Google is already using green investments to shift the global economy; The company’s next priority should be using interface design as a tool to help its billion or so customers adopt sustainable behaviours.

Solitaire Townsend’s ‘Letters to Leaders’ on the Guardian (a recent series aimed at transforming big brands) got me thinking about how brands can use design to scale-up sustainable behaviour change – specifically Google. The company has just rolled out the much hyped Google+. There’s some nice stuff in the new offer, but big opportunities were missed. 

Google invests hundreds of millions of dollars in clean energy and backs a host of other sustainability-minded projects such as Google Ventures. This activity has a significant impact on investors and the business community but, with about 1 billion users a month, Google has the chance to shift individual behaviours―at a mass scale and almost in real-time. 

Here are a few ideas for the company (or maybe its competitors!) to consider:

Tapping into the power of Google Maps:

•Imagine if Google Maps automatically defaulted to the walking option rather than driving. This would tap into the power of ‘defaults’ in designing for online environments—built-in change. While the walking option is currently only one click away, web users are usually pressed for time. Defaulting to ‘walk’ would help overcome barriers to adopting the behaviour, pushing people to think twice about how they get from A to B.

•Imagine if Google Maps featured personalised cycling/walking routes—routes that cater to the needs of each user, instead of offering generic options. The interface could feature a slider that allows users to control how quickly they want to reach their destination – from ‘Take the scenic route’ to ‘Get there fast’ and all the options in between. 

•Imagine if more of mapping was crowdsourced and updated live. Users could access real-time information to help each other navigate, from avoiding road construction to finding the nearest communal bike pump. Google could use Maps to connect different users and their knowledge, building up a more deeply valuable resource.

Leveraging the instant social proof of Google+

•Imagine if the gamification of sustainability was built into the core of Google+. People are motivated by social proof—what other people like them think, say, and do. The exact mechanics would need to be worked out carefully (ideas welcome!) but the essence would be getting people to compete with others in their networks to power sustainable behaviour change and share ideas.

The objective here isn’t to work out the details of these ideas, nor is it to single out Google as a laggard on sustainability (they’re ahead of most of their competition, including Apple). The key point is that interface design plays an important role in shaping our behaviours, both on and offline.

We need to get designers and communications professionals to think more about how interface design can scale-up sustainable behaviours. The Internet has already revolutionised the way we live and work—it’s time to think more strategically about the role design has played, and can play, in the transition to a sustainable future.

How else could the re-design of Google’s intefaces encourage behaviour change for sustainability?