Role: UX/Product Designer solo Master's Thesis Project
Timeline: October 2025 – June 2026 (9-month thesis, including dissertation)
Tools: Figma
Context: Final thesis project for my Master's in Visual & Experience Design, exploring how behavioral design can turn sustainability intentions into consistent action.
Overview
Earthly is a mobile app that turns sustainable actions into rewards, shifting the goal from tracking carbon footprint to actually changing behavior.
Problem
Many people want to live more sustainably but struggle to turn intention into consistent action:
Sustainable choices often feel inconvenient or unclear
Users lack immediate feedback on their impact
Motivation drops quickly without visible rewards or progress
Most existing apps focus on tracking carbon footprint but fail to influence long-term behavior.
Solution
Many people want to live more sustainably but struggle to turn intention into consistent action:
Sustainable choices often feel inconvenient or unclear
Users lack immediate feedback on their impact
Motivation drops quickly without visible rewards or progress
Most existing apps focus on tracking carbon footprint but fail to influence long-term behavior.
Users
Young urban individuals (15–45) who:
Care about sustainability but struggle with consistency
Live fast-paced lifestyles
Respond well to motivation systems like streaks, rewards, and gamification
Research Methods
I ran a preliminary survey with the 15–45 target group and in-depth interviews with sustainability experts across design, architecture, and retail.
90% of respondents found reward systems effective at driving behavior change. 70% said they don't buy sustainable products due to high prices — a key constraint that shaped Earthly's focus on low-cost, action-based rewards rather than purchase-based ones.
User Personas
Sara, 35, Berlin — Marketing Professional Cares about sustainability and intends to make better choices, but her fast-paced lifestyle makes consistency difficult. She doesn't lack awareness — she lacks motivation and reinforcement.
How Earthly solves this: Action-based rewards give her immediate motivation; progress tracking and streaks help build consistency.
Omar, 28, Berlin — Marketing Professional Aware of sustainability issues but hasn't changed his behavior — finds the topic overwhelming and doesn't know where to start.
How Earthly solves this: Predefined, simple actions remove decision fatigue; gamified rewards keep him engaged without needing to understand the full picture.
Usability Testing
I ran a two-phase usability study comparing a tracking-focused version against a reward-based version, using a realistic scenario (selecting and completing a "Plant a Tree" action with a simulated reward).
Key findings:
10 out of 12 users preferred the reward-based system
11 out of 12 completed the full action flow when a reward was introduced
Engagement time increased significantly in the reward-based flow
This confirmed the core insight driving the redesign: people don't change behavior through awareness alone — they change through motivation and reinforcement. This shifted the concept from "track your carbon footprint" to "build sustainable habits through rewards."
User Flow
To translate these insights into a clear product experience, I mapped a simplified journey from intention to completed action.
Action selection → guided flow → reward → progress tracking.
A simplified journey from action selection to reward and progress tracking.
From Wireframe to Final Screens
The map-first structure carried through to the final design.
Nearby challenges, low-friction navigation between Map, Wallet, and Community, and a clear information hierarchy on each challenge.
(Title → Description → Visual → Reward) to keep the Karma Point reward front and center as the primary motivator.
What‘s Earthly?
Earthly is an application that aims to motivate and encourage users to participate more in sustainable practices and activities.
This can be done easily by allowing the user to participate in these geo-based challanges such as tree planting, waste collection, and less meat consumption to earn Karma Points, which can be used to get discounts from eco-friendly brands.
Profile
Choose your avatar, shape your green identity.
You can choose an avatar to represent yourself in the app. Set your bio to share a little about your eco-style or goals. Together, your avatar and bio make your profile unique and show off your sustainable journey.
Geo-based Challenges
Participate in Daily Eco-Friendly Actions to Earn Karma Points
Karma Points are rewards you earn in Earthly every time you take a sustainable action, like reducing waste, choosing eco-friendly transport, or joining challenges. The more Karma Points you collect, the more you unlock discounts, badges, and impact rewards while tracking your personal contribution to the planet.
Shop & Wallet
Karma in Action: Earn, Save, and Spend for the Planet
Earthly Shop is where you can redeem your Karma Points for eco-friendly rewards — from sustainable products to meal discounts and exclusive green experiences. Every purchase supports ethical brands and helps you live more sustainably.
