Electrifying Economies — Rockefeller Foundation, SEforALL, RMI
Challenge: Policymakers and investors lacked accessible tools to understand how distributed renewables can drive equitable energy transitions.
Approach: Contributed user research and design strategy to shape an interactive platform, ensuring content was engaging and actionable for diverse stakeholders.
Impact: The platform is now used by governments, NGOs, and funders worldwide to inform renewable energy policy, shape financing strategies, and support just energy transitions.
PwC Germany — Sustainable Innovation
Challenge: Corporate clients needed to move beyond compliance and embed ESG frameworks into their innovation pipelines.
Approach: Applied design research and co-design methods to integrate ESG into PwC’s Sustainable Innovation methodology, supporting client teams in developing future-proof solutions.
Impact: Helped organizations prototype sustainable products and business models, aligning corporate innovation with planetary boundaries and investor expectations.
Sustainable Mobility Adoption — Global Automotive Mobility Program
Challenge: Sustainable mobility services (e-bikes, car-sharing, EV charging) often face adoption barriers when scaled across different cultures and cities.
Approach: Led design research into cultural values and mobility practices, facilitating co-design workshops and synthesizing actionable insights.
Impact: Findings guided strategic pilots across European cities, directly informing product redesign and communication strategies, and resulting in higher adoption rates and stronger scale-up pathways.
Resilience of Small Merchants — SumUp
Challenge: Small merchants are often highly vulnerable to economic and climate shocks, despite being vital to local economies.
Approach: Developed a series of resilience strategies for merchants, supported by UX tools co-created with product and design teams.
Impact: Findings informed SumUp’s global support programs, contributing to its mission of empowering 4+ million businesses across 30+ countries to strengthen resilience and adapt to climate and economic disruptions.
Ocean Tech Design Methods — Marine Innovation Program
Challenge: Ocean-tech ventures struggle with adoption due to complex technology, stakeholder trust barriers, and difficulty communicating impact.
Approach: Applied design thinking and strategic research to help teams translate technical innovation into human-centered services; facilitated stakeholder workshops and narrative design.
Impact: Improved pilot adoption in marine communities and enhanced trust among stakeholders. This work aligns with the Sustainable Ocean Alliance’s impact model (e.g., 84,621 metric tons CO₂e avoided, 26,892 tons of marine waste removed, 3,969 hectares of ecosystems restored) and supports global commitments made at the UN Ocean Conference.
Design research & facilitation for University of the Arts London platform UAL Futures and with over 150 students, staff, alumni and creative industry partners.
references
“Ms. Lemos is a leader amongst her peers, a reliable and thoughtful worker, and is an absolute joy to work with. We’re very grateful for the time she has spent successfully coaching and teaching thousands of our learners.”
— IDEO U, senior manager
“The design sprint was incredibly well received and your spirit, energy, and willingness to go with our chaotic flow was very much appreciated.”
— Sustainable Oceans Alliance, managing director
“Joana's workshop on experience design for sustainability is a great experience for professionals who are challenged everyday to reinvent their businesses for a sustainable future.”
— Business Council for Sustainable Development, head of member relations
“Professional capacity as a designer, communicator and facilitator as well as her ability to project manage and liaise with clients.”
— Forum For The Future, principle
“I had the privilege to experience Joana's work at the first Edacy Design Bootcamp in Dakar, Senegal. I was particularly impressed by the patience, method, intelligence, and adaptability she employed to transform design into design thinkers in the space of a few days.”
— Edacy, founder
“I was thoroughly impressed by her wits and warm approach to research and design in an ad-hoc field environment. Would not hesitate a second to work together again if such an opportunity arises — and I'm sure many others think the same!”