OVERVIEW

QUESTION:

Have you ever been confused on whether something is recyclable?

If you answered yes, you are not alone. Recycling is confusing.

Problem Space

According to 2011 data from Statistics Canada, almost every household in Canada has access to a recycling program and 98% of them use it. However, most of them are partial recyclers, recycling only some of their waste and not nearly as much as they could, due to confusion and inconvenience. Recycling programs vary greatly across the country, and this inconsistency hurts the environment. It is time-consuming and overwhelming for consumers to know what can be recycled, how to recycle and where to recycle.

How might we better inform young adults how and where to recycle household items to reduce the amount of contamination in recyclables?

ecoscan

Solution

With the design challenge in mind, I created Ecoscan, an Android mobile app that is designed to help users quickly learn how everyday items are recycled by simply searching or scanning.

My Role

UX Researcher
UX / UI Designer

Timeline

10 Weeks
Apr - Jun 2021

Tools

Figma, InVision, Otter.ai

Team

Solo Project

Onboarding

Never used an app like this before?

Ecoscan provides a quick onboarding process to teach you how to properly recycle in 3 simple steps.

Quick Scan

Instantly get all the information you need to recycle properly.

Confused whether if something can be recycled? Don’t know how or where to recycle it? Simply take a photo of the object to find everything you need at a glance.

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RESEARCH

Design Thinking Process

When approaching this design challenge, I followed the design thinking process to ensure that each element of my design solution was focused on the people I was creating for.

In order to gain a holistic understanding of the problem space, I used the two research methods below.

Method #1: Secondary Research

I started by reading articles on the recycling practices used across Canada and why the current recycling programs are not effective.

What did I discover?

I discovered that Canadians produce a significant amount of plastic waste - an estimated 3.3 million tonnes per year.

People often mix non-recyclables in their bins, which can ultimately contaminate an entire batch of would-be recyclables. The main reasons for recycling contamination are:

◆  Lack of education about what is recyclable

◆  Varied capabilities and requirements per city

◆  Leftover food in containers

◆  Non-recyclable plastic packaging

Method #2: Primary Research

I conducted a series of user interviews with Canadians between the ages of 18-34 who live alone, with a roommate or a partner. I wanted to identify any confusion or difficulty they have had during their recycling  experiences and inquire what their current household recycling practices are.

What did I learn?

From the user interviews, I was able to pinpoint their pain points, motivations and behaviours associated with recycling and gain the following insights:

MOTIVATION

Individuals are not motivated to recycle properly as the process is too confusing and time consuming

KNOWLEDGE

There is a general lack of knowledge on how to recycle properly stemming from inadequate education

EFFICIENCY

Many are unsatisfied with the current recycling system in place due to lack of efficiency and transparency

KEY INSIGHT: KNOWLEDGE

Recycling is commonly taught inaccurately in schools and for new immigrants, it is not a topic that is required to learn. Ultimately, individuals believe that recycling is difficult and confusing due to the lack of education and knowledge.

Persona

After synthesizing all my research and interview notes, I developed the following persona to ensure my design process was driven by my target user’s goals and behaviours.

“As someone who wants to reduce their carbon footprint, I want to recycle properly, but it gets too confusing.”

Naomi Lee

Archetype: The Casual Recycler

Goals

◆  I want to learn how to properly sort hard to recycle items in order to contribute to a more sustainable future.

◆  I would like to have access to a reliable resource when I don’t know how to recycle an item.

◆  A more convenient way of recycling would allow me to devote time to recycling properly. 

Frustrations

◆  I feel guilty as I might be potentially contaminating recyclables by recycling incorrectly.

◆  Searching up how to recycle is infuriating as the resources available don’t give me a clear answer.

◆  I wish there was a way to easily identify what recycling icons mean, as looking it up is time-consuming.

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DESIGN

Making Ecoscan

With a better understanding of who I was designing for, I sketched multiple low fidelity screens using pen and paper. My chosen design for this design intervention, as shown below, utilizes scanning as a key feature in order to shorten the research process, which were then translated into mid-fidelity wireframes using Figma.

Usability Testing

After the completion of my initial wireframes, I conducted two rounds of usability testing with ten different individuals. The goal was to measure the usability of this prototype and obtain practical real-time feedback, both positive and negative. Valuable insights were gained through these test sessions, which were then used to improve the application’s usability and interface.

Major Change 1: Onboarding

Users were skipping the onboarding screens that were meant to inform them of the app features, which later caused confusion when they were trying to find the scanning button.

Major Change 2: Location

Users found it unusual for the need to type in the city as well as needing to enable location within the item detail page as they thought providing the city was the same as providing the user’s exact location.

Major Change 3: Item Details

Many users had trouble finding how to recycle the food container due to a misleading header. Although the information was emphasized in a card, users assumed it was about the recycling depot and not how to recycle the item

High Fidelity Prototype

From injecting colours, arranging components to fit the grid layout, to adding interactions between pages, my digital wireframes officially translated into high fidelity designs.

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FUTURE STEPS

Thinking Ahead

With a finalized prototype completed, I created a responsive marketing website with consideration on how Ecoscan can integrate into the market. While designing this website, I kept Ecoscan’s simple and easy to use concept in mind, with the goal of highlighting Ecoscan’s benefits and features to motivate visitors to download the app.

Reflection

Throughout this design process, one of the most valuable lessons I learned was the importance of conducting usability tests, more specifically, to test early and to test often. By conducting usability tests, testers provided valuable feedback and insight, evaluated the usability of my app, and allowed me to effectively customize the design to fulfill the targeted user’s needs.

I am proud of the quality of work I was able to accomplish in such a short amount of time with Ecoscan, but with opportunity, I would love to conduct more usability tests to further tailor and improve the user’s experience.

Tiffany Wong © 2021-2023. All Rights Reserved