Designers: Climate career transition

Can Any Designer Become a Climate Designer? Yes—but here’s what it takes.

The climate crisis demands action from every industry, and design is no exception. There’s a vast amount of work to be done to create products and experiences that can meaningfully impact lives and accelerate climate solutions.

If you’re a communications, brand, website or UX designer working in another sector, you might wonder if there’s a place for you in the climate industry. The answer? Absolutely. But to truly make an impact, you’ll need to develop specific skills beyond your design expertise. Here are five key areas to focus on as you transition into the climate industry.

1: Learn Climate Science Foundations

Designing great products and services in climate isn’t just about user experience—it’s about understanding the environmental systems that shape our world. While this might sound intimidating, learning the basics is easier than you think.

Start by familiarizing yourself with core concepts such as greenhouse gases, planetary warming, and their global impacts. Then, dive deeper into specific solutions like renewable energy and sustainable materials.

There’s a lot happening in the climate solutions space, and most solutions might not be as impactful as they appear to be on face value. Understanding foundational concepts helps you identify the ventures doing the real work from the greenwashers.

 The more you understand, the better equipped you’ll be to create solutions that are not just aesthetically pleasing but scientifically sound.

Resources

2: Embrace Data in your Designs

Climate technology is rooted in science, and your designs should be, too. This means learning how to translate complex data into actionable insights, whether that’s simplifying a scientific chart for users or incorporating data-driven recommendations into your features.

Designers in this space must develop fluency in working with numbers and scientific terminology. It’s not just about making things beautiful—it’s about ensuring they are accurate, impactful, and user-friendly.

Think about what metrics and data would be most relevant to end users for decision making. How can data be presented in a way that compels people to take action – not for the betterment of the planet, but for improving a business, reducing costs, increasing performance or even for making the life easier for the buyer/user.

Resources

3: Level Up Your Storytelling

Climate solution services & products must do more than inform—they must inspire action. That’s where storytelling comes in. Your designs should communicate complex environmental challenges in a way that’s clear, compelling, and empathetic.

Striking the right balance is key: you want to convey urgency without triggering climate anxiety. Consider how, when, and why information is presented to ensure users feel empowered rather than overwhelmed.

No matter what your deliverable is, whether it’s a social media post, pitch deck or website. Think about the thought process of your audience – what will move them? Strong narratives. Use story arcs and strong narrative structures to push users towards a climate-positive decision. 

Resources

4. Build Your Climate Community 

If you’re new to designing for climate solutions, it can be overwhelming to know where to start. Climate startups are moving quickly, and many of their clients—whether businesses (B2B) or governments (B2G). This means often navigating black box industries where stakeholders might be harder to reach. 

Designing in climate is highly multidisciplinary, so building trust and working efficiently with non-design stakeholders, including scientists, policymakers, and engineers, is key to success. Finding mentors or joining climate-focused design communities can be a place to learn the language of the climate sector.

Communities

5. Adopt Life-Centered Design

Traditional design often focuses on human-centered solutions. Designing for climate expands that perspective to consider nature, society, and the planet as key stakeholders. This might look like adding environments, natural resources as part of the business model or organizational ecosystem – embedding them into operational plans and thinking about the effects of multiple processes in the long term

Systems thinking is critical here—every design decision has long-term effects. Ask yourself: How will this product or service impact ecosystems in 5, 10, or even 50 years? The best climate designers don’t just optimize for short-term usability; they think about sustainability at every stage of the design process.

Resources

Sure, the planet needs scientists, politicians, and educators to take action. But it needs designers just as much to help communicate the benefits of climate solutions.

Designing for climate solutions offers an opportunity to use your skills for a cause that truly matters. If you’re willing to learn, adapt, and collaborate, you can be part of building a more sustainable future.

Contributors

Akhila Kosaraju is the co-founder of  What if Design, a human-centered digital design studio that elevates the climate movement by designing trust worthy brands, websites and seamless user interfaces. She and her team have worked with multiple US Department of energy backed companies to translate the business value of science – including a carbon capture and utilization technology incubator, venture studio for climate, GHG Emissions sensors, etc., Their team has led prestigious UX design projects for the Ministry of Health of Saudi Arabia, Accel VC, and unicorn startups like TATA 1mg and Pristyn Care.

Know a designer who might be interested in working in climate? Share this with them!

Table Of Contents
  1. 1: Learn Climate Science Foundations
  2. 2: Embrace Data in your Designs
  3. 3: Level Up Your Storytelling
  4. 4. Build Your Climate Community 
  5. 5. Adopt Life-Centered Design