Recycle me
-Medicine waste
Duration
3 Weeks
Methodology
Lean UX
My Role
UX/UI Designer
Encourage people to participate in household medical waste recycling initiatives
Tools
Overview
The aim of this project is to develop an innovative design for a digital tool by understanding the current processes and attitudes of users towards the disposal of household medical waste.
Combined with behavioural science to engage in household medical waste recycling actions and contains a certain amount of relevant knowledge to make recycling information and processes clearer and more understandable to the public.
Dramatic increase in plastic pollution from the pandemic
"Millions of discarded single-use plastics (masks, gloves, aprons, and bottles of sanitizers) have been added to the terrestrial environment."
Imagine how to deal with your used masks?
Hope you didn't litter it on the road
Making it easy
Intelligent identification of the type of household medical waste to be recycled, with guidance information and AR map navigation to help you complete recycling tasks quickly.
Recycling process tracing
All recycling processes are transparent and users can track where their recyclables are going at any time, taking the worry out of whether they will be 'reused'.
Get what you deserve
Upon completion of the recycling task, users will be rewarded with points that can be redeemed for basic PPE or everyday items. Also, the swap system allows for reading environmental news and watching videos to receive additional point rewards.
[001]
Make an Assumption
The initial idea was to set up a recycle system service for the disposable mask only. Here is the connection between each stakeholder in this process.
Proto-persona
Before conducting the preliminary research, two proto-personas were created based on the stakeholder map to assume initial user requirements from the perspective of the public involved in the recycling initiative and the start-up entrepreneurs interested in the recycling initiative as an entry point to prioritise the content of the survey.
It has been found that although there is a very high market demand for recycling of masks in an environmentally friendly way, the high cost and the poor margins are currently the main factors affecting the willingness of recycling companies. The previous version of the problem statement therefore shifted from a single mask to a focus on all household medical waste, including PPE:
‘’How could people be motivated to change their habits regarding the disposal of household medical waste?"
[002]
Further verification of the demand
Based on these findings, I invited four respondents to participate in semi-structured interviews and integrated the results into an affinity diagram to validate the correctness of users' preferences and needs for PPE recycling in the original persona.
Easier collection methods in the recycling process will increase the likelihood that users will perform the task.
Insight 1
" Actually, I think it's quite nice to have a home service and a professional to collect it, and I don't have to think about sorting it myself."
“ In fact, I think the door-to-door service, there is a professional person to collect, is good if you can make an appointment.“
Users want more clarity on the post-recycling process will be handled to alleviate their concerns about secondary contamination and the effectiveness of recycling.
Insight 2
Users want to receive knowledge and material incentives for the collection process
Insight 3
" I would probably be more willing to participate if there was a reward"
“ I probably knew they had a negative impact on the environment, but I couldn't usually see it visually.“
When people understand the contribution of waste management and its impact on the environment, they become more responsible
Insight 4
Findings
Incorporating insights from the survey and interviews, I adapted the proto-personas, and created assumption map to raise correspondingly proposed solutions based on user motivations and user focus frustrations.
I prioritized these findings and user pain points and came up with the following four key challenges：
How Might We...
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better understand how the different types of PPE should be disposed of correctly?
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effectively save users' time when performing recycling tasks?
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reduce the worry about the subsequent disposing process for the users?
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increase the willingness of users to participate in household healthcare waste management?
[003]
Brainstorm & Sketching
Then, starting from the opportunity points obtained from the user journey map, brainstorming and user experience sketches are used to develop and export concepts to form the initial prototype of the project solution.
Initial idea generation
To better understand the behavioural logic of users performing key actions in the act of recycling, I used an online tool to create 20 cards describing the key functional information described above, allowing users to categorise and name them in order to build a mental model of the user.
Based on the mental model, we can identify four main behavioral routes for the user, as the bases for the task-based design of the interface.
Opportunity
To identify the emotional lows and highs in the process and to relate the solution to the user's behavioral stages, I conceived a user journey diagram of the recycling behavior curve in a point reward model.
[004]
MVP creating
Initial prototyping of the main interfaces for the four routes was then carried out and A/B testing using an online poll.
Wireframe
It can be seen that users prefer a clearly categorized and neatly arranged interface, therefore, I will improve the fluency and visual experience by hiding some information and adjusting the information hierarchy.
Route 1
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Identify the type of item to be recycled
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Gain knowledge of how to recycle that item
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Find a recycling point and complete the recycling.
Or
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Select an appointment time and the items to be collected
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Fill in the address and contact information
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Re-confirm the booking information
Route 2
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Positive feedback after recycling
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Scan the QR code to trace the destination of your recyclables
Route 3 & 4
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Redeeming points for merchandise
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Click to read recycling-related articles/videoes
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Get more rewards points
[005]
Final screen
One-stop recycling guide & Door to door service
Intelligent identification of the type of household medical waste to be recycled, with guidance information and AR map navigation to help you complete your recycling tasks quickly.
We also offer a door-to-door collection service, so you can collect your items from the comfort of your home by booking
Recycling process traceability
Recycling knowledge
Positive feedback
The manage company for the recycling process is also listed on this page, giving the user a sense of trust.
Track process
Earn rewards points from achieving tasks
Redemption Mall
When users find they don't have enough points to buy, they can earn points by learning about recycling. This increased the likelihood of users clicking through to the information page and providing a start point for them to find out more about recycling news.
After reading the article, users will see prompted feedback giving them bonus points for completing the reading
Usability test
The results of the test proved that the app was effective in helping users understand and participate in household medical waste recycling initiatives, with almost every participant giving the product praise after completing the prototype test:
Complete functionality
A sense of surprise on the feedback page
Meaningful and Achievement
" A very complete application! I really like the function to earn points from reading recycled knowledge. Never thought used masks would have such a big impact on the environment.
The feedback screen that pops up after a successful recycle is cute! A little octopus escaping the confines of a mouthpiece. "
