Developing the world’s first ethical carbon offsetting product

The world's poorest 3 billion people are responsible for just 7% of the world's carbon emissions. Yet they are living on the frontline of the global climate crisis. As the public becomes ever more aware of the link between the climate crisis and poverty, CARE International wanted to enter the consumer carbon offsetting market with a product focused on its work with poor communities.

CARE International is known for fighting poverty and social injustice in the world’s most vulnerable places. Whilst their work in these communities often has a positive environmental impact - they’re not well known for it. In addition, carbon offset products already existed in the UK market, and were run by more nimble private companies with deeper pockets. They also faced criticism from the likes of Greenpeace regarding their impact on emission reductions. We needed a product that could demonstrably reduce emissions, with a strong USP to capture market share.

The team at Open had already identified a target audience of environmentally conscious younger millennial and gen-z males. We had also decided upon a USP - the most ethical carbon offset product in the world, using only Gold Standard carbon credits, run by one of the world's leading international development charities. The decision was also made to create a new brand, separate from CARE, to provide clarity of message and avoid confusion.

My role was to lead development of the brand and build the product. Following a tried and tested new product development process, I worked with Open’s creative team to create and test multiple brand identities. After deciding on “GenZero”, the full brand identity was developed along with a messaging framework which focused on the USP and “Measure, Reduce, Offset” messaging.

I employed a Scrum framework and managed both the design and development teams through a series of sprints. As a first step I agreed on a technical scope of work, feature and functionality requirements and a site map with the client. I utilised Adobe XD to wireframe the site, before working alongside the digital designer to develop mockups which were signed off by the client prior to build. I then oversaw the build, added content to the site, managed user and functionality testing, implemented analytics and ad platform tracking via google tag manager, and took the site through to launch. The site was built on Laravel and utilised tailwind CSS.

Designed a new one page checkout to optimise conversion rate, and helped Integrate Stripe, Paypal, Google Pay and Apple Pay

Developed and implemented an SEO strategy

Briefed in and oversaw copy and design production for the site and accompanying assets