IFSZero™
Zero-to-one sustainability and emissions platform inside IFS Cloud™.
DESCRIPTION
IFSZero™ is an enterprise sustainability and emissions management experience designed to help organizations capture activity data, calculate emissions, and turn insights into reduction actions within IFS Cloud™.
This work focuses on product strategy, information architecture, and scalable UX foundations for large, multi-entity organizations. Due to confidentiality, only a high-level overview is shared here.
CONTEXT
Enterprise teams face growing pressure to measure and report Scope 1, 2, and 3 emissions while aligning with evolving standards and regulatory frameworks.
IFSZero™ is built to simplify complex data capture and provide a unified sustainability workspace inside an ERP environment, balancing compliance, auditability, and day-to-day usability.
Building sustainability into the DNA of enterprise operations not just a checkbox.
Introduction
IFSZero™ is an enterprise sustainability and emissions management experience built inside IFS Cloud™ the ERP platform powering asset-intensive industries like aerospace, defense, energy, and manufacturing.
This wasn't a standalone sustainability tool. It was a foundational layer that needed to integrate seamlessly with existing ERP workflows while serving as IFS's first pilot for a next-generation architectural approach.
I led the UX vision and end-to-end experience design, collaborating with product managers, engineers, sustainability domain experts, and enterprise customers to shape the product from concept to launch.
My Role
As Lead UX Designer, I owned the experience strategy and design execution across the full product lifecycle. I worked closely with:
- Product Managers to define scope, prioritize features, and align with business objectives
- Engineering Leads to validate feasibility and navigate platform constraints
- Domain Experts to translate regulatory requirements into usable workflows
- Design System Team to ensure consistency and contribute new patterns back
- Enterprise Customers through discovery interviews and validation testing
The Problem Space
Sustainability software fails in predictable ways. Through competitive analysis and customer discovery, we identified patterns that enterprise teams consistently struggled with:
Regulatory Translation, Not Design
Existing tools translate compliance frameworks literally into UI. Users see hierarchical structures that match standards like GHG Protocol or CSRD not their actual business operations.
A plant manager responsible for emissions doesn't think in "Scope 3, Category 4: Upstream Transportation." They think in fleet vehicles, supplier shipments, and production schedules.
Users spend more time translating their work into software language than doing actual sustainability work. Adoption stalls.
Mapping regulatory structures vs. operational mental models
Expert Assumptions in Every Field
Data entry forms assume users have environmental science backgrounds. Every dropdown, unit selector, and calculation methodology requires specialized knowledge.
When entering fuel consumption, users must choose between emission factors, understand CO2e conversions, and select appropriate activity types without guidance.
Data quality suffers. Users guess, skip fields, or enter incorrect values. Reports become unreliable, eroding trust in the system.
Auditor-First, Operator-Last
Reporting workflows are optimized for year-end audits, not day-to-day operations. The people who use the data aren't the people the tool is designed for.
An operations manager wants to see which fleet vehicles are driving the most emissions this quarter. Instead, they get data structures organized by emission categories and reporting periods.
Sustainability becomes a compliance exercise, not an operational improvement tool. Action-taking gets separated from data visibility.
Bolted-On, Not Built-In
Sustainability tools feel like add-ons. They're separate systems requiring separate logins, separate data entry, and separate mental contexts from core business workflows.
When a maintenance team logs work in the ERP, they later have to re-enter the same activity data in a separate sustainability platform. Double work, double errors.
Without integration into existing workflows, adoption requires behavioral change that most organizations can't sustain.
Defining the core problem: cognitive load, not data availability
Early internal discovery revealed a deeper issue: the problem wasn't data availability it was cognitive load.
Users weren't resisting sustainability. They were resisting unusable systems.
The Challenge
Beyond the broader sustainability software landscape, we faced significant architectural constraints within IFS Cloud itself:
- Monolithic by design: Tightly coupled modules made rapid iteration difficult
- Legacy-constrained: Technical debt limited modern UX patterns and interaction models
- Domain-siloed: Cross-functional workflows required extensive customization
- Performance-limited: Heavy data processing for complex calculations slowed user experiences
This created a strategic opportunity: IFS was developing a next-generation architectural approach, and emissions management would be the first domain to onboard serving as the experimental pilot for this new paradigm.
