RRReturn makes it easy for people to understand recycling in their city and how they can make a change
Client
❋ Concept work
Timeline
❋ 2 weeks
Role
❋ Product designer
Tasks
❋ UX design
❋ UI design
❋ User research
Overview
RRReturn is an app that makes it simple and easy for people to reduce, reuse and recycle.
With our lives becoming more and more impacted by climate change, these three steps are small ways individuals can make a difference.
Recycling particularly can be tricky, as it can change so much depending on city facilities.
RRReturn aims to solve this problem by making it easy for people to understand how recycling works in their city and how they can make a change.
Instead of endless scrolling on Google to see what’s what, RRReturn makes it simple allowing users to scan their items to see the best way to dispose of it in their city as well as providing alternatives to reduce and reuse their waste.
Preliminary research
Survey
A short survey was sent around asking people from around the world about recycling and the environment.
The research gathered information on people’s recycling behaviours, the knowledge of the environmental impacts and their behaviours when it comes to reducing waste.
The survey showed that although many people are knowledgeable about the environment, they are less knowledgeable about recycling in their city and how to reduce their consumption.
I also used this as an opportunity to explain the new app and ask the existing users what they would want out of it.
User personas
I developed two user personas using the data from the survey.
The two personas, although finding different value in the app are vaguely passionate about the environment and have a hard time finding the right information all the time.
Task flow
I developed a task flow for Monica, keeping it to the very basics of how she would use the app.
Finding out the best way to recycle a jar in her area, and then following along to see the best way that she can reduce the use of jars in her life altogether.
Design
Wireframes
From this simple user flow, I developed the wireframes.
Through this process I tested the wireframes to see what screens were missing along the flow and identified a few gaps in the user flow that I could fill before the mid-fidelity design.
I tested the wireframes to see what screens were missing along the flow and identified a few gaps in the user flow.
These tests resulted in three extra pages to be added:
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Home page
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Guest sign-in page
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Item confirmation page
Logo design
The name of the app “RRReturn” is a play on the three R's of waste reduction — Reduce, Reuse, Recycle!
The logo began as a little scribble, originally I was thinking of including some items being thrown.
From there, I began to think about things that were thrown and return, like boomerangs. I then came up with the idea of merging the R with the arrows of the recycling icon.
The style for the app is fun and approachable.
Recycling can be really dry, but the app will aim to elevate what you can achieve as an individual and get you excited through the liveliness of the colours and typefaces.
Style
Mid-fidelity design
The mid-fidelity design takes all the wireframes and brings them to life with a little magic from the style guide.
Testing & updates
User testing
I walked through the prototype with three volunteers, asking them to fulfil these tasks:
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Sign in with an email address
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Scan a jar of pickles
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Find the nearest zero-waste store
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Change their location
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Find an item that didn’t have a barcode
The users tested found the app very informative and were able to navigate through it easily. Although, users hit a bit of trouble with the map and log in / sign up pages
Priority updates
The updates focused on creating a smoother experience for the users as they navigate through the app.
The priority updates were:
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Prioritising the 'sign up' over 'log in'
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Adding a search bar to the map
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Adding a current location to the map
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Adding more detail to the map legend
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Changing the copy in the of the “Learn more about your impact” section
Learnings
This was a really fun project. It took a little bit of time to identify an app that people would find value in.
Once I came up with the idea it was exciting in the user testing to see people using it and learning from it.
This was a great exercise in refining my own style and bringing together everything that I had learnt. As well as finding new tips and tricks to make the prototype as fun and exciting as it can be.