Eco Hero
The go to place for your recycling needs
Welcome to Eco Hero, your ultimate companion for sustainable living! In a world where environmental challenges are growing, Eco Hero is here to empower you with the tools and knowledge to make a real difference. Our innovative app is designed to simplify recycling and sustainability, providing you with personalized guidance, interactive features, and a supportive community to help you reduce your environmental footprint. Dive in and discover how Eco Hero can transform your daily habits into impactful actions.
At Eco Hero, we believe that every small step counts towards a greener planet. Whether you're new to recycling or a sustainability master, our app is tailored to meet your needs. With features like a smart scanner that decodes recycling instructions for various items, real-time notifications about local recycling pickups, and a vibrant community hub for sharing tips and news, Eco Hero makes recycling easy, fun, and rewarding.
Imagine a world where recycling is effortless and enjoyable. Eco Hero turns that vision into reality with our user-friendly interface and gamified experience. Earn reward points for your eco-friendly actions, level up your profile, and compete with friends to see who can make the most significant positive impact. Our app not only helps you recycle more efficiently but also keeps you informed with the latest sustainability news and trends.
Our mission is to create a community of environmentally conscious individuals who support and inspire each other. With Eco Hero, you'll never feel alone in your quest to live sustainably. Access our comprehensive database of recycling centers, receive expert advice on sorting and cleaning recyclables, and stay up-to-date with local recycling events and initiatives. Start your journey with Eco Hero and experience the difference one app can make in building a cleaner, greener world.
Our Prototype
Eco Hero's prototype is designed to allow users to navigate through the various features our app includes such as the smart scanner, locating centers, tracking your recycling pickup, and our community hub. The prototype serves as the foundation for demonstrating how easy a sustainable future can be when given the proper resources.
Project Methodology
As we developed Eco Hero we strived to answer the following question, "would people recycle more if the process was easier?"
To gain insight on this question, our team conducted interviews with potential users. Based on the interviewees answers our design team was able to identify several primary behavior patterns: an interest in educational content for recycling, a means to make recycling more accesible, and a notification system for pickup days.
Additionally, we conducted research on the product domain by analyzing several sources. The results of our research can be seen in the personas we created as we used these personas to simulate the typical user experience for our app.
This process page was created as part of a class project and is the culmination of the Research and Modeling Phases of the Goal Directed Design (GDD) method. GDD focuses on understanding user goals and behaviors to create products that meet their needs in the most effective way. Through extensive research and iterative design, we identified the core desires of people wishing for a sustainable future and turned them into the main features of Eco Hero.
Meet the Team
Our team consisted of five people with Liz Furlow being the team leader and the creator of Eco Hero's concept. We worked together over a two month period in our Interaction Design 1 course, to develope this prototype.
Liz Furlow
Luke Barber
Kaya Bobo
Genesis Ramos
Nelson Ray
Creating Eco Hero
To devolope Eco Hero we used the Goal Directed Design (GDD) method coined by Alan Cooper. This method helped us ensure that we met the specific needs of sustainability users.
What is Goal Directed Design?
Goal Directed Design is a user-centered design methodology developed by Alan Cooper with its main purpose being to create products that help users achieve their objectives in the most effective and satisfying way possible.
Main aspects of GDD
- Personas: These are fictional characters based on real user data that represent different user types. By understanding these personas, we can design features that cater to specific user needs.
- Scenarios: These are narrative descriptions of how personas will interact with the product to achieve their goals. Scenarios help in visualizing the user journey and identifying potential challenges.
- Goals: These are the outcomes that users want to achieve.
- Design Framework: This is a structured approach to organizing the design elements and interactions in the app, ensuring consistency and usability.
How GDD was used in Eco Hero
- Research and Interviews: We started by conducting interviews and surveys with people interested in recycling to better understand what they would like to see in a recycling app.
- Creating Personas: Based on our research, we developed personas representing the typical users of Eco Hero. This helped us focus on designing features that cater to different types of users who would use a recycling based app.
- Developing Scenarios: We wrote scenarios for each persona, detailing how they would use Eco Hero to achieve their goals. This process highlighted key features and interactions needed in the app.
- Design and Prototyping: Using the insights from our personas and scenarios, we created the prototype for Eco Hero. This prototype was iteratively tested and refined to ensure it provided an informative and useful experience when using and finding information on recycling.
By using Goal Directed Design, we ensured that Eco Hero not only meets the needs of its users but also provides a unique and seemless experience that sets it apart from other recycling apps.
Research Phase
During the research phase of the Goal Directed Design (GDD) method, our team focused on the current state of recycling, the barriers to recyclings, and what recycling related apps already exist.
Kickoff Meeting
A kickoff meeting serves as the initial gathering of everyone involved in a project that details a thorough overview of the product's purpose, the roles of team members, how team members will work together, and what the intended results are for said project. The kickoff meeting was the first step for our team to discuss the main metrics for Eco Hero.
Kickoff Meeting Accomplishments
- Purpose and Problem Statement
- We addressed the problem with current recycling apps, which primarily offer low-involvement recycling information. Existing solutions fail to educate users adequately about recycling practices. Our product, Eco Hero, aims to bridge this gap by providing accurate, accessible information and interactive tools to educate users and engage them in eco-friendly activities.
- Assumption Statements
- Who is the user? Individuals who want to improve their recycling habits or learn more about recycling.
- Where does our product fit in their work or life? Eco Hero fits into users' daily routines, aiding informed decisions about recycling and waste management both at home and in the community.
- How should our product look and behave? Our product will have a clean, intuitive interface with simple navigation, eco-friendly colors, and graphics, offering a seamless, interactive user experience.
- When and how is our product used? Users will use Eco Hero to identify recyclable items, check local recycling rules, schedule waste collections, earn rewards, access educational content, read the latest news on sustainability, and engage with the community.
- What problems does our product solve? Lack of knowledge about recyclable items, confusion about local recycling regulations, inconvenience in finding recycling information and schedules, lack of motivation to recycle consistently, and the need for reliable and up-to-date information on recycling and sustainability.
- The #1 value a user wants to get out of our service: Accurate and easy-to-understand information about recycling specific items and local regulations.
