Zero Waste
Zero Waste is a waste management application designed to increase civil engagement by incentivizing environmental beautification.
ZeroWaste is a social waste management application designed to increase civil engagement and promote a cleaner environment by incentivizing capturing images of litter and joining events to beautify high volume waste areas. Infosys emphasizes three main corporate responsibilities, environmental, social, and governance. The challenge that I received was to design an experience that aligns with one of the three corporate responsibilities. Environmental sustainability was the scope of this project and more specifically waste management.
My goals were to design a minimum viable product, by researching end users, creating the visual branding, crafting wireframes showing the functionality of the application, conducting usability test, and developing a high-fidelity prototype to present to stakeholders.
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With the goal of understanding how potential users of the application manage waste disposal and recycling, observations and interviews were conducted. First observations of the employees took place on and off campus. Then to fill in the gaps, 5 employees were interviewed about their waste management habits.
From observations it was identified that there was an obvious contrast between how waste was managed on and off campus. On campus there were many places to dispose of waste, housekeepers consistently cleaned across campus, and when food was served metal trays, metal utensils, and plastic cups were utilized resulting in a practically litter free environment.
Off campus there was virtual no place to dispose of waste easily available making it difficult for individuals to dispose of their waste properly, which seemed to result in an environment where there are large areas of litter.
After the observations, 5 interviews were conducted to clarify what was observed and to rule out any assumptions. The interviews resulted in the following key findings.
Continuing to research the problem space, platforms and applications that related to waste management were examined. Identifying strengths and weaknesses in the solutions of other apps relieved opportunities that could be explored for further development.
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An empathy map was used to synthesize the data gathered from the interviews and observations. This method was used because it visually represents the users’ actions and emotions around picking up litter, revealing perspectives to keep in mind when designing for a task most people aren't excited to do.
This user journey map was used to show the different phases a person will go through from the moment they discovery the app, register, their first use, and the incentives they will receive afterwards. The actions they take at each moment are described while showing, how their feelings, needs and pains fit in the context of that situation and how ZeroWaste can help.
Sketches were used to quickly generate ideas around the problem space. Ideating the screens help identify interface elements that can be effective when developing the prototype.
Features that were incorporated in the sketches were:
A task flow diagram was used to show how a person will navigate through the three main functionalities of the application.
To show context of the decisions that a person will have to make while using the application a user flow was created. This user flow displays a scenario of person wanting to capture an image of a high waste area.
Once I had an idea of the layout, I created wireframes to be reviewed by the design team ensuring that the elements in the prototype address the users' goals, needs, frustrations, and motivations.
After creating the wireframes, I presented them to the design team to get feedback on the prototype before moving forward with styling. The recommendations that were received are:
After receiving feedback from the expert review, information architecture changes were made, terminology of features, and onboarding to describe functionality was added. Following the changes made to the wireframe, a style guide was created to make the construction of the high-fidelity prototype more efficient.
The final design incorporate UI elements that reflect sustainability and features that are aimed to encourage communities to get involved with clean up initiatives.
Features
The biggest lesson learn from this project was that "You are not your user". The social structure in India is much different than in the US. Some may think that picking up litter is below them, while in the US theres non-for-profits built around this concept.
In this case I switched the idea from picking up litter to only capturing images and joining clean up events to receive incentives. Another lesson learned was that there aren't many private companies to picking up garbage in areas, which was another misconception that someone from the US would make around waste management.
Overall, I believe important design lessons were learned from this project that will be kept in mind in my future designs.
Next steps for this project would be to start researching in different areas, instead of researching users of the application maybe government organizations in the area that could help organize events and plan waste disposal initiatives.
The biggest lesson learn from this project was that "You are not your user". The social structure in India is much different than in the US. Some may think that picking up litter is below them, while in the US theres non-for-profits built around this concept.
In this case I switched the idea from picking up litter to only capturing images and joining clean up events to receive incentives. Another lesson learned was that there aren't many private companies to picking up garbage in areas, which was another misconception that someone from the US would make around waste management.
Overall, I believe important design lessons were learned from this project that will be kept in mind in my future designs.
Next steps for this project would be to start researching in different areas, instead of researching users of the application maybe government organizations in the area that could help organize events and plan waste disposal initiatives.
The biggest lesson learn from this project was that "You are not your user". The social structure in India is much different than in the US. Some may think that picking up litter is below them, while in the US theres non-for-profits built around this concept.
In this case I switched the idea from picking up litter to only capturing images and joining clean up events to receive incentives. Another lesson learned was that there aren't many private companies to picking up garbage in areas, which was another misconception that someone from the US would make around waste management.
Overall, I believe important design lessons were learned from this project that will be kept in mind in my future designs.
Next steps for this project would be to start researching in different areas, instead of researching users of the application maybe government organizations in the area that could help organize events and plan waste disposal initiatives.
The biggest lesson learn from this project was that "You are not your user". The social structure in India is much different than in the US. Some may think that picking up litter is below them, while in the US theres non-for-profits built around this concept.
In this case I switched the idea from picking up litter to only capturing images and joining clean up events to receive incentives. Another lesson learned was that there aren't many private companies to picking up garbage in areas, which was another misconception that someone from the US would make around waste management.
Overall, I believe important design lessons were learned from this project that will be kept in mind in my future designs.
Next steps for this project would be to start researching in different areas, instead of researching users of the application maybe government organizations in the area that could help organize events and plan waste disposal initiatives.
