Creating a trusted digital community to advance groundbreaking ocean carbon research

Ocean-based carbon dioxide removal (CDR) is a rapidly emerging field with massive potential to reverse the global climate crisis. Scientists, entrepreneurs, policy-makers, NGOs, and funders are racing to explore and scale solutions. But until recently, there was no central place for this growing community to connect, share research, and collaborate.

Niftic partnered with CEA and Google Labs to bring that space to life, creating Ocean CDR, the first-of-its-kind digital platform designed to fill the void. From vision to launch, Niftic led the full product strategy, brand, and experience design.

Ground-up product strategy for a visionary community

Starting from scratch, Niftic collaborated with the Ocean CDR team to deeply understand user needs across a range of roles, disciplines, and technical fluency. Through roadmapping, visioning, and story mapping sessions, the team identified essential functionality while avoiding feature creep—a critical step when building for clarity and adoption in a brand-new space.

One of the key features is the ability for users to create personalized research portfolios. These portfolios highlight the user's areas of expertise, scientific background, and current research projects, and provide a space for users to share their findings and engage in discussions with their peers, lending credibility and collaboration to the individuals and research.

In addition to the research portfolios, the Ocean CDR Community platform also includes an expert forum where users can ask questions, share insights, and contribute to the growing body of knowledge in the field. The forum is structured and searchable, making it easy for users to find the information they need and to engage in meaningful conversations with their peers.

Designed to support trust, credibility, and collaboration

Beyond the platform UX, Niftic crafted a complete visual identity for Ocean CDR. A custom logotype and icon set were developed to support the platform’s extensive taxonomy and to grow with the community over time. These visual elements help foster trust and recognition, grounding the new field in legitimacy and forward momentum.

Ocean CDR is the first platform of its kind for researchers to share and discuss ideas to solve the global climate crisis. It brings stakeholders together to advance the state of knowledge, build bridges across disciplines, and help the community move towards testing and piloting the most promising Ocean CDR approaches. By pairing bold design with a deeply strategic product approach, Niftic helped launch a tool that will continue to evolve alongside the community it supports.