- Additional benefits: Scheduled reminders for waste collection, rewards for consistent recycling, educational resources on sustainability, updates on recycling-related news and events, and a community to share tips and experiences.
- Acquisition and Revenue Strategies
- Customer Acquisition: Digital marketing campaigns, partnerships with environmental organizations and local governments, word of mouth, community engagement events, and in-app referrals and reward programs.
- Revenue Streams: Government subsidies/grants, advertisers, and subscription plans.
- Market and Competitive Analysis
- Primary Competition: Other recycling apps that may offer greater rewards for recycling and are already well-known.
- Competitive Advantage: Friendlier design, community section, and reward incentives.
- Success Indicators: Increased frequency of recycling-related activities among users, positive feedback in app stores, growth in the number of users, and community participation.
- Critical Assumptions and Risks
- Key Assumptions: Users are motivated by rewards and recognition to improve their recycling habits, trust the information provided by the app, and there is a demand for an app focusing on recycling education. Additionally, local authorities and recycling facilities are willing to collaborate and provide accurate data, and users want to and/or are able to recycle.
- Risks if Assumptions are False: Failure to motivate users, lack of trust in app information, insufficient demand for recycling education, lack of collaboration from local authorities, and users' inability or unwillingness to recycle.
In summary, the Eco Hero kickoff meeting successfully outlined the product's purpose, identified the target users, defined how the product fits into their lives, and established key strategies for development, marketing, and revenue generation. We also addressed our competitive advantages and identified critical assumptions and risks that could impact the project's success.
Literature Review Phase
A literature review is a form of research where researchers gather, analyze, and synthesize published data from various sources to identify patterns and trends relevant to their study. During our team's literature review phase, we examined five sources to deepen our understanding of the recycling industry and its challenges. Here is a summary of the five sources reviewed, followed by the key findings from them all.
This publication delves into the history, benefits, challenges, and government roles in recycling. Key historical milestones include the establishment of Earth Day and the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act. Benefits of recycling include environmental protection, economic gains, and energy savings. Challenges include contamination, market fluctuations, infrastructure inconsistencies, and public awareness. Government involvement at federal, state, and local levels is crucial for successful recycling programs.
RTMG provides comprehensive information on the recycling industry through various trade publications and e-newsletters. The group covers market trends, regulatory updates, technological advancements, and organizes industry events. Key updates include Colorado's EPR program, ASEAN Circular Plastics Summit, and a significant recycling grant in McKinney, Texas.
This report discusses key developments in the recycling industry, emphasizing the need for updated technology and sustainable practices. It covers the impact of policies like China's National Sword, the importance of reducing contamination, and the varying environmental impacts of different products. The report also highlights technological advancements and growing consumer demand for sustainability.
Joe Romuno challenges the economic viability of recycling, highlighting that it can be more costly than disposing of waste due to complexities in the recycling process. The article notes that while recycling metals and glass is economically and energy-efficient, plastics and paper often are not. Despite economic challenges, recycling remains environmentally beneficial and essential for sustainability.
This article highlights the inefficiencies and low success rates of recycling, particularly for plastics, with only 9% being recycled. It emphasizes the need for a shift in focus from economic profitability to environmental conservation. The article suggests that consumer behavior changes, better sorting, and the development of alternative materials are crucial for improving recycling outcomes.
Key Findings from all Sources
- Historical and Legislative Context
- Recycling has evolved significantly, influenced by historical milestones and key legislation. Understanding this context helps in designing features that educate users about the importance and benefits of recycling.
- Challenges and Solutions
- Major challenges include contamination, market instability, infrastructure inconsistencies, and lack of public awareness. Solutions include providing clear guidelines, real-time updates, and educational content to help users recycle correctly and efficiently.
- Technological Advancements
- Innovations like AI-driven sorting machines and new recycling processes can enhance efficiency. Integrating such technologies into our app can improve its functionality and user experience.
- Government and Industry Roles
- Government involvement at all levels is crucial for successful recycling. Collaboration with local authorities and recycling centers can help optimize our app’s features and services.
- Policy and Innovation
- There is a need for policies that prioritize environmental conservation over economic profitability. Innovations in recycling technology and the development of alternative, more sustainable materials can also play a significant role in addressing the current challenges in recycling.
- Consumer Trends and Demand
- There is a growing trend for sustainability among consumers and employees. Our app should align with these trends by providing accurate, accessible information and promoting eco-friendly practices.
- Environmental Benefits
- Despite economic challenges, recycling offers significant environmental benefits. It reduces waste, conserves natural resources, and decreases pollution. The importance of recycling lies more in its environmental impact than its economic returns.
Our sources provided us with a solid foundation to further our ideas on. They highlighted the economic and systemic challenges of recycling and the incredible environmental benefits of it. Gaining these new insights will help us develop a product that is both effective and relevant to our user base.
Competitive Audit Summarized
A competitive audit allows you to identify all current competitors, evaluate their strategies, and determine their strengths and weaknesses relative to your organization's product. By conducting competitive research and analysis, you gain insights into the competition's approaches and can identify opportunities to differentiate your product. Our team conducted a competitive audit on three different recycling apps: Recycle Coach, Bower: Recycle & get Rewarded, and Scrapp - Recycling made simple.
Recycle Coach
The Recycle Coach app helps users unlearn poor recycling habits, reducing contamination and improving recycling efforts. It provides essential, trusted information, such as collection schedules and recycling guides, tailored to each user's address. By connecting with local governments, it ensures accurate details about local recycling programs. The app is free to use and share, encouraging communities to recycle better, support local recycling programs, and protect the environment.
Strengths
Connected to local municipality for relevant information.
Notifications for both recycling and trash pickups the night before pickup.
Easy to navigate; helpful tips that enhance user understanding and contribution to recycling efforts.
Makes recycling properly convenient.
Weaknesses
Requires 20 users to join before access to information is granted.
Robo-calls to remind users can become annoying or unwanted.
No way to return to the main page from the lookup tool without closing and reopening the app.
Slow response to jurisdiction changes (pickup date changes).
