This week, Fruggr (which offers an advanced digital footprint assessment tool for companies), launches its public app to measure its carbon and social footprint on smartphone. With the help of the Brittany Region, this first version was created with the aim to offering a personal tool to measure one's impact from a responsible digital perspective. At a time when climate change and pollution are on everyone's lips and measurement tools are not available to everyone, making this educational tool accessible to the greatest number of people is a contribution to the ecological and energy transition. Behind an assumed retro style hides a message : frugality (or sobriety) can rhyme with pleasure. To dig a little deeper into the concept, we interviewed Franck Valadier, Chief Experience Officer and Ronan Robe, co-founder and director of operations at Digital4Better, so that they could explain to us what is behind the conception of Fruggr app.
Question : Can you tell us about the ecodesign behind Fruggr app?
F. Valadier : We could describe Fruggr app as retroactive app ! Without measure, no real improvements are possible. We are certain that we need to materialize an impact in order to understand its scope, but we are also convinced that without empathy, there would be no success. So we designed Fruggr app as a retro-looking application, which is not yet perfect, but which already carries all our convictions. Driven by the desire to produce a design with impact (purpose by desing), we quickly chose a playful and vintage interface, that is intended, beyond the reference to the first video games, an intergenerational link that speaks to everybody. Simple, colorful and accessible, it reflects our desire to apply positive psychology to the experience, because eco-design does not prevent us from being positive and creative. Impact design challenges the need to be trendy, to have more and more effects, content, functionalities or technology. Here, the respect of personal data comes at the design stage. The need to have usage information becomes a transparent interaction through declarative tests, good uses to adopt, a list of tips without condescension and for the implementation, challenges between friends will be soon available.
Why is retro a conscious choice?
Nostalgia has always been a strong vector of mobilization. It's also a reaction to an industry that is often asceptized and uniform, to avoid the fear to schok or divide people. Modernity often appears cold and sleek, because it is precisely marked by a desire for change, drived by an imaginary free from the current or past codes.
The future is also the expression of a fear to which vintage responds
What are the perspectives in face of these repeated economic and political crises, this ambient insecurity which characterizes the new generations in front of a predicted climate catastrophe ?
Using ancient codes aims to propose something reassuring, refuge values. Drawing from one's roots is anchoring oneself in the present, build a bridge between generations threw a common vision.
It is a way to become unique, different and sought after.
Nothing new under the sun, the reinterpretation of the codes of the past is an eternal pillar of modernity. Rid of the common trends adopted by all, a way to offer a unique, differentiating and empathetic experience.
How is Fruggr application eco-designed ?
Reclaiming the less is more trend
For several years now, digital design has been focused on simplification, both to meet the challenges of functional complexity and performance. However, the codes of the past were already responding to these issues for reasons of constraints (mainly technical). Proposing a design from the first digital visual codes, enhanced by inclusion criteria such as the accessibility and inclusion (WCAG), is in fact ensuring a simplicity of design that meets the current eco-design criteria.
Back to basics
In response to the technological overbidding of the moment (web3, metaverse, VR, NFT...), coming back to basics is popular with millennials : simple display games as well (Roblox, minecraft, indie games...), while this same target group has troubled feelings concerning the impact of digital technology.
What are the criterias to declare this application energy efficient ?
Ronan Robe : We focused on embedding all content within the app, rather than running servers to deliver so-called "cold" content, in order to have a triple impact :
- A better performing app...no waiting time to load content
- A reduced environmental footprint
- A reduced workload
We have also been very careful to ensure that the app was compatible with older devices. We did not use any particular framework, but many of them. We used common sense and the 3U rule to design and develop only what would be Useful, Used and Usable. The technique is secondary with digital responsibility, it is only a tiny part of the impact. Using a framework is helpful to ask yourself a few questions, to avoid forgetting one or two subjects, but the most important is to think about the user experience, to find the right balance between respecting good practices and serving an objective (here: to aware the most largest number of people possible of the criterias for a more responsible digital world).
Were you inspired by an existing application ?
Ronan Robe : Some apps are close to ours in their will to raise awareness on the digital impacts (for example, Bouygues' app), but no particular inspiration (apart from the 80's design).
Conclusion : Digital efficiency does not rhyme with austerity, but can be associated with pleasure
Through Fruggr app, we are convinced that entering an in era of digital frugality can be done gently and with a smile. Not taking everything at face value means respecting others in their humanity, their social situation, their motivation and their possibilities to change, without pressure, because the digital transition is also about inclusion !
An application to discover on this website ( app.fruggr.io) rated 90/100 in terms of impact, or directly on App Store.
#Challengetonempreinte (Challenge your footprint), is the idea that is launched today on social networks, to allow everyone to start the marathon of sobriety. A fun way to understand digital with positive impact. Come measure your score and share your impact with the Fruggr community!
Author : Marie-Christine Aubin