1. Rigorous methodology
It’s easy to say you produce something that’s good for the world.
It’s harder to back it up with a rigorous methodology that proves it.
Good On You rates 6,000+ brands on 50+ indicators across people, planet, animals, and supply chain practices to ensure that consumers have all the information they need to make good shopping decisions.
This level of detail matters because the unfortunate truth is, when you’re in the impact business, it comes with a built in scrutiny that other businesses don’t have to worry about.
If you say you are doing good for the world then everyone wants to make sure of it.
They’ll question every part of your business. Twice.
The best thing that you can do is to make sure every aspect of your business is defensible, honest, and hard to dispute.
2. Radical transparency
The most rigorous system doesn’t matter if no one can see how it works.
Instead of guarding their methodology behind a black box, Good On You makes all of their assessment criteria public.
They show you exactly how they are looking at each brand so you can understand the “why” behind ratings instead of blindly following their score.
I love this move for a few reasons.
First, it shows confidence that they measure what matters (and stand behind it).
It also educates people on what to look for so they can do their own homework in the future (or for different industries).
Yes, transparency invites scrutiny but that also opens a conversation, which is ultimately a good thing.
3. Accessible user experiences
A rigorous methodology that’s on full display for the public to see is great, but it needs to translate into a simple and accessible user experience.
There’s likely pages and pages of analysis on each brand, but Good On You meets consumers where they are (making shopping decisions and wanting a quick “yes” or “no”).
Their simple, engaging rating system makes choosing a brand to support easy, even though the backend is incredibly in depth.
I think accessibility in general is extremely underrated.
We often take simple user experiences for granted, not realizing just how complex they are under the hood, and I love how elegantly Good On You weaves simplicity into their whole experience.
Trust is tricky.
It takes a long time to build, and can be lost in a moment.
I love how Good On You designs trust into their product because in many ways, trust is the product.
In purpose-driven work, trust needs to be a foundational piece, I hope you invest in it.