Bower: Recycle & get Rewarded
The Bower app makes recycling easy and rewarding. Users can scan items using barcodes or image recognition, find nearby recycling locations, and earn rewards for proper disposal. Bower turns recycling into a game with challenges and competitions, allowing users to track their CO₂ savings and environmental impact. With smart recognition and engaging features, Bower helps users sort waste, earn experience points, and contribute to a cleaner planet. Bower can be downloaded for free.
Strengths
User-friendly design.
Gamification features (earn points, level up, and win prizes).
Shows the location of recycling centers nearby with several filter options.
Provides help and guidance for new users.
Weaknesses
No connection to local recycling companies for pickup dates/notifications.
Requires users to enter banking information to get paid for recycling.
Recycling center locations are inputted by users, leading to many being missing or incorrect.
The scanner adds items to your bag but doesn't provide disposal information.
Scrapp - Recycling Made Simple
Scrapp helps users achieve zero-waste goals by tracking and understanding their waste footprint. The app gathers data from thousands of sources to provide a comprehensive waste and recycling database. Users can track waste from inception to disposal, whether for businesses, brands, schools, or personal use. Scrapp offers solutions for any waste stream, location, and time, aiming to reduce waste, increase recycling rates, and promote sustainability.
Strengths
Overview shows users what they recycled, composted, and wasted.
Straightforward and simple interface.
Offers educational content and tips.
Provides accurate and reliable information.
Weaknesses
Requires users to fill out a lengthy form for each scanned item.
Only supports local guidance in specific areas.
No reward incentive (lack of gamification features).
No connection to local recycling companies for pickup dates/notifications.
Key Findings
Connectivity and Notifications:
- Recycle Coach excels in connecting with local municipalities and providing timely notifications, but its requirement for 20 users to join and its robo-calls are drawbacks.
- Bower lacks local recycling company connections for pickup dates, affecting its notification system.
- Scrapp does not offer notifications for pickup dates, which is a notable gap.
User Interface and Experience:
- All three apps have user-friendly interfaces, with Bower standing out due to its gamification features.
- Recycle Coach and Scrapp provide helpful tips and educational content, enhancing user engagement and understanding.
Data Entry and Information Access:
- Bower and Scrapp require significant user input, which can be a barrier to usability.
- Recycle Coach's issue with navigating back to the main page lowers the user experience.
Reward and Incentive Systems:
- Bower's gamification and reward features are strong motivators for users.
- Scrapp lacks any reward system, which might limit user engagement compared to Bower.
Accuracy and Reliability of Information:
- Scrapp and Recycle Coach offer reliable and accurate information, while Bower faces issues with user-inputted recycling center locations.
Our competitive audit highlights areas where Eco Hero can differentiate itself by combining the strengths and addressing the weaknesses of these apps. By ensuring a seamless connection with local recycling centers, providing user-friendly and informative interfaces, incorporating a motivational reward system, and minimizing the need for extensive user input, Eco Hero can offer a superior and more engaging recycling experience.
An Overview of User Interviews
The user interviews were one of the most eye opening aspects of our research phase. These interviews provided insight into the crucial needs and desires of potential Eco Hero users. Here is a comprehensive look at the importance of these interviews, how we conducted them, and the key takeaways of what interviewees had to say.
Importance of the Research
- Understanding User Needs: To develop a product that connects with users, it was vital to learn their specific needs, wants, and expectations. The needs of our users will drive us to create an app that is relevant and useful in their lives.
- Learning the Obstacles: Exploring users' experiences with current recycling based apps and content helped us find areas where they were unsatisfied and or frustrated. Addressing these issues would better Eco Hero’s effectiveness and user experience.
- Motivation Incentives: Discovering what kinds of incentives would motivate users to recycle more allowed us to create a more fun and engaging experience. By having a rewards system we can distinguish ourselves from other apps that do not include these types of systems.
Conducting the Interviews
The goal of user interviews is to get a better understanding of our users lives, behaviors and goals as well as their attitudes, beliefs towards recycling content.
- Interview Setup: Each team member took turns as the moderator, leading the interview and asking questions. The rest of the team acted as facilitators and took detailed notes based on the interviewees responses. Collaborating in this way helped us record the valuable insights from our interviewees.
- Conducting Interviews: The moderator started each session by asking open-ended questions to encourage participants to share their experiences about their current recycling knowledge, current recycling habits, and why they may not recycle as much as they would wish to. This approach helped us gather qualitative data, where we could begin to identify significant behavior patterns.
- Affinity Mapping: After each interview, we created an Affinity Map. An Affinity Map is a visual tool used to organize data into themes or patterns. We examined the answers to our questions and identified recurring themes and insights from the participants' responses. This process allowed us to categorize the data and identify key trends.
Rosanna Kristy
Rosanna is concerned about the lack of recycling knowledge that people have today. She would love to see an app that can help everyone gain knowledge on how to live sustainably. She presented a possible feature that tracks a users carbon footprint and shows them their real impact on the environment after the log the items they have recycled into the app. Rosanna believes that this may help users feel the weight of their impact more.
Dianne Max
Although she recycles daily at her job, Dianne does not know much about recycling items outside of work. She would love to recycle more as long as the process to do so is simple. If a scanner feature was implemented into the app she would like it to be more useful then a regular internet search for how to recycle whatever item she may have. Dianne would also like to recieve notifications on when the recycling is picked up at her apartment.
Shaun Humphrey
Shaun has good habits to recycle but he often finds himself second guessing whenever it comes to which items the bin goes in. He felt that his knowledge about recycling was good enough until he learned how complex it can be. He wished that there was a source that could've educated him on recycling much sooner. The main pull for him to use a recycling related app is the educational content it provides. It should be up to date on current information but also colorful and engaging.
Ayden Harold
Ayden is very confused on the guidelines for recycling and where he can go to recycle. He never knows what items go where and he wishes there was an easier way to get this information quickly. This is especially needed since where he lives doesn't offer recycling pickup so his only choices are to recycle elsewhere. Ayden thinks he would greatly benefit from an app that could tell him where to go for many different kinds of recyclable items.
