Discover Mindfully

19. Anticipate consequences

Anticipate consequences

Why does it matter?

Technological innovation is powerful on a large scale, and it demands responsibility. It’s important to remember that digital is physical. The production of devices to host and run software includes mineral extraction, population displacement, water pollution from the filtration process of minerals, manufacturing, transportation, and more. Digital products also affect user behavior. Also, a digital transaction may represent the exchange of physical goods, such as in an e-commerce transaction.

We cannot create new products without considering their impact on people, the economy, society, and the environment. Sustainable design is essential for addressing the climate emergency, maintaining a competitive business edge, and moving toward a regenerative society. Consequence scanning is essential during the discovery phase. It helps you identify potential gaps, risks, and unintended consequences of your digital product at an early stage.

What can I do?

  • Check out these handy toolkits: The Tarot Cards of Tech or Consequences Scanning to identify the impact and consequences (intended and unintended) of your feature, product or service on the environment and society.

  • Use the 9 planetary boundaries to structure your thinking about environmental consequences.

  • Investigate all lifecycle phases from deployment, usage, and retirement, both from your organization and third-party services (also called Digital Lifecycle Assessment).

  • Identify unknowns and blockers.

  • Understand the control and influence you have over identified negative consequences.

  • Perform a Value Chain Analysis (VCA).

  • Consider stopping a feature or product’s discovery, delivery, or availability if sizable negative consequences are unavoidable.

  • Avoid/mitigate negative consequences and acknowledge & optimize the positive consequences.

  • Think about the forces shaping your product’s future on a long-term horizon (e.g. 30 years) using the acronym STEEPLED — Social, Technological, Economic, Environmental, Political, Legal, Ethical and Demographic.

  • Leverage an “Externality Matrix (FR)” to avoid 1) anthropocentric vision (or user-centric vs. environment/ multiple actors) ; 2) short-term imperatives for design.

What does success look like?

  • 🌍 Collective efforts to gauge and reduce ecological footprints

  • 💰 Employee retention reflecting a positive and sustainable work environment

  • 🌍💰 A clearly articulated vision and mission underscoring commitment to societal and global challenges

Things to consider

We recommend you scan consequences during the kickoff of a new project and as part of the definition of ready (DOR) before sprint planning. Always remember to collaborate with diverse key stakeholders to maximize your chances to identify more potential consequences.

If you don’t have much time to invest in this activity, hiring sustainability experts can be an option if you have a budget. Type “climate job boards” into your preferred search engine, and you’ll find dozens of sites to post your needs.

"Mindful product design means thinking about how what we create affects the world beyond just the bottom line.”

—Tim Brown, CEO of IDEO

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