Impact Amplification System
Client: Personal/academic project
Role: Member of team of three professionals/master’s candidates with food manufacturing, agriculture, and civic design backgrounds
Skills: Concept development, landscape analysis, business planning, prototype testing
CHALLENGE
To inspire businesses to reimagine their role in effecting positive social and environmental change.
This project built on earlier research exploring individuals’ and businesses’ perceptions of the role they play in greater environmental and social impact, and what factors impact the choices that can foster positive social outcomes.
My team developed a prototype for a consulting service focused on the role businesses can play in effecting systems-level change by incorporating sustainability into their business decisions, collaborating with peers, and offering consumers better choices.
INSIGHTS
Businesses shared two common reservations about sustainability:
Time - “I’m too busy to think about it”
Customer Apathy - “Customers don’t care, why should I?”
CONCEPT DEVELOPMENT
How might we present sustainability in a way that provides value to time-strapped business owners whose customers aren’t asking for it?
We brainstormed different formats we might use to engage with businesses — educational workshops, coalitions, industry networks — and opted to move forward with a consultancy model.
Looking at the landscape of existing services and potential clients, we identified an opportunity to focus on marketing services within “legacy” industries — those that have a reputation for being some of the most resource-intensive and least innovative.
Our prototypes tested two key assumptions:
Even time-strapped businesses can find time for micro-interventions
Businesses underestimate customer interest in sustainability
PROTOTYPE DEVELOPMENT + TESTING
PROTOTYPE #1: SUSTAINABILITY MICRO-AUDIT
Self-assessment + interview exploring sustainability issues and business goals
We conducted the sustainability micro-audit with five businesses in a range of industries including hospitality, food manufacturing, fashion, and technology.
Key takeaways and learnings:
Businesses can make time for change when the investment required is in micro-increments
Some companies’ sustainability practices are more extensive than what they share with customers
Operational improvements are often constrained by logistics systems that are outside of a single company’s control
PROTOTYPE #2: COMMUNICATIONS CAMPAIGN
Introducing reusable packaging concept via Instagram
Designed to expand social reach while testing the response to sustainability-focused content, we launched a pair of posts for Argentinian beef producer La Julia’s Instagram account, introducing the concept of new zero-waste packaging.
Posts included a small sales incentive for customers who demonstrated interest.
The campaign reached over 1,200 users — 20% from a new audience — and inspired website and profile visits from customers and fellow business owners.
Key takeaways and learnings:
Posts generated “where to buy” inquiries —> positive correlation between sustainability and brand loyalty
Peer brands applauded the move and expressed interest in learning from La Julia’s example
IMPACT + NEXT STEPS
Sustainability micro-consulting in action
One of our project partners, Carolina Bianchi, has taken our lessons learned and implemented a new iteration of the Impact Amplification sustainability consulting system in her own design strategy consultancy, Seamless Studio. Learn more about their offerings here!
Testing business coalitions for systems change
One of the most surprising takeaways from this project was the high degree of interest businesses demonstrated in collaborating with one another — even competitors. An early concept we did not prototype was a peer business network designed to advocate for regulatory changes to improve social and environmental outcomes. Given what we learned, there may be more interest than we assumed in such a network — something I would love to test as a second phase of this project. Reach out if you are interested in collaborating!