Terence Phillis
Terence's knowledge on recycling is very limited. He doesn't know about local guidelines, where to find centers, or that recycling apps even existed. On top of his limited knowledge, his home does not offer recycling pickup and with all these obstacles he finds it too cumbersome to recycle. He notes that if it was easier to find recycling centers then he may be motivated to recycle with incentives to do so.
After conducting the interviews our team collected the most valuable insights from our interviewees.
- Locating Centers: One of the main barriers to recycling is not knowing where to go so by including a feature to locate centers users can easily find somewhere close to them that accepts the recyclables they may have.
- Scanner Functionality: A key feature to identify items quickly is essential for a good user experience compared to how lengthy it can take other methods to identify how to recycle an item.
- Community: Users would like a community feature to share their own experiences with others about recycling. This helps connect them with others who also strive to recycle.
- Educational Content: The lack of recycling knowledge hinders many people from recycling so by making educational content easier to access, we can give our users a central place to learn anything they wish about recycling.
- Pickup Notifications: Users want reminders on recycling pickup times for their homes.
- Motivational Rewards: Implementing a point system where users can level up and gain rewards based on how many items they have recycled can be a great incentive to start and recycle more.
Our Affinity Mapping can be found below for each interview as well as when we identified primary and secondary behaviors in our interviewees.
With a better understanding of user needs, complications, and preferences gained through the GDD research phase, we now had a strong foundation for the next stage of Eco Hero's development. Now, we will transition to the GDD modeling phase, where our team will use the research gathered to create personas that will guide us through the typical user experience for our app.
Developing Personas
After gathering research data from potential users and our product domain, we used the data to create personas. Personas are models that represent the typical users for a given product and are created using common behavior patterns and motivations from research on the product. They provide a clear way to think about and communicate how users behave, what they need, and what they want to achieve. Although personas are not real people, they are based on real user data and help us focus on specific needs. This approach ensures our product is user-centered and avoids adding unnecessary features that might overwhelm our user base.
We created two personas named Emily Gill and Justin Pope. Emily took the role of an avid recycler who wants an all in one resource for her recycling needs. Justin on the other hand, represented users who may find it difficult to recycle but want to learn more and live sustainably.
Emily Gill
Emily Gill, a 28-year-old marketing manager in New York City, is deeply committed to sustainability and reducing her environmental impact. With a degree in Environmental Science, Emily has become the go-to person for eco-friendly initiatives at her tech company, where she has implemented recycling programs and sustainability workshops. Living with her partner and rescue dog in a modern apartment, Emily's daily routine includes eco-conscious practices such as using public transportation, consuming plant-based meals, and participating in local environmental groups. Despite her efforts, she is often frustrated by the complex and inconsistent recycling guidelines, especially for non-standard items. Emily's primary goal is to find reliable information on recycling and locate nearby recycling centers that accept various materials, helping her enhance her personal and professional commitment to sustainability.
Justin Pope
Justin Pope, a second-year student at Florida State University, is increasingly aware of the environmental impact of waste, particularly as he notices litter on his daily 20-minute highway commute from his parents' home. Although he tries to recycle on campus, the process feels time-consuming and ineffective. Justin’s busy schedule, which often keeps him at home studying and ordering items online, results in a buildup of cardboard boxes, adding to his concern about landfill waste. He wishes for an easy, motivating way to recycle, especially since his college dorm lacks recycling pickup. A mobile app that offers clear recycling guidelines and tracks his contributions would help Justin stay committed to making a positive environmental impact.
Here showcases the completed versions of each persona where our team wrote a narrative for each one and defined their goals.
Using Personas in Context Scenarios
Context scenarios are narrative tools used to describe how personas interact with a product within their typical environments. They are valuable because they help designers understand user needs, goals, and struggles they might go through in real-world settings. Before we could develop scenarios for our personas, we first developed a problem and vision statement for our product. Problem statements detail the current issue in the product market and the purpose a product has in solving it. Vision statements are an inversion of problem statements in that they lead with the product's purpose and end with how the product design will meet user needs.
Problem Statement
“The current state of recycling apps has focused primarily on low involvement recycling information. What existing products/services fail to address is the lack of education and general knowledge about recycling. Our product/service will address this gap by Providing accurate, accessible information and interactive tools to educate users about recycling practices and engage them in Eco-friendly activities.”
Vision Statement
“The new design of Eco Hero will help users achieve accurate recycling information and educational resources by allowing them to Scan recyclable materials, access centers near them, and stay notified on their pickup dates with greater accuracy and efficiency without having to think about what goes where, spending too much time entering information, and not knowing where their local centers are located. This will dramatically improve Eco Hero’s user engagement and lead to increased recycling efficacy.”
After we defined our problem and vision statements we started brainstorming to explore ideas and eliminate preconceptions. We then identified persona expectations by analyzing user attitudes, experiences, and behaviors. Finally, we constructed context scenarios, focusing on how our persona, Emily, would engage with our product, ensuring the scenarios addressed her user goals.
Creating Low-Fidelity Wireframes
Low-fidelity wireframes are an essential part of the product design process because they are a simple and cost effective way to represent the basic layout and structure of a product. These wireframes are quick and easy to create, often sketched by hand or using simple tools, allowing designers to iterate rapidly and incorporate feedback from stakeholders and users. By focusing on functionality and the user experience, rather than the design, low-fidelity wireframes help identify potential issues early, ensuring that the product’s structure is well thought out before detailed design work begins.
Luke, Nelson, and I created a low-fidelity wireframe for Eco Hero to get a better idea of all the functions we wanted our app to include. It was an effective collaboration between the three of us that helped us identify the paths our users would take to complete their goals.
Designing the Final Product
Our final prototype was created and designed in Figma. For Eco Hero’s design we wanted to go with a sleek and modern look but still be eye catching to our users. We decided on a green theme in reference to the typical depictions of the recycling symbol and the notion that going green is a phrase associated with helping the planet which is one of the main intentions of our app.
Our designers Genesis and Liz went through several iterations of the product while consulting our other team members. After testing these designs and improving the contrast between elements, we reached the final look of Eco Hero.
The Final Prototype
As we further constructed Eco Hero’s prototype, we made sure our design was easy to navigate, read, and use. Our team worked in Figma together over the course of a week to create the final prototype.
