Tech Tip #65: Make the efficient mode the default

Most players never turned off the energy-saving default.

Video created by explainapaper.com

The problem

Energy-saving options buried in settings are rarely switched on. When a default is sensible, most people keep it.

The fix you can use today

  • Ship low-power behaviour in menus and idle states as the default.
  • Let users opt out rather than opt in.
  • Measure what the default saves across your whole user base.

Microsoft's Xbox team found that most Call of Duty players kept the energy-saving default. GreenCode's research review draws on this work.

Tools that help

How GreenCode helps

GreenCode helps tackle this by finding the code that drives processor, memory and network demand and rewriting it, so the same features run on the hardware people already own. More on this.

Tags

#games#ux#devices

Sources

Transcript

Most players never turned off the energy-saving default. Energy-saving options are often buried in the settings. And buried options are rarely switched on. But when a default is sensible, most people keep it. Microsoft's Xbox team found that most Call of Duty players kept the energy-saving default. It was an eco mode for the menus. Depending on the platform, only seven to twenty percent turned it off. GreenCode's research review draws on this work. Here is the fix you can use today. Ship low-power behaviour in menus and idle screens as the default. Let people opt out, instead of asking them to opt in. Then measure what the default saves, using tools like the Xbox Sustainability Toolkit. One setting, multiplied by every device you run on. GreenCode helps tackle this by finding the code that drives processor, memory and network demand. It rewrites that code, so the same features run on the hardware already installed. That was GreenCode Tech Tip number sixty-five. Follow for the next tip, and find more on greencode.ai/tech-tips.

All GreenCode Tech Tips · All GreenCode videos

  • Tip #65
  • For CTOs and technical leads
  • Length 1:09
  • Category HPC, embedded, mobile and games
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