Paper Number
ICIS2025-1496
Paper Type
Short
Abstract
Digital carbon footprint calculators (CFCs) are increasingly offered to individuals to help them manage their carbon footprints. However, these tools have shown to have minimal impact and have many potential shortcomings that are underexplored and remain unresolved. Analyzing preliminary interviews from 18 CFC users and 24 CFC providers comprising designers, executives with regional or national responsibility for sustainability, with supplementary documentation and other supporting evidence, we show that CFCs’ inability to handle temporal complexity is a major issue affecting their effectiveness. Our theory-informed classification shows that CFCs often overlook the complexities of users’ temporal resources, structures, and processes that guide users’ activities. We develop an initial framework for addressing temporal complexity in CFC design to advance the understanding of how to improve CFC design, regulation, and use.
Recommended Citation
Tiilikainen, Sanna and Conboy, Kieran, "Examining Temporal Complexity in Carbon Footprint Calculator Design" (2025). ICIS 2025 Proceedings. 6.
https://aisel.aisnet.org/icis2025/sustain/sustain/6
Examining Temporal Complexity in Carbon Footprint Calculator Design
Digital carbon footprint calculators (CFCs) are increasingly offered to individuals to help them manage their carbon footprints. However, these tools have shown to have minimal impact and have many potential shortcomings that are underexplored and remain unresolved. Analyzing preliminary interviews from 18 CFC users and 24 CFC providers comprising designers, executives with regional or national responsibility for sustainability, with supplementary documentation and other supporting evidence, we show that CFCs’ inability to handle temporal complexity is a major issue affecting their effectiveness. Our theory-informed classification shows that CFCs often overlook the complexities of users’ temporal resources, structures, and processes that guide users’ activities. We develop an initial framework for addressing temporal complexity in CFC design to advance the understanding of how to improve CFC design, regulation, and use.
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04-Sustainability