UX Project - Deep Dive
An Ongoing Project on Consolidating Recycling
This project began as a demonstration of research skills befitting a UX role. Deciding on a project was proving to be a paralyzing decision, so I began by deciding on the research base first. With no access to a location, funding, or a source of random participants that I could reliably go back to, I focused on those closest to me. I then took a list of everyday issues ranging from banking to satnavs, mental health to community activism, and screen-time to CO2, and presented it to each of the research group in a game of word-association.
Each research participant was asked to name the first emotion that came to them for each item on the list.
Each participants responses were logged and ranked from positive to negative. The goal was to strike a balance and find a topic that annoyed people enough to have them look to solve issues related to it, but that they thought positively enough that they would be happy to keep returning to it.
The topic to investigate became recycling and sustainability. It scored highest amongst the research group for it's importance and feeling of control, and was one of the highest scores for amongst the group for how often it's thought about. This means for the research group, it's a part of everyday thought, and people feel it's within their control to affect change. Another key important part was identifying through questioning where current frustrations with recycling and sustainability lie.
Now that frustration was demonstrated in the process of recycling, it was important to identify what about the process is frustrating. I began with establishing whether the visual symbols we see on a daily basis are consistently interpreted. By taking the most common symbols we see on supermarket packaging and pushing it out to the research group to see what the general response was. These responses were logged, and used - alongside a demographic breakdown and first-hand observation - to establish the process of recycling within the kitchen and the potential intervention points.
From there on the process was simple; ideate the research group's points-of-view to understand what they may look for in recycling, then use this to establish objectives. Compare the objectives and intervention ideas to figure out ideal solutions, and then work out how those solutions could be implemented within the recycling process.
The ideal solution was identified to be in two parts:
- A device that could be cheaply produced and integrated into the existing recycling process that would provide a basic, but useful indication of how best to separate material for recycling. This provides a fast, no-nonsense approach to recycling.
- A smartphone app that would provide a more detailed breakdown and awareness of material separation and it's benefits including elements of 'gamification' to entice users to return to the app.
Solutions decided upon, these were mapped into the recycling process. These final two flow charts created the list of screens needed within the app, and each screen's purpose, meaning the visual design process could begin.