Growing as a Designer
I created the map search page along with the item information pages in accordance to established design decisions. In addition, I helped to make sure that elements were properly spaced between pages and that our team remained consistent with sizing across all of the pages.
Working on Eco Hero with a team of five was something I had never experienced before. Collaborating together and bouncing ideas off of each other was a great learning experience for me. Our team had several ideas for the functions of our product but with such a tight deadline we could not implement everything we wished to.
Before this project I normally worked on designs alone but I never considered how valuable it could be when working on a design with a team. Through our efforts we were able to make one of my first app prototypes that I can be proud of.
The go to place for your recycling needs
Welcome to Eco Hero, your ultimate companion for sustainable living! In a world where environmental challenges are growing, Eco Hero is here to empower you with the tools and knowledge to make a real difference. Our innovative app is designed to simplify recycling and sustainability, providing you with personalized guidance, interactive features, and a supportive community to help you reduce your environmental footprint. Dive in and discover how Eco Hero can transform your daily habits into impactful actions.
At Eco Hero, we believe that every small step counts towards a greener planet. Whether you're new to recycling or a sustainability master, our app is tailored to meet your needs. With features like a smart scanner that decodes recycling instructions for various items, real-time notifications about local recycling pickups, and a vibrant community hub for sharing tips and news, Eco Hero makes recycling easy, fun, and rewarding.
Imagine a world where recycling is effortless and enjoyable. Eco Hero turns that vision into reality with our user-friendly interface and gamified experience. Earn reward points for your eco-friendly actions, level up your profile, and compete with friends to see who can make the most significant positive impact. Our app not only helps you recycle more efficiently but also keeps you informed with the latest sustainability news and trends.
Our mission is to create a community of environmentally conscious individuals who support and inspire each other. With Eco Hero, you'll never feel alone in your quest to live sustainably. Access our comprehensive database of recycling centers, receive expert advice on sorting and cleaning recyclables, and stay up-to-date with local recycling events and initiatives. Start your journey with Eco Hero and experience the difference one app can make in building a cleaner, greener world.
Our Prototype
Eco Hero's prototype is designed to allow users to navigate through the various features our app includes such as the smart scanner, locating centers, tracking your recycling pickup, and our community hub. The prototype serves as the foundation for demonstrating how easy a sustainable future can be when given the proper resources.
Project Methodology
As we developed Eco Hero we strived to answer the following question, "would people recycle more if the process was easier?"
To gain insight on this question, our team conducted interviews with potential users. Based on the interviewees answers our design team was able to identify several primary behavior patterns: an interest in educational content for recycling, a means to make recycling more accesible, and a notification system for pickup days.
Additionally, we conducted research on the product domain by analyzing several sources. The results of our research can be seen in the personas we created as we used these personas to simulate the typical user experience for our app.
This process page was created as part of a class project and is the culmination of the Research and Modeling Phases of the Goal Directed Design (GDD) method. GDD focuses on understanding user goals and behaviors to create products that meet their needs in the most effective way. Through extensive research and iterative design, we identified the core desires of people wishing for a sustainable future and turned them into the main features of Eco Hero.
Meet the Team
Our team consisted of five people with Liz Furlow being the team leader and the creator of Eco Hero's concept. We worked together over a two month period in our Interaction Design 1 course, to develope this prototype.
Liz Furlow
Luke Barber
Kaya Bobo
Genesis Ramos
Nelson Ray
Creating Eco Hero
To devolope Eco Hero we used the Goal Directed Design (GDD) method coined by Alan Cooper. This method helped us ensure that we met the specific needs of sustainability users.
What is Goal Directed Design?
Goal Directed Design is a user-centered design methodology developed by Alan Cooper with its main purpose being to create products that help users achieve their objectives in the most effective and satisfying way possible.
Main aspects of GDD
- Personas: These are fictional characters based on real user data that represent different user types. By understanding these personas, we can design features that cater to specific user needs.
- Scenarios: These are narrative descriptions of how personas will interact with the product to achieve their goals. Scenarios help in visualizing the user journey and identifying potential challenges.
- Goals: These are the outcomes that users want to achieve.
- Design Framework: This is a structured approach to organizing the design elements and interactions in the app, ensuring consistency and usability.
How GDD was used in Eco Hero
- Research and Interviews: We started by conducting interviews and surveys with people interested in recycling to better understand what they would like to see in a recycling app.
- Creating Personas: Based on our research, we developed personas representing the typical users of Eco Hero. This helped us focus on designing features that cater to different types of users who would use a recycling based app.
- Developing Scenarios: We wrote scenarios for each persona, detailing how they would use Eco Hero to achieve their goals. This process highlighted key features and interactions needed in the app.
- Design and Prototyping: Using the insights from our personas and scenarios, we created the prototype for Eco Hero. This prototype was iteratively tested and refined to ensure it provided an informative and useful experience when using and finding information on recycling.
By using Goal Directed Design, we ensured that Eco Hero not only meets the needs of its users but also provides a unique and seemless experience that sets it apart from other recycling apps.
Research Phase
During the research phase of the Goal Directed Design (GDD) method, our team focused on the current state of recycling, the barriers to recyclings, and what recycling related apps already exist.
Kickoff Meeting
A kickoff meeting serves as the initial gathering of everyone involved in a project that details a thorough overview of the product's purpose, the roles of team members, how team members will work together, and what the intended results are for said project. The kickoff meeting was the first step for our team to discuss the main metrics for Eco Hero.
Kickoff Meeting Accomplishments
- Purpose and Problem Statement
- We addressed the problem with current recycling apps, which primarily offer low-involvement recycling information. Existing solutions fail to educate users adequately about recycling practices. Our product, Eco Hero, aims to bridge this gap by providing accurate, accessible information and interactive tools to educate users and engage them in eco-friendly activities.
- Assumption Statements
- Who is the user? Individuals who want to improve their recycling habits or learn more about recycling.
- Where does our product fit in their work or life? Eco Hero fits into users' daily routines, aiding informed decisions about recycling and waste management both at home and in the community.
- How should our product look and behave? Our product will have a clean, intuitive interface with simple navigation, eco-friendly colors, and graphics, offering a seamless, interactive user experience.
