Increasing End-Users’ Awareness of the Environmental Impact of Software
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Typ
Examensarbete för masterexamen
Program
Publicerad
2021
Författare
Keller, Anne
Modellbyggare
Tidskriftstitel
ISSN
Volymtitel
Utgivare
Sammanfattning
With the growing energy demand connected to the use of data and more specifically
digital services, there is action required to make the software engineering industry
sustainable both now and in the future. There are different aspects to consider
when talking about sustainable software. Both the aspect of developing sustainable
software as well as how much you as an end-user use the software and thus how
much energy you use.
The goal of this thesis is to find out how it is possible, through software, to
affect end-users to become more aware of the impact they have on the environment
while making use of different software and at the same time make sure that future
software is sustainable.
The method used to reach the goal of the thesis was an exploratory case study.
This consisted of a literature study to create a basis for the survey in the study.
Following, based on the survey results interviews were held to deepen and broaden
the knowledge gained through the survey. Finally, a checklist with suggestions on
how to impact the users of software was put together based on the three previous
steps. This checklist was further validated with help from a focus group.
The literature review resulted in an understanding of the field and previous re search conducted. Following, the survey resulted in an understanding of the charac teristics of the end-users of digital services and software. Moving on, the interviews
resulted in a deeper knowledge and understanding of what the best ways to impact
the end-users to act more sustainable would be. Finally, the general outcome and
contribution of the study was a checklist consisting of suggestions on how to make
end-users awareness of software’s environmental impact increase as well as what to
consider and what not to do in this regard.
It can be concluded that there is a need to raise awareness with end-users of
software for them to act more sustainable. Further, it can be concluded that there
should be information provided to increase this awareness and that this, in turn,
should be based on the end-user’s individual motivators. Overall, it can be concluded
that the most important aspect is to through the provided checklist try and make
the end-users aware that no matter what software they use, it has an impact on the
environment
Beskrivning
Ämne/nyckelord
Sustainability , software engineering , end-users , end-user awareness , sustainable software engineering , sustainable software , exploratory case study , environmental impact , nudging