IFSZero™ as a Proving Ground
The project became more than a sustainability tool. It was a test case for:
- Composable, micro-frontend patterns for flexible UX assembly
- Decoupled services enabling faster iteration cycles
- Shared design system foundations across legacy and next-gen experiences
- Modern state management and performance optimization techniques
The challenge wasn't just designing a sustainability platform it was co-evolving the platform architecture itself.
Goals
Establish market leadership in enterprise sustainability
Position IFS as the ERP leader for asset-intensive industries tackling emissions measurement and reduction. Differentiate through operational integration that competitors can't match.
Prove the next-gen architecture
Validate composable frontend patterns and decoupled services that would inform the broader platform evolution reducing technical debt while demonstrating faster delivery.
Make data collection invisible
Leverage existing ERP data to auto-populate emission sources wherever possible. When manual entry is required, guide users through the process with intelligent defaults and contextual help.
Turn insights into action
Move beyond compliance reporting to operational decision support. Show users where their emissions hotspots are and what they can actually do about them.
Our Users
Before designing, we conducted customer interviews and analyzed behavioral patterns across enterprise customers. We identified five key user roles with distinct needs—though in practice, some roles overlap (particularly Sustainability Manager and Authorizer):
CEO / CSO
C-suite executive accountable for corporate sustainability commitments, investor communications, and strategic direction. Needs high-level visibility without operational detail overload.
When I'm presenting to the board or investors, I want a clear picture of our emissions trajectory and progress against targets, so I can communicate our sustainability story with confidence.
Sustainability Manager
Primary system owner responsible for emissions reporting, compliance coordination, and driving reduction initiatives. The power user who lives in the platform daily.
When I'm managing our emissions program, I want to track data quality, identify gaps, and generate compliant reports, so I can meet regulatory deadlines and drive meaningful reductions.
Data Provider
Front-line contributor who enters activity data—fuel logs, utility bills, travel records, procurement details. Sustainability is additional work on top of their primary responsibilities.
When I'm logging operational activities, I want data capture to be fast and obvious, so I can get back to my real job without second-guessing what information is needed.
Authorizer
Approval authority who validates data submissions and sign-offs before reporting. Often the same person as the Sustainability Manager, but in larger organizations may be a separate compliance or finance role.
When data comes in for approval, I want to quickly verify accuracy and completeness against supporting evidence, so I can authorize submissions with confidence in their audit-readiness.
Auditor
External third-party verifier who assesses emissions data for compliance and accuracy. Typically from an accounting firm or specialized sustainability assurance provider.
When I'm conducting an assurance engagement, I want clear data lineage and supporting documentation for every emission figure, so I can efficiently verify compliance and issue my opinion.
Process
Research & Discovery
We conducted extensive research with sustainability managers, compliance officers, and operations teams across manufacturing, aerospace, and energy sectors.
Affinity mapping from customer discovery interviews
Key research findings:
- Data collection was the #1 pain point often manual, fragmented across spreadsheets, and error-prone
- Flexibility for multiple frameworks users needed to report against GHG Protocol, CSRD, and industry-specific standards simultaneously
- Audit trails were critical every data point needed provenance for compliance verification
- Action planning was desired but rare most tools stopped at reporting, leaving users without reduction pathways
User Flows & Information Architecture
We mapped each archetype to their journey through the system, identifying handoff points and optimization opportunities.
Mapping user journeys from data entry to insight to action
Organizational hierarchy mapping for multi-entity enterprises
Sketches & Early Exploration
I explored multiple directions through rapid sketching, focusing on divergent thinking before converging on solutions. The goal was to challenge assumptions about how sustainability data should be structured and presented.
Divergent exploration of dashboard concepts
Early Designs
A look at wireframes and mid-fidelity explorations that shaped the final direction. Each major screen went through 15-20+ iterations based on stakeholder feedback and usability validation.
Dashboard Approaches
We explored multiple dashboard paradigms from compliance-focused reporting views to operational dashboards centered on actionable insights. Early versions prioritized regulatory structure; later iterations shifted to operational mental models.
Dashboard evolution from compliance-first to operations-first
Data Capture Patterns
The data entry experience went through significant iteration. Early designs felt like compliance forms; final versions introduced guided wizards with smart defaults and contextual help.
