process from purchase to installation with clear communication and updates.
Enhance website security. Implement advanced security measures like multi-factor authentication to enhance trust and protect data.
Use Lean UX Canvas and Agile.
References
To see updated sitemap visit the SiteMap (jpg)
Check the evolution of User Flow for Recommendations with Calculator | (jpg)
Learn more about collaborative Competitive Analysis (jpg)
View my affinity diagram and analysis in Insights after the 2d usability study (jpg)
Discover all founded pain points and solution ideas visiting Problem-Solution document (jpg)
Explore my Customer Journey Map (jpg)
