Overview
Project Duration: June 2021 to August 2021
My role: UX Designer researching and designing Green Circle app from concept to completion
Responsibilities: Conducting interviews, paper and digital wireframing, low and high-fidelity prototyping, conducting usability studies, accounting for accessibility, and iterating on designs
The Project
The product: Green Circle Recycling provides recycling services to Southeast Minnesota and Southwest Wisconsin communities in partnership with local government and trash haulers. Green Circle’s target audience is everyone in a designated hauler’s service area.
The problem: There is no comprehensive website or how-to guide for residents to learn how to properly recycle, which leads to stream contamination and low program participation rates.
The goal: Design an app to help improve the recycling stream and participation by providing residents with helpful and necessary recycling information right on their phone.
Users & Audience
I conducted 1:1 stakeholder interviews and created empathy maps to better understand user needs. After gaining a better understanding of these key stakeholder groups, I created a county-wide survey to dig deeper into what residents wanted to see in the app, and what struggles they currently have with recycling.
The initial user groups confirmed my original assumptions - there is lack of trust in the recycling system, key information is missing from online, and there is an overall misunderstanding of how to properly recycle. We were able to then confirm with a wider-reach survey what the top user pain points are and how residents wanted to see the issues addressed.
User Research: Pain Points
1. Personalization
Users can find general information online about recycling, but lacking personalized information regarding their schedule and sorting system.
2. Information Architecture
Current sorting guides are difficult to navigate, contain overwhelming amounts of information, or are generally disorganized.
3. Content
Key information about the recycling process is lacking and user questions are going unaddressed, causing errors or distrust in the recycling system.
Starting the Design
Paper Wireframes
Sketching a variety of paper wireframes was helpful in determining the best approach to present the information and which app elements would be necessary for the user. My focus was on ensuring the sorting guide was easy to understand with little hidden information.
Digital Wireframes
While creating digital wireframes, I made sure to include elements addressing main user pain points discovered in the user research process, such as a personalized schedule and straightforward access to a sorting guide.
Two user needs that surprised us were the desire for general information about the recycling process to build trust, and the need for some kind of waste collection drop off map. We made sure to include those here.
Low-Fidelity Prototype
Using the wireframes, I created a low-fidelity prototype. The primary user flow we wanted to focus on was navigating the sorting guide from determining if an item is or is not recyclable to locating where to put the item.
Refining the design
Usability Study Findings
I conducted two rounds of usability studies. Findings from the first highlighted common user errors we needed to address before moving to our high fidelity prototype. The second study used a high-fidelity prototype and showed final adjustments needed in the design.
Round 1 Findings:
1. Simplified Navigation
2. Improved Visual Grouping
3. Add missing cues
Round 2 Findings:
1. Section headlines should be more prominent
2. Improved color-coordination for recycling vs. drop off vs. trash
High-Fidelity Prototype
The final high-fidelity prototype shows cleaner and improved user flows for determining if an item is recyclable, and then finding what to do with that item. It meets users needs by creating a simple, comprehensive sorting guide as well as gives a glimpse into the personalizations that will exist on the app.
Case Study