Drive action for decarbonization
Product visioning: Workspace for analyzing emissions and planning supplier engagement.
MY ROLE
Lead Product Designer
TIMELINE
2 months | 2024
TEAMMATES
1 Product manager
Impact
Increased sales
Increased customer satisfaction
The problem
To support companies in their journey toward decarbonization, Optera's product needed to go beyond measuring emissions — it had to actively enable action towards decarbonization.
The ultimate goal of carbon accounting is to help enterprises decarbonize. With the foundation for emissions accounting in place, the next challenge was to define what decarbonization would look like.
There were many potential directions, so we needed to understand the landscape, identify the key components, and prioritize what to build first. Our goal was to deliver essential decarbonization functionality that would meet immediate client needs and support client retention.
Research
1
Sales interview
5
Services interviews
2
Customer interviews
A lot
User tests
What are competitors doing?
Throughout the project, I studied Optera's competitors—drawing inspiration from their information architecture and analyzing how they approached supplier engagement in the context of decarbonization.
Key insight
Most competitors separated supplier analysis from supplier action, creating a fragmented experience. I saw an opportunity to differentiate Optera’s product by reimagining this flow as a seamless journey. By helping users identify emissions hotspots and take immediate action within the same experience, we could create a more intuitive, efficient, and impactful solution.
Ideation
Following initial internal interviews, I created a mid-fidelity vision to explore the direction of the product. I shared the vision with consultants and we narrowed our focus to a workspace for analyzing emissions and planning supplier engagement.
This workspace would eventually become part of a larger supplier engagement module, including features like task management and messaging. With a clear direction, I prototyped and iterated based on feedback from both customers and consultants to refine the experience.
Key insight
As I explored design directions, I realized this feature wouldn’t just support our primary users—sustainability managers—it also needed to resonate with their internal stakeholders. For the tool to be effective, it had to communicate complex carbon data in a way that was clear, compelling, and accessible to audiences less familiar with sustainability. This insight shaped my approach to storytelling, ensuring the experience could bridge knowledge gaps and drive cross-functional alignment.
The solution
Our research revealed that the core purpose of supply chain emissions analysis is to identify which suppliers to engage with. In response, I designed a flexible workspace for analyzing emissions and planning supplier engagement. The solution not only energized existing customers, but also became a valuable tool in the sales process—sparking interest and enthusiasm among potential clients.
Supplier insights
Quickly access key insights to inform and guide your supplier engagement strategy.
Filters
Prioritize suppliers with ease by filtering based on the most relevant criteria.
Tags
Organize suppliers into custom groups using tags to support a workflow that fits your planning needs.
Year over year emissions
Track supplier emissions over time and compare progress against reduction targets to stay on course.
Kelsey Pintens
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