From dense forms to guided step-by-step capture
Usability Testing & Validation
We tested prototypes with 12+ enterprise users across manufacturing, energy, and defense sectors. Sessions revealed critical insights about terminology confusion, navigation patterns, and mental model mismatches that shaped final designs.
Key findings from validation sessions with enterprise users
Final Designs
Here's a walkthrough of the key experiences we shipped, and the design decisions behind them.
Operations-First Dashboard
The dashboard flips the traditional compliance hierarchy. Instead of leading with Scope 1/2/3 breakdowns, we lead with what's actionable: emission hotspots, trending comparisons, and direct links to the activities driving the numbers.
Users see their operational reality first then can drill into compliance views when needed for reporting.
Operations-first dashboard with actionable insights
Guided Data Capture
Data entry transforms from dense forms into guided experiences. Smart defaults pre-populate where possible, contextual help explains terminology in plain language, and validation catches errors before submission.
The system leverages existing ERP data asset hierarchies, procurement records, work orders to reduce manual entry and improve accuracy.
Step-by-step data capture with intelligent defaults
In-context guidance translating technical terms to plain language
Verified Emission Factors
Through partnership with Climatiq, users access a database of verified emission factors maintained by environmental data experts. The integration removes guesswork from calculations and ensures compliance with GHG Protocol and CSRD standards.
Users simply describe their activity; the system matches the appropriate emission factor automatically with full auditability for compliance review.
Automatic emission factor matching with audit trail
Multi-Entity Consolidation
Enterprise customers operate across subsidiaries, facilities, and business units. The consolidation view lets Sustainability Leads see the full picture while Operations Managers focus on their scope.
The system leverages existing IFS organizational hierarchies, eliminating duplicate setup and ensuring data consistency across operational and sustainability views.
Consolidated view across organizational hierarchy
Action Planning & Targets
Reporting is only valuable if it leads to action. The action planning module lets users set reduction targets, track progress, and connect emission sources to specific initiatives.
Unlike standalone planning tools, actions here link directly to operational data so progress updates automatically as activities change.
Reduction targets connected to operational activities
Compliance-Ready Reporting
When it's time to report, the system generates export-ready documentation aligned with major frameworks GHG Protocol, CSRD, and industry-specific standards.
Every data point carries full provenance, making audit preparation straightforward rather than a scramble.
Audit-ready reports with full data provenance
Impact
IFSZero™ has been integrated into IFS Cloud and is being adopted by enterprise customers globally. Due to confidentiality, specific metrics are indicated directionally:
More significantly, the project validated IFS's next-generation architectural approach demonstrating that composable patterns could deliver better user experiences faster. Learnings from IFSZero are now informing the broader platform evolution.
What We Learned
Design for operators, not auditors
Compliance is the destination; operations is the journey. When we shifted our primary persona from compliance officers to operations managers, usage patterns improved dramatically. The compliance views still exist but they're accessed when needed, not imposed as the default structure.
Platform constraints can be design opportunities
What initially felt like limitations legacy architecture, performance constraints became innovation drivers. Building for these constraints forced cleaner information architecture and more thoughtful progressive disclosure.
Integration beats features
The most valuable differentiator wasn't any single feature it was the integration story. Auto-populated data from existing ERP records, organizational hierarchies that matched operational reality, and action plans connected to actual activities. This integration eliminated the "bolt-on" feeling that plagued competing solutions.
Future
Expanded Scope Coverage
Initial release focused on Scope 1 and 2 emissions. Future iterations will expand Scope 3 coverage supply chain emissions, product lifecycle, and customer usage the most complex but often largest portion of enterprise carbon footprints.
Predictive Insights
Moving from historical reporting to predictive modeling. Help users understand the emission impact of operational decisions before they're made not just measure them afterward.
Industry-Specific Templates
While the current experience serves general enterprise needs, future work will introduce industry-specific configurations pre-built emission source templates, relevant benchmarks, and sector-appropriate guidance for aerospace, manufacturing, energy, and defense customers.
This has been one of the most rewarding projects of my career building something that contributes to meaningful environmental outcomes while pushing the boundaries of enterprise UX.
Thank you for reading through. Hope you enjoyed learning about the design process.