- When and how is our product used? Users will use Eco Hero to identify recyclable items, check local recycling rules, schedule waste collections, earn rewards, access educational content, read the latest news on sustainability, and engage with the community.
- What problems does our product solve? Lack of knowledge about recyclable items, confusion about local recycling regulations, inconvenience in finding recycling information and schedules, lack of motivation to recycle consistently, and the need for reliable and up-to-date information on recycling and sustainability.
- The #1 value a user wants to get out of our service: Accurate and easy-to-understand information about recycling specific items and local regulations.
- Additional benefits: Scheduled reminders for waste collection, rewards for consistent recycling, educational resources on sustainability, updates on recycling-related news and events, and a community to share tips and experiences.
- Acquisition and Revenue Strategies
- Customer Acquisition: Digital marketing campaigns, partnerships with environmental organizations and local governments, word of mouth, community engagement events, and in-app referrals and reward programs.
- Revenue Streams: Government subsidies/grants, advertisers, and subscription plans.
- Market and Competitive Analysis
- Primary Competition: Other recycling apps that may offer greater rewards for recycling and are already well-known.
- Competitive Advantage: Friendlier design, community section, and reward incentives.
- Success Indicators: Increased frequency of recycling-related activities among users, positive feedback in app stores, growth in the number of users, and community participation.
- Critical Assumptions and Risks
- Key Assumptions: Users are motivated by rewards and recognition to improve their recycling habits, trust the information provided by the app, and there is a demand for an app focusing on recycling education. Additionally, local authorities and recycling facilities are willing to collaborate and provide accurate data, and users want to and/or are able to recycle.
- Risks if Assumptions are False: Failure to motivate users, lack of trust in app information, insufficient demand for recycling education, lack of collaboration from local authorities, and users' inability or unwillingness to recycle.
In summary, the Eco Hero kickoff meeting successfully outlined the product's purpose, identified the target users, defined how the product fits into their lives, and established key strategies for development, marketing, and revenue generation. We also addressed our competitive advantages and identified critical assumptions and risks that could impact the project's success.
Literature Review Phase
A literature review is a form of research where researchers gather, analyze, and synthesize published data from various sources to identify patterns and trends relevant to their study. During our team's literature review phase, we examined five sources to deepen our understanding of the recycling industry and its challenges. Here is a summary of the five sources reviewed, followed by the key findings from them all.
This publication delves into the history, benefits, challenges, and government roles in recycling. Key historical milestones include the establishment of Earth Day and the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act. Benefits of recycling include environmental protection, economic gains, and energy savings. Challenges include contamination, market fluctuations, infrastructure inconsistencies, and public awareness. Government involvement at federal, state, and local levels is crucial for successful recycling programs.
RTMG provides comprehensive information on the recycling industry through various trade publications and e-newsletters. The group covers market trends, regulatory updates, technological advancements, and organizes industry events. Key updates include Colorado's EPR program, ASEAN Circular Plastics Summit, and a significant recycling grant in McKinney, Texas.
This report discusses key developments in the recycling industry, emphasizing the need for updated technology and sustainable practices. It covers the impact of policies like China's National Sword, the importance of reducing contamination, and the varying environmental impacts of different products. The report also highlights technological advancements and growing consumer demand for sustainability.
Joe Romuno challenges the economic viability of recycling, highlighting that it can be more costly than disposing of waste due to complexities in the recycling process. The article notes that while recycling metals and glass is economically and energy-efficient, plastics and paper often are not. Despite economic challenges, recycling remains environmentally beneficial and essential for sustainability.
This article highlights the inefficiencies and low success rates of recycling, particularly for plastics, with only 9% being recycled. It emphasizes the need for a shift in focus from economic profitability to environmental conservation. The article suggests that consumer behavior changes, better sorting, and the development of alternative materials are crucial for improving recycling outcomes.
Key Findings from all Sources
- Historical and Legislative Context
- Recycling has evolved significantly, influenced by historical milestones and key legislation. Understanding this context helps in designing features that educate users about the importance and benefits of recycling.
- Challenges and Solutions
- Major challenges include contamination, market instability, infrastructure inconsistencies, and lack of public awareness. Solutions include providing clear guidelines, real-time updates, and educational content to help users recycle correctly and efficiently.
- Technological Advancements
- Innovations like AI-driven sorting machines and new recycling processes can enhance efficiency. Integrating such technologies into our app can improve its functionality and user experience.
- Government and Industry Roles
- Government involvement at all levels is crucial for successful recycling. Collaboration with local authorities and recycling centers can help optimize our app’s features and services.
- Policy and Innovation
- There is a need for policies that prioritize environmental conservation over economic profitability. Innovations in recycling technology and the development of alternative, more sustainable materials can also play a significant role in addressing the current challenges in recycling.
- Consumer Trends and Demand
- There is a growing trend for sustainability among consumers and employees. Our app should align with these trends by providing accurate, accessible information and promoting eco-friendly practices.
- Environmental Benefits
- Despite economic challenges, recycling offers significant environmental benefits. It reduces waste, conserves natural resources, and decreases pollution. The importance of recycling lies more in its environmental impact than its economic returns.
Our sources provided us with a solid foundation to further our ideas on. They highlighted the economic and systemic challenges of recycling and the incredible environmental benefits of it. Gaining these new insights will help us develop a product that is both effective and relevant to our user base.
Competitive Audit Summarized
A competitive audit allows you to identify all current competitors, evaluate their strategies, and determine their strengths and weaknesses relative to your organization's product. By conducting competitive research and analysis, you gain insights into the competition's approaches and can identify opportunities to differentiate your product. Our team conducted a competitive audit on three different recycling apps: Recycle Coach, Bower: Recycle & get Rewarded, and Scrapp - Recycling made simple.
Recycle Coach
The Recycle Coach app helps users unlearn poor recycling habits, reducing contamination and improving recycling efforts. It provides essential, trusted information, such as collection schedules and recycling guides, tailored to each user's address. By connecting with local governments, it ensures accurate details about local recycling programs. The app is free to use and share, encouraging communities to recycle better, support local recycling programs, and protect the environment.
