UX Design Case Study: mindfuLIST
Overview
I designed an app to help people identify and buy products that come in recyclable materials in an effort to reduce landfill waste.
Role
UX Researcher
Sole UX Designer
Skills Used
Writing User Interview questions
Generative research
Creating empathy maps from interviews
Developing a persona
Designing prototypes with InVision
Gathering feedback from usability testing
Creating iterations based on user feedback
Wireframing in Photoshop
Designing a mobile app
The Inspiration & Problem Overview
According to the Environmental Protection Agency, in 2013 Americans, on average, produced about 4.4 pounds of waste every day. However, only about 30% of that waste was recycled or composted. I wondered how Americans can become more conscious about what they’re throwing away and prevent recyclable waste from entering landfills. These statistics and my prior knowledge of the Garbage problem we face guided the questions I asked in my user interviews during my generative research.
Generative Research
I conducted user interviews to find out why interviewees do or don’t recycle along with how they handle their trash. Asking these questions first would allow me to understand if users are even in need of a product that could increase awareness about the waste they produce. The interviews also helped me understand users’ feelings towards recycling and the trash they produce. Lastly, I hoped to identify possible pain points in the recycling process that would cause them not to recycle.
Empathy Mapping
After interviewing 1 non-recycler and 2 recyclers I created empathy maps for each of their responses. The empathy maps helped show disconnects between users’ thoughts and actions. I found the main pain point keeping one user from recycling was not having recycling services that came to his home. In contrast, the two users who did recycle admitted to not recycling at times because they didn’t know if an item was recyclable. They also admitted to throwing items in the recycling that may not be recyclable when unsure. However, both of these users stated that recycling was good for the environment and gave examples of feeling upset when seeing others not recycle. Based on the disconnect of what these users feel and actually do I decided to use them as the basis for my persona.
Persona Creation
Based on the commonalities from two of my user interviews, I created Julie as a persona to focus my product design.
Ideation Sketching
Implementing crazy 8’s into my ideation process allowed me to get all of my ideas onto paper both good and bad. Then, creating a Flow Diagram of the steps Julie takes to recycle revealed how the load on the user is heavier when recycling an item vs. just throwing it away in the trash.
Defining the Problem & Hypothesis
From my generative research I narrowed in on a problem facing my user, Julie, which if solved could increase awareness about the waste she produces and what can be recycled.
The Problem
People don’t know what is recyclable so they unknowingly buy non-recyclable items &/or throw non-recyclables into the recycling bin.
The Hypothesis
If people can determine what is recyclable when purchasing items from the grocery store then they will purchase more recyclable items and decrease landfill waste.
Prototype Wireframes Round 1
I developed a mobile app to help my persona:
find out what’s recyclable in her area
scan item barcodes to see if the item is recyclable
and also import her grocery lists to see what items are and are not recyclable.
To reduce landfill waste I thought it’d be useful to incorporate a feature that would allow the user to replace non-recyclable items on their list with recyclable ones. In order to motivate the user to replace a non-recyclable with a recyclable item on their list I only included items that were cheaper than the original item as seen in the accordion dropdown.
I assumed I have permission to other applications’ APIs for pricing and real time product inventory.
Usability Testing
Prototyping in InVision, I conducted 2 usability tests with target users.
Results
Positives
Icons were easily recognizable
Users were able to select the buttons easily
It was easy to replace non-recyclable items on the list with recyclable ones.
The scanner feedback was clear
Areas for improvement
There were no “back” buttons on the “What can I recycle?” and “Barcode Scanner” screens
There was no need for initial menu screen since there is a navigation bar
Little user interaction with the “What can I recycle?” feature
The list feature generated the most user interaction so I felt it should become a primary feature of the app.
High Fidelity Prototype
After conducting usability testing I decided to remove the “What can I recycle?” feature since the application is already linked to information of what is and isn’t recyclable by each user’s recycling provider. Also, I found users never came back to the initial menu page besides for when they first logged in. Deeming it unnecessary to the overall function of the app. However, I did like that the menu on the 1st prototype educated the user on each feature in the app. In order to overcome the absence of the menu buttons I incorporated the onboarding UI as an education tool for when users first create an account and log in. From user feedback the list feature seemed to be the most useful feature. Thus, I moved it to the forefront and made the barcode scanner a “back-up” feature in case the user is in the store and needs to purchase an item that wasn’t on their grocery list.
Areas for Improvement
Integrating these features into existing Grocery store native apps
When scanning the barcode of an item, if the result is Not Recyclable then Provide recyclable alternatives
Personalize interface after logging in
Place onboarding UI screens before users sign-up. Users may be more willing to create an account if they know how they could benefit from the application.
Show what users have saved over time by replacing items on their list with cheaper recyclable ones.