Schedule pickups to recycle uncommon items like batteries, car oil, and old electronics.
View whether an item is recyclable or not based on local recycling program standards.
Earn rewards and badges for completing monthly challenges and recycling goals.
Figma
Maze
80 Hours
.svg)
Designer
Recycling can sometimes be confusing, which causes wish-cycling. This is an opportunity to help improve the recycling experience.
An end-to-end mobile app that makes recycling easy through gamification techniques.
The United Nations' Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) inspired me to create this project. Waste contributes to the ongoing climate crisis and increasing greenhouse gas emissions. "Wish-cycling" especially can be harmful to the waste management process, causing contamination.
I was curious to learn more about the current recycling experience by asking:
What do people mainly recycle?
How do people recycle?
When does recycling get confusing?
I surveyed 25 participants in California about their recent recycling experiences.
recycled within the kitchen space
were likely to recycle on a daily basis
hesitated recycling certain items
Contaminated Items (e.g. Foods, Liquids)
Different Plastics or Uncommon Materials
Unclear or No Recycling Labels
84% of participants were likely to recycle on a daily basis. Yet, 88% of participants expressed feeling uncertain when recycling specific items. This reveals an opportunity to help improve recycling uncertainties.
Based on these insights, I wanted to learn further why people felt uncertain in the first place. I talked to 4 participants and discovered the following:
The more exposure to recycling resources, the better one's comfort was with recycling. Less exposure to recycling resources led to less confidence with recycling.
Recycling may be a higher or lower priority based on the person's current situation. For example when in a rush, one may trash their package instead of recycling it.
To help brainstorm ideas, I decided to conduct a Co-Creation workshop. I invited 2 participants to be a part of the design process and help gather feedback during the workshop.
Co-Creation WorkshopDuring this workshop, I wanted to better visualize a person’s journey before and after using the kitchen space since 60% of survey participants placed their recycling bins within the kitchen area.
Participants relied on a map to search for the nearest best resources.
What if we provide local recycling information based on the user's location?
Participants felt less excited to use transportation to go out and collect resources.
What if we provide pickup services for users?
Participants enjoyed finishing their mission at the end.
What if we provide users rewards and recognize their achievements for recycling?
I designed these features to help making recycling more accessible, convenient, and easy.
Pickup Services
Recycling Guides
Badges & Rewards
After exploring various sketches, I went with a 2x2 grid layout to help reduce cognitive load.
Initial SketchesInitial layouts explored through the use of grids and cards based on the MVP features.
Mid-fidelity WireframesThe mid-fidelity wireframes uses a 2x2 grid layout.
Through usability testing, my goals were to assess user navigation and ease.
.svg)
Moderated
.svg)
Unmoderated
Maze
Is it Recyclable?
Schedule a Pickup
View Recycling Badge
Success Rate
Misclick Rate
Duration
"Pretty straightforward. Love the app idea! A very neat way to get more people to recycle and get their questions answered."
"I was expecting more of like examples, otherwise I’d be clicking through all of them which takes a lot of time."
"I like the badge system, it makes me feel accomplished. Especially since I can show it on social media."
"I didn’t know what the symbols mean so I wasn’t sure where to look."
"I like how since the app is simple, it’s easy for older people to navigate through it."
"Since I didn’t have an egg carton in front of me, I would have googled what type of number the egg carton would be in."
While browsing, people preferred seeing visual pictures of items instead of recycling symbols.
Recycling ScreensUsers were not familiar with the plastic material numbering and abbreviations. Thus, images of items replaced these symbols to improve user familiarity and recognition.
Home ScreensThe new iteration rearranges the content hierarchy and includes a search bar and map.
The branding involves earth tones and nature to represent being green and sustainable.
I've learned that waste management can be very complex. Through research and co-creation, we can yet create valuable insights together. I hope others can grab inspiration from this and seek out creative ways to be more sustainable. Gamification is one technique, with many more ideas left to explore.
Implementing the new design changes increased the app’s usability by 10%.
If I had more time:
I would have explored AR technology to help identify whether an item is recyclable or not.
I would have conducted more than one Co-Creation workshop to gather a larger pool of data.
What I learned:
Involving users during the ideation and design process can provide creative insights.
Visualizing information through pictures or visual aids helps increase human perception and understanding.
