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One Pixel of Truth

Project type

Product Design, B2B Platform UX, Fashion-tech & Sustainability

Project role

Lead Product Designer, UX Research, IA, UI Design

Date

2026

Overview

Fashion's sustainability gap.

Sustainable sourcing lives in bookmarks, spreadsheets, PDFs and DMs. Designers can't confirm what's real, certified mills stay invisible, and every cycle re-litigates the same questions.

10%

Of global carbon emissions fashion's share

Competing, fragmented certification standards

20+

Documented sourcing frictions

The problem

"Sustainability information is fragmented, inconsistent, and hard to trust."

For designers

No single place to verify claims. Sourcing lives in bookmarks, spreadsheets and DMs and emerging designers have the least access of all.

For suppliers

Verified sustainability credentials go unseen. Responsible mills stay invisible to the very designers who are looking for them.

For brands

No standard way to compare materials. Every sourcing cycle starts from zero, and greenwashing risk grows as buyers and regulators demand the opposite.

Process

Key findings

Trust is broken

We heard

"Half of what I read could be greenwashing. I have no way to check."

Implication

Every claim must be cited, sourced and time-stamped. No floating scores.

The ecosystem is fragmented

We heard

"I have a spreadsheet, a Pinterest board, and a group chat. That's my sourcing tool."

Implication

Consolidate discovery into one searchable surface.

Certifications confuse

We heard

"I know GOTS is good. I couldn't tell you what's behind the badge."

Implication

One comparable score — certifications as evidence, not the summary.

From research to design

How might we make a verified sustainability claim something a designer can trust at a glance?

pix·el · noun

One pixel of truth a single verifiable data point per material.

The three findings pointed to one answer: stop adding badges, and resolve every claim into a single number a designer can read in a glance and trust on inspection.

That number is the Pixel Sustainability Index — six cited pillars, collapsed into one score, expandable to its sources on demand.

Legible at a glance

The score is always in the same place — scan a list in seconds.

Decomposable on demand

Click any pillar for raw data, certificate links and last-audit date.

Comparable across materials

Denim and silk rank on one axis — without flattening the differences.

Built for citation

Every pillar links to its GOTS, OEKO-TEX, Higg FEM or LCA source.

The Work

Six screens, one mechanic.

From discovery to a compliance-ready report — the PSI threaded through every surface. Flip through each screen.

Annotated screens

01 / 06

Screen 01

Public homepage

Lead with the promise, not the product.

screen 01 — public homepage

Reframe the hub around a single claim — verified data — before any feature reveal.

01Headline anchors on "one pixel of truth"
02

Reflection & next steps

Less noise to wade through. More decisions you can defend.

Tested with real planners.
They flew through it.

Reflection

Collapsing six fragmented standards into one cited score reframed sourcing from a research project into a single, defensible decision — and gave responsible mills a way to be seen.

What I'd do next

Validate the PSI weighting model with third-party auditors.

Pilot discovery with emerging designers — the least-served group.

Build the supplier onboarding flow that keeps verification fresh.

LakeGardens ›

Socials

Instagram

hi@paolammendoza.com

Socials

Instagram

hi@paolammendoza.com

Let's Work Together -

Let's Work Together -

(03)

One Pixel of Truth

Fashion's sustainability gap.

Fashion's sustainability gap.

"Sustainability information is fragmented, inconsistent, and hard to trust."

For designers

For designers

For suppliers

For suppliers

For brands

For brands

Key findings

Trust is broken

The ecosystem is fragmented

Certifications confuse

How might we make a verified sustainability claim something a designer can trust at a glance?

How might we make a verified sustainability claim something a designer can trust at a glance?

One pixel of truth a single verifiable data point per material.

Legible at a glance

Decomposable on demand

Comparable across materials

Built for citation

Six screens, one mechanic.

Public homepage

Less noise to wade through. More decisions you can defend.

Tested with real planners. They flew through it.

Let's Work Together -

Tested with real planners.
They flew through it.