Strengths
Weaknesses
Bower: Recycle & get Rewarded
The Bower app makes recycling easy and rewarding. Users can scan items using barcodes or image recognition, find nearby recycling locations, and earn rewards for proper disposal. Bower turns recycling into a game with challenges and competitions, allowing users to track their CO₂ savings and environmental impact. With smart recognition and engaging features, Bower helps users sort waste, earn experience points, and contribute to a cleaner planet. Bower can be downloaded for free.
Strengths
Weaknesses
Scrapp - Recycling Made Simple
Scrapp helps users achieve zero-waste goals by tracking and understanding their waste footprint. The app gathers data from thousands of sources to provide a comprehensive waste and recycling database. Users can track waste from inception to disposal, whether for businesses, brands, schools, or personal use. Scrapp offers solutions for any waste stream, location, and time, aiming to reduce waste, increase recycling rates, and promote sustainability.
Strengths
Weaknesses
Key Findings
Connectivity and Notifications:
- Recycle Coach excels in connecting with local municipalities and providing timely notifications, but its requirement for 20 users to join and its robo-calls are drawbacks.
- Bower lacks local recycling company connections for pickup dates, affecting its notification system.
- Scrapp does not offer notifications for pickup dates, which is a notable gap.
User Interface and Experience:
- All three apps have user-friendly interfaces, with Bower standing out due to its gamification features.
- Recycle Coach and Scrapp provide helpful tips and educational content, enhancing user engagement and understanding.
Data Entry and Information Access:
- Bower and Scrapp require significant user input, which can be a barrier to usability.
- Recycle Coach's issue with navigating back to the main page lowers the user experience.
Reward and Incentive Systems:
- Bower's gamification and reward features are strong motivators for users.
- Scrapp lacks any reward system, which might limit user engagement compared to Bower.
Accuracy and Reliability of Information:
- Scrapp and Recycle Coach offer reliable and accurate information, while Bower faces issues with user-inputted recycling center locations.
Our competitive audit highlights areas where Eco Hero can differentiate itself by combining the strengths and addressing the weaknesses of these apps. By ensuring a seamless connection with local recycling centers, providing user-friendly and informative interfaces, incorporating a motivational reward system, and minimizing the need for extensive user input, Eco Hero can offer a superior and more engaging recycling experience.
An Overview of User Interviews
The user interviews were one of the most eye opening aspects of our research phase. These interviews provided insight into the crucial needs and desires of potential Eco Hero users. Here is a comprehensive look at the importance of these interviews, how we conducted them, and the key takeaways of what interviewees had to say.
Importance of the Research
- Understanding User Needs: To develop a product that connects with users, it was vital to learn their specific needs, wants, and expectations. The needs of our users will drive us to create an app that is relevant and useful in their lives.
- Learning the Obstacles: Exploring users' experiences with current recycling based apps and content helped us find areas where they were unsatisfied and or frustrated. Addressing these issues would better Eco Hero’s effectiveness and user experience.
- Motivation Incentives: Discovering what kinds of incentives would motivate users to recycle more allowed us to create a more fun and engaging experience. By having a rewards system we can distinguish ourselves from other apps that do not include these types of systems.
Conducting the Interviews
The goal of user interviews is to get a better understanding of our users lives, behaviors and goals as well as their attitudes, beliefs towards recycling content.
- Interview Setup: Each team member took turns as the moderator, leading the interview and asking questions. The rest of the team acted as facilitators and took detailed notes based on the interviewees responses. Collaborating in this way helped us record the valuable insights from our interviewees.
- Conducting Interviews: The moderator started each session by asking open-ended questions to encourage participants to share their experiences about their current recycling knowledge, current recycling habits, and why they may not recycle as much as they would wish to. This approach helped us gather qualitative data, where we could begin to identify significant behavior patterns.
- Affinity Mapping: After each interview, we created an Affinity Map. An Affinity Map is a visual tool used to organize data into themes or patterns. We examined the answers to our questions and identified recurring themes and insights from the participants' responses. This process allowed us to categorize the data and identify key trends.
Rosanna Kristy
Rosanna is concerned about the lack of recycling knowledge that people have today. She would love to see an app that can help everyone gain knowledge on how to live sustainably. She presented a possible feature that tracks a users carbon footprint and shows them their real impact on the environment after the log the items they have recycled into the app. Rosanna believes that this may help users feel the weight of their impact more.
Dianne Max
Although she recycles daily at her job, Dianne does not know much about recycling items outside of work. She would love to recycle more as long as the process to do so is simple. If a scanner feature was implemented into the app she would like it to be more useful then a regular internet search for how to recycle whatever item she may have. Dianne would also like to recieve notifications on when the recycling is picked up at her apartment.
Shaun Humphrey
Shaun has good habits to recycle but he often finds himself second guessing whenever it comes to which items the bin goes in. He felt that his knowledge about recycling was good enough until he learned how complex it can be. He wished that there was a source that could've educated him on recycling much sooner. The main pull for him to use a recycling related app is the educational content it provides. It should be up to date on current information but also colorful and engaging.
Ayden Harold
Ayden is very confused on the guidelines for recycling and where he can go to recycle. He never knows what items go where and he wishes there was an easier way to get this information quickly. This is especially needed since where he lives doesn't offer recycling pickup so his only choices are to recycle elsewhere. Ayden thinks he would greatly benefit from an app that could tell him where to go for many different kinds of recyclable items.
Terence Phillis
Terence's knowledge on recycling is very limited. He doesn't know about local guidelines, where to find centers, or that recycling apps even existed. On top of his limited knowledge, his home does not offer recycling pickup and with all these obstacles he finds it too cumbersome to recycle. He notes that if it was easier to find recycling centers then he may be motivated to recycle with incentives to do so.
After conducting the interviews our team collected the most valuable insights from our interviewees.
- Locating Centers: One of the main barriers to recycling is not knowing where to go so by including a feature to locate centers users can easily find somewhere close to them that accepts the recyclables they may have.
- Scanner Functionality: A key feature to identify items quickly is essential for a good user experience compared to how lengthy it can take other methods to identify how to recycle an item.
