Consciously - Company Ratings Browser Extension
Consciously was a browser extension that gave users insight into a company’s practices and ethics at the point of purchase so they could make better-informed decisions about which corporations they were giving their money to – aligning their values with a company’s.
When I came on board, the product was a simple browser extension that provided a company’s status on animal testing. A green rating meant the product was cruelty-free, and a red rating meant it tested on animals. Their plan was to add multiple causes and give users the option to choose which ones they were interested in receiving ratings on, creating a robust information system on the company being viewed.
After overseeing a rebrand, I set out to clarify the UI so that the information we would be providing could be quickly absorbed and acted upon. Thinking about the bigger picture, I needed to ensure this system would accommodate new causes as they were added. I carefully considered and collaborated with our developers to devise a logic framework. This framework successfully dissected our complex data, enabling it to be broken down and seamlessly integrated into a user-friendly UI.
We introduced new causes as we acquired the data, either working with our own research team or ultimately partnering with expert non-profits like ASPCA, Change Climate, and OpenSecrets. Marrying all of this disparate data into a system that was easy to digest and quick to identify for a user was the ultimate goal.
Over the span of three years, our primary UX objectives remained consistent. We aimed to establish a universal rating system applicable to every cause, design a user interface that conveyed essential information while allowing users to delve deeper, and implement a product recommendation system facilitating navigation based on users' alignment with specific values or causes.
