EcoPal
Deliverables
High-fi mobile prototype
Context
Individual Design Challenge
Motivating and educating users to change their personal sustainability habits.
My role
Concept
UX/UI Design
All icons made by Pixel perfect from www.flaticon.com
Overview
Problem
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In Artiom Dashinksy's (2018) "Solving Product Design Exercises", he proposes the following design challenge: “on average, a typical middle class American family wastes more than 4 million lbs of materials. How can Americans be more conscious about the waste they throw away and how could technology play a role in solving the problem?".
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Goal
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Create a mobile application that educates users about the amount of waste they produce while motivating them to change their habits.
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Outcome
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EcoPal allows you to scan product labels and receipts in order to determine what packaging is recyclable, compostable, and trash, and also suggest other, more eco-friendly options. Then, the information from these scans is compiled to create reports about the user's consumption over time.
EcoPal rewards extra points for recyclable materials and even more points for compostable materials. These points are aggregated and used towards product coupons for sustainable products and in-store discounts.
On average, a typical middle class American family wastes more than 4 million lbs of materials.
How might we motivate users to change their waste management practices?
Final Design
Process
Research
Define
Ideate
Prototype
Test
Research
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Unstructured user interviews
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Literature review
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Competitive analysis
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Survey
Insights
"I do recycle and compost, but sometimes I'm still unsure what goes where and I feel embarrassed to ask."
"I would like to track my waste and consumption, but it sounds like a complicated task."
Survey results
30 respondents ​
100%
Said they could be more sustainable in their daily life and would like to track their sustainability habits
93%
When asked what they most wanted to change, said plastic consumption and waste
66.67%
Would be interested in receiving weekly or monthly tips for how to change their habits
Competitive/Market Analysis
iRecycle
Based on user's location, shows them where to dispose of certain materials like batteries and electronics.
Olio
Food waste app that allows users to snap a photo of food they no longer want and neighbors can come pick it up.
PaperKarma
Snap a photo of mail you don't want and PaperKarma automatically unsubscribes you from the mailing list.
DePop/Poshmark
Buy and sell your unwanted clothing. Online thrifting.
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User personas
Fresh
MARKET
Problem Statement
People want to manage their waste, but they don’t want to go searching for the information necessary to do so. They want to be given that information and the information needs to be easily actionable.
How might I motivate users to improve their behaviors rather than have the task feel like homework?
How might I replace guilt with motivation?
How might I drive users to use the app continuously?
Low-fidelity prototype
click on the diagram to view it in Figma
Concept Testing
User testing provided the following insights:
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Users want more features besides just the scanner
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More concrete points system and explanation
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List of alternate products for items that are wasteful
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They might want to use the product scanner before purchasing an item, not just after when disposing of the item​
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Want store-wide discounts rather just for specific products. What if the suggested products aren't something they need at the moment?
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Want daily or weekly tips/suggestions to learn new facts
Iteration
Design System
I began with the Pegasus Design System. I simplified the system and altered the colors, buttons, and icons to create a visual language that was more lighthearted and game-like to fit with the points/reward feature of the app.
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More features
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Final Design
Graph component from Figma community.