- Community: Users would like a community feature to share their own experiences with others about recycling. This helps connect them with others who also strive to recycle.
- Educational Content: The lack of recycling knowledge hinders many people from recycling so by making educational content easier to access, we can give our users a central place to learn anything they wish about recycling.
- Pickup Notifications: Users want reminders on recycling pickup times for their homes.
- Motivational Rewards: Implementing a point system where users can level up and gain rewards based on how many items they have recycled can be a great incentive to start and recycle more.
Our Affinity Mapping can be found below for each interview as well as when we identified primary and secondary behaviors in our interviewees.
With a better understanding of user needs, complications, and preferences gained through the GDD research phase, we now had a strong foundation for the next stage of Eco Hero's development. Now, we will transition to the GDD modeling phase, where our team will use the research gathered to create personas that will guide us through the typical user experience for our app.
Developing Personas
After gathering research data from potential users and our product domain, we used the data to create personas. Personas are models that represent the typical users for a given product and are created using common behavior patterns and motivations from research on the product. They provide a clear way to think about and communicate how users behave, what they need, and what they want to achieve. Although personas are not real people, they are based on real user data and help us focus on specific needs. This approach ensures our product is user-centered and avoids adding unnecessary features that might overwhelm our user base.
We created two personas named Emily Gill and Justin Pope. Emily took the role of an avid recycler who wants an all in one resource for her recycling needs. Justin on the other hand, represented users who may find it difficult to recycle but want to learn more and live sustainably.
Emily Gill
Emily Gill, a 28-year-old marketing manager in New York City, is deeply committed to sustainability and reducing her environmental impact. With a degree in Environmental Science, Emily has become the go-to person for eco-friendly initiatives at her tech company, where she has implemented recycling programs and sustainability workshops. Living with her partner and rescue dog in a modern apartment, Emily's daily routine includes eco-conscious practices such as using public transportation, consuming plant-based meals, and participating in local environmental groups. Despite her efforts, she is often frustrated by the complex and inconsistent recycling guidelines, especially for non-standard items. Emily's primary goal is to find reliable information on recycling and locate nearby recycling centers that accept various materials, helping her enhance her personal and professional commitment to sustainability.
Justin Pope
Justin Pope, a second-year student at Florida State University, is increasingly aware of the environmental impact of waste, particularly as he notices litter on his daily 20-minute highway commute from his parents' home. Although he tries to recycle on campus, the process feels time-consuming and ineffective. Justin’s busy schedule, which often keeps him at home studying and ordering items online, results in a buildup of cardboard boxes, adding to his concern about landfill waste. He wishes for an easy, motivating way to recycle, especially since his college dorm lacks recycling pickup. A mobile app that offers clear recycling guidelines and tracks his contributions would help Justin stay committed to making a positive environmental impact.
Here showcases the completed versions of each persona where our team wrote a narrative for each one and defined their goals.
Using Personas in Context Scenarios
Context scenarios are narrative tools used to describe how personas interact with a product within their typical environments. They are valuable because they help designers understand user needs, goals, and struggles they might go through in real-world settings. Before we could develop scenarios for our personas, we first developed a problem and vision statement for our product. Problem statements detail the current issue in the product market and the purpose a product has in solving it. Vision statements are an inversion of problem statements in that they lead with the product's purpose and end with how the product design will meet user needs.
Problem Statement
“The current state of recycling apps has focused primarily on low involvement recycling information. What existing products/services fail to address is the lack of education and general knowledge about recycling. Our product/service will address this gap by Providing accurate, accessible information and interactive tools to educate users about recycling practices and engage them in Eco-friendly activities.”
Vision Statement
“The new design of Eco Hero will help users achieve accurate recycling information and educational resources by allowing them to Scan recyclable materials, access centers near them, and stay notified on their pickup dates with greater accuracy and efficiency without having to think about what goes where, spending too much time entering information, and not knowing where their local centers are located. This will dramatically improve Eco Hero’s user engagement and lead to increased recycling efficacy.”
After we defined our problem and vision statements we started brainstorming to explore ideas and eliminate preconceptions. We then identified persona expectations by analyzing user attitudes, experiences, and behaviors. Finally, we constructed context scenarios, focusing on how our persona, Emily, would engage with our product, ensuring the scenarios addressed her user goals.
Creating Low-Fidelity Wireframes
Low-fidelity wireframes are an essential part of the product design process because they are a simple and cost effective way to represent the basic layout and structure of a product. These wireframes are quick and easy to create, often sketched by hand or using simple tools, allowing designers to iterate rapidly and incorporate feedback from stakeholders and users. By focusing on functionality and the user experience, rather than the design, low-fidelity wireframes help identify potential issues early, ensuring that the product’s structure is well thought out before detailed design work begins.
Luke, Nelson, and I created a low-fidelity wireframe for Eco Hero to get a better idea of all the functions we wanted our app to include. It was an effective collaboration between the three of us that helped us identify the paths our users would take to complete their goals.
Designing the Final Product
Our final prototype was created and designed in Figma. For Eco Hero’s design we wanted to go with a sleek and modern look but still be eye catching to our users. We decided on a green theme in reference to the typical depictions of the recycling symbol and the notion that going green is a phrase associated with helping the planet which is one of the main intentions of our app.
Our designers Genesis and Liz went through several iterations of the product while consulting our other team members. After testing these designs and improving the contrast between elements, we reached the final look of Eco Hero.
The Final Prototype
As we further constructed Eco Hero’s prototype, we made sure our design was easy to navigate, read, and use. Our team worked in Figma together over the course of a week to create the final prototype.
Growing as a Designer
I created the map search page along with the item information pages in accordance to established design decisions. In addition, I helped to make sure that elements were properly spaced between pages and that our team remained consistent with sizing across all of the pages.
Working on Eco Hero with a team of five was something I had never experienced before. Collaborating together and bouncing ideas off of each other was a great learning experience for me. Our team had several ideas for the functions of our product but with such a tight deadline we could not implement everything we wished to.
Before this project I normally worked on designs alone but I never considered how valuable it could be when working on a design with a team. Through our efforts we were able to make one of my first app prototypes that I can be proud of.