Climate Blockchain App
Climate Blockchain App
Climate Blockchain App
Toucan Protocol
Toucan Protocol

Carbon offset infrastructure on the blockchain

Carbon offset infrastructure on the blockchain

Brief

Toucan started as a protocol for bridging carbon credits to the Polygon blockchain and evolved to a multi-chain carbon infrastructure provider. As a pioneer in the field of tokenized real-world assets (RWA) Toucan garnered a lot of attention for their novel appraoch, but also attracted criticism due to the underlying design flaws of the Voluntary Carbon Market (VCM) that got exposed through its technology. As the Head of Design at Toucan, I led all design efforts and managed a team of four designers. I contributed to building groundbreaking products, including the world’s first blockchain-based carbon bridge, which brought over 20 million carbon credits on-chain. I also helped launch the world’s first liquid carbon token, introducing carbon credits as a DeFi primitive within the web3 ecosystem. Through these initiatives, I helped establish Toucan as a climate leader and a beloved brand in the web3 community.

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Services

Brand Design & Strategy Product Strategy User Research UI & UX Design Data Visualizations

Industries

Climate, Infrastructure, Blockchain

Timeframe

2021 – 2023

Beginnings: The Carbon Bridge

The Carbon Bridge was Toucan’s first product, establishing the core infrastructure and dApp functionality that enabled bridging carbon credits from off-chain registries to Polygon, and later to Celo. As a new primitive and cornerstone of the ReFi (Regenerative Finance) movement, designing and communicating Toucan’s product required a careful balance of two complex domains. On one hand, we needed to present the intricate technical details of blockchain in a way that felt transparent and unintimidating, ensuring users outside the web3 space could grasp the basics without drowning in jargon. On the other hand, we had to communicate the essentials of carbon markets to users who were familiar with web3 mechanics, striking a similar balance between accuracy and approachability. Our solution was to create a friendly, inviting brand, seamlessly integrated with a clear product architecture that guided users through each step and explained core mechanics. By doing so, we helped users gain enough understanding to navigate the product confidently and build trust in its functionality.

See Carbon Bridge prototype

See Carbon Bridge prototype

See Carbon Bridge prototype

Toucan relies on cross-chain bridges to supply liquidity and transfer carbon tokens to other chains. I designed the first versions of these bridges, including a transaction view and filter options that help users track where their funds are located. One of the main challenges was developing a selection process that guides users through the often conflicting rules for bridging incompatible carbon tokens across multiple blockchain networks. Another important aspect was to "design for trust" as blockchain transactions between chains are not always immediate and users can experience a high level of anxiety to lose their funds. To reduce stress and anxiety, I implemented a variety of visual reassurances into the UI that helped users to feel confident and secure in their actions.

Navigating carbon markets: The Carbon Explorer

To display the variety of carbon credits out there and showcase Toucan’s inventory of tokenized carbon credits, I worked on the concept and design for Toucan’s Carbon Explorer: a visual directory of the current landscape of carbon projects in the Voluntary Carbon Market. Besides charts for vintage distributions and data tables with filtering, the explorer also houses a comprehensive data collection of a carbon project and is a powerful new tool for ESG managers, carbon brokers, market analysts, and everyone interested in the complex but vital role that carbon markets play today in financing the decarbonization efforts of our society.

Visit Carbon Explorer prototype

Visit Carbon Explorer prototype

Visit Carbon Explorer prototype

Toucan evolved: The Carbon Portfolio

Toucan’s Carbon Bridge began as an MVP to demonstrate the viability of on-chain carbon credits, featuring a simple interface for bridging carbon credits to the blockchain. As the protocol and its products matured, our team explored enterprise use cases that demanded more robust communication around users’ carbon emissions, assets under management, pool tokens, offset retirements, and market data. Guided by the concept of a carbon portfolio, we introduced a redefined navigation structure and carbon asset tracking, including dedicated sub-pages for Toucan’s various carbon pool tokens. We also took a first step toward emission tracking based on wallet activity, and added a publicly shareable detail page for on-chain carbon retirements. Working alongside another product designer, I led the UI design, managed the concept development, and conducted user testing.

Visit Carbon Portfolio prototype

Visit Carbon Portfolio prototype

Visit Carbon Portfolio prototype

Working at Toucan taught me the importance of robust, decentralized infrastructure, the complex dynamics of carbon markets and climate finance, and the value of a vibrant, community-based ecosystem. While my personal goal – transforming climate finance by unlocking the economics of carbon markets through Web3 – didn't fully materialize as I had hoped, I still consider my time at Toucan a valuable contribution to the climate space. We received global coverage for demonstrating how asset tokenization can unlock dormant market liquidity, highlighted underlying design flaws in the voluntary carbon market that drove significant changes and discussions around quality assurance and technological adoption, and helped put Regenerative Finance on the map as a force for good within the Web3 community.