Public Sector Greenhouse Gas (GHG) Reporting

I led a service design initiative to visualize the reporting workflow and experience of public sector employees, shaping the decision-making for an emissions reporting tool.

• Service Design Consultant
• Government
• Q3 2023 - Q1 2024

Backstory

As a long-term effort to achieve carbon neutrality, a regional government had mandated that public sector organizations report their yearly greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in order to be offset. Yet the process of reporting was difficult for many organizations, especially those that lacked dedicated staff and resources for this kind of detailed and technical reporting.

Goals

• Visualize the reporting workflow and experience of public sector employees using a government emissions reporting tool
• Conduct a series of interviews with public sector organizations and local governments
• Facilitate an online workshop with additional public sector organizations

Key Challenges

• Difficult process of submitting data about fuel and paper consumption
• Few organizations had dedicated staff to manage reporting
• Software adoption hurdles
• Software workarounds needed to get the job done

My Role

I was contracted as a Service Design Consultant to develop a research and delivery plan that would result in recommendations to the broader government program team. Aftering testing the tool and reviewing past feedback surveys, I led the recruitment of 16 research participants and 10 workshop participants for online interviews to learn more about the process, issues, and workarounds associated with emissions reporting. After synthesizing the data, I delivered various artifacts including a report, service blueprint, and executive presentation.

A Few Key Learnings

1. Because greenhouse gas reporting only happens once a year, it was easy to forget how the software worked. Having to re-learn the same steps every year felt frustrating. Updated manuals and human support were key to easing the onboarding process.
2. It was often a single person who carried the burden of reporting even though it was not their official job role. Having a way to recognize their efforts could provide a better incentive around data reporting. The emissions tool should also automate as much of the proess as possible.
3. Even though the emissions reporting tool wasn't the most intuitive to use, some organizations had developed interesting workarounds to get the job done.

Outcome

I had the opportunity to present a range of insights and recommendations to the executive team that shaped decision-making of the reporting tool.