The Earthly Wallet stores all the coupons you’ve purchased with Karma Points from the Store. Each coupon comes with a unique QR code that you can simply scan at checkout when purchasing from that brand.
Carbon Footprint Calculator
Calculate your Carbon Footprint
Earthly calculates your carbon footprint through a short questionnaire about your lifestyle, travel, and consumption habits. This creates a personalized overview of your environmental impact, helping you understand your daily footprint and make more informed, sustainable choices over time.
Product Scan
Scan & See Your Impact
Earthly lets you scan products in-store to see their environmental impact. The app reads the product’s data and provides a detailed carbon footprint report. This helps you make informed, eco-friendly choices before you buy.
Explore Page
Discover & Go Green
Earthly’s Explore Page lets you discover new eco-friendly actions, challenges, and sustainable brands. Browse content, see trending activities, and find inspiration to reduce your carbon footprint. It’s your hub for learning and connecting with the green community.
Communities & Friends
Connect, Compete, Make an Impact
Earthly lets you connect with like-minded people by joining communities and adding friends. Compare progress on leaderboards, share achievements, and motivate each other to take sustainable actions. Together, you can make a bigger difference for the planet.
Further Development of Earthly
Entering the Carbon Trade Market
Carbon Credit Trading lets companies and governments buy and sell emission permits, allowing those under their limits to sell credits to those exceeding them. The UN Environment Programme (2025) distinguishes between voluntary markets, where companies offset their footprint, and compliance markets, tied to regulations. Earthly targets the voluntary market, empowering individuals and businesses to offset emissions and track their sustainability impact.
Focus on simplicity over complexity
Instead of overwhelming users with environmental data, I prioritized:
clear actions
quick feedback
Low cognitive load
2. Shift from tracking → motivating
Carbon tracking became a supporting feature, not the main experience.
3. Use behavioral psychology principles
Immediate rewards → reinforce actions
Progress tracking → builds habit loops
Small wins → increase long-term engagement
Design Decisions
Testing & Iteration
After refining the concept, I tested an updated prototype with users.
Improvements observed:
Increased engagement with daily actions
Users returned to track progress
Participants described the experience as “motivating” and “easy to stick with”
Designing for Behavior Change
Beyond individual features, the experience is built around a continuous reward loop that reinforces sustainable actions and encourages long-term habit formation.
A continuous cycle designed to reinforce behavior through reward and motivation.
Design System
Typefaces:
K2D Bold and Helvetica Neue, chosen for clarity and approachability.
Sticker Sheet
The Earthly design system is built to create a unified and balanced visual experience that reflects the app’s core mission of sustainability and mindful living. Inspired by natural environments, it uses sea-inspired colors and soft organic tones to evoke calmness, clarity, and a connection to nature. Alongside this visual language, gamification elements are thoughtfully integrated to make sustainable actions more engaging and rewarding, turning everyday habits into meaningful progress. Every component is designed with consistency and intention, ensuring a cohesive system that supports usability while reinforcing Earthly’s purpose: making sustainability intuitive, motivating, and seamlessly part of daily life.
Color Palette
Plant-inspired greens for the sustainability identity, soft beige and white for readability, and vibrant orange accents on challenges to drive action.
Earthly demonstrates how reward systems can influence real behavior change, not just usability. If I took this further, I'd explore real partnerships with local businesses for tangible rewards, add lighter-touch impact tools like a carbon footprint calculator and product scanner, and test long-term retention over several weeks rather than a single scenario. There's also a longer-term direction worth exploring: connecting Earthly to the voluntary carbon credit market, letting individual actions tie into a larger sustainability system rather than staying app-contained.
This project reflects my interest in designing beyond the interface — for motivation, psychology, and long-term engagement, not just usability.
Prototype:https://www.figma.com/proto/wF4qnFx558sexPRfdzJhnS/Earrthlygood?node-id=0-1&t=VlkEr3N1BkCNbG4n-1
Earthly is a conceptual project created for educational purposes. Brand names referenced in the prototype (including Patagonia and others) are used purely as illustrative examples — Earthly has no affiliation, partnership, or endorsement from these brands.
Outcome & Reflection
