RefCycle

salvaging our waste management habits

Overview

Designed remotely with a team of five, RefCycle is a conceptual iOS application aimed at simplifying recycling, and helping users discover ways to manage waste that is difficult to recycle. By designing an engaging tool to guide users about proper recycling, the likelihood of users to develop sustainable habits increases significantly, reducing obstacles and making eco-friendly practices more accessible and intuitive in their daily lives.

Team

Nick Diehl

Lucia Mendez

Jillian Penalosa

Kiley Sullivan

Tai Vieira

Nick Diehl

Lucia Mendez

Jillian Penalosa

Kiley Sullivan

Tai Vieira

Project timeline

3 weeks

My role

Conceptual design

UX & UI designer

Design tools

Figma

Illustrator

Photoshop

User research

To better understand what a potential userbase might look like, several questions needed to be answered about waste-management habits:

How do people navigate and strategize their recycling habits?

How do people navigate and strategize their recycling habits?
How do they handle hard-to-recycle materials?
What approaches are effective in promoting sustainable waste management behaviors?

How do people navigate and strategize their recycling habits?
How do they handle hard-to-recycle materials?
What approaches are effective in promoting sustainable waste management behaviors?

How do people navigate and strategize their recycling habits?
How do they handle hard-to-recycle materials?
What approaches are effective in promoting sustainable waste management behaviors?

Our team conducted an online survey with 70 participants from across the U.S., and five one-on-one interviews over Zoom, asking participants about their recycling habits, motivations, and frustrations. Notes from our research were categorized into groups to develop key takeaways.

Habits:

People assume that roughly 60% of their personal waste is recyclable.

Some believe that recycling becomes easier with more conscious practice.

Most people have dedicated separate waste and recycling bins in their homes.

Obstacles:

Recycling guidelines can vary from the city, county, and state levels. Guideline information can also be difficult to find.

There aren't enough solutions for items that are difficult to recycle.

"Is this even recyclable?"

Stewardship:

People feel responsible for their environmental footprint and impact.

Reliable resources like educational apps are important for younger generations.

People choose sustainable consumer products when shopping (when available).

Research Insight

Research insight

Based on our research, people feel responsible for their environmental impact, often opting to recycle at home to the best of their ability and knowledge. Most individuals, however, struggle to determine what items are recyclable, and would be more inclined to recycle if they were provided with clearer guidelines and a helping hand.

Individuals dedicated to sustainability struggle to find comprehensive recycling information, particularly for items that are generally difficult to recycle.

The scarcity of accessible resources creates roadblocks to promoting waste management and proper recycling.

Meet our user, Wesley Green

Wesley Green is a 32 year old high school teacher from Austin, TX. His deep sense of community involvement and stewardship for supporting his students’ success drives his motivation to be a local role model.

His needs:

Responsible & sustainable waste management.

Easy access to local recycling guidelines and facilities.
Clear directions on how to properly sort recycling material.
Detailed and accurate educational resources.

Responsible & sustainable waste management.

Easy access to local recycling guidelines and facilities.

Clear directions on how to properly sort recycling material.

Detailed and accurate educational resources.

His frustrations:

Lack of motivation for the general public to recycle.
Poor messaging & education about recycling.
“Wishcycling” - disposing of waste in a recycling bin, hoping it can be recycled (most of the time it can not).
The convenience and prevalence of disposable items creates social pressures that make his community’s involvement to recycle difficult.

Lack of motivation for the general public to recycle.

Poor messaging & education about recycling, i.e., “wishcycling,” disposing of waste in a recycling bin, hoping it can be recycled (most of the time it can not).

The prevalence of disposable items creates social pressures that make his community’s involvement to recycle difficult.

Meet our user, Wesley Green

The problem

Empathizing with Wesley’s needs & frustrations highlights common obstacles that our potential userbase might face, distilling a problem that our team intended to solve:

Eco-conscious people like Wesley often struggle to find comprehensive and useful recycling information, particularly for items that are generally difficult to recycle at home. The scarcity of accessible resources creates roadblocks to promoting impactful waste management and proper recycling.

Eco-conscious people like Wesley often struggle to find comprehensive and useful recycling information, particularly for items that are generally difficult to recycle at home.

The scarcity of accessible resources creates roadblocks to promoting impactful waste management and proper recycling.

The problem

Empathizing with Wesley’s needs & frustrations highlights common obstacles that our potential userbase might face, distilling a problem that our team intended to solve:

Eco-conscious people like Wesley often struggle to find comprehensive and useful recycling information, particularly for items that are generally difficult to recycle at home.

The scarcity of accessible resources creates roadblocks to promoting impactful waste management and proper recycling.

The problem

Only 9% of all of the plastic ever produced has been recycled.
72% of plastic waste is littered or finds its way into landfills.
The remaining 19% is incinerated.
Only 9% of all of the plastic ever produced has been recycled.
72% of plastic waste is littered or finds its way into landfills.
The remaining 19% is incinerated.
Only 9% of all of the plastic ever produced has been recycled.
72% of plastic waste is littered or finds its way into landfills.
The remaining 19% is incinerated.
Only 9% of all of the plastic ever produced has been recycled.
72% of plastic waste is littered or finds its way into landfills.
The remaining 19% is incinerated.

Only 9% of all of the plastic ever produced has been recycled.
72% of plastic waste is littered or finds its way into landfills.
The remaining 19% is incinerated.
Only 9% of all of the plastic ever produced has been recycled.
72% of plastic waste is littered or finds its way into landfills.
The remaining 19% is incinerated.
Only 9% of all of the plastic ever produced has been recycled.
72% of plastic waste is littered or finds its way into landfills.
The remaining 19% is incinerated.
Only 9% of all of the plastic ever produced has been recycled.
72% of plastic waste is littered or finds its way into landfills.
The remaining 19% is incinerated.

Only 9% of all of the plastic ever produced has been recycled.
72% of plastic waste is littered or finds its way into landfills.
The remaining 19% is incinerated.
Only 9% of all of the plastic ever produced has been recycled.
72% of plastic waste is littered or finds its way into landfills.
The remaining 19% is incinerated.
Only 9% of all of the plastic ever produced has been recycled.
72% of plastic waste is littered or finds its way into landfills.
The remaining 19% is incinerated.
Only 9% of all of the plastic ever produced has been recycled.
72% of plastic waste is littered or finds its way into landfills.
The remaining 19% is incinerated.

Empathizing with Wesley’s needs & frustrations highlights common obstacles that our potential userbase might face, distilling a problem that our team intended to solve.

Ideation

The idea for an iOS application was considered the perfect solution due to its portability. Our result, RefCycle, came to life via swift group-ideation activities, and determining what functions were essential to address Wesley's issue:

Recyclopedia

A comprehensive database with information about the different types of recyclable material.

Item identification

Using the iOS camera, items and barcodes can be scanned to determine if items are recyclable.

Upcycling ideas

DIY crafting projects and ideas to repurpose & upcycle items are presented in a scrollable feed.

Waste facility locator

Proximity-based recycling facility locator for users to drop off hard-to-recycle materials.

Developing a user flow

After launching the app and onboarding, a RefCycle user might want to…

Take a photo, scan, or search for the item they would like to recycle

Let RefCycle determine if that item is recyclable at home

From here, a user can decide if they would like to drop this item off at a nearby facility…

Or repurpose their item at home into something new.

Take a photo, scan, or search for the item they would like to recycle

Let RefCycle determine if that item is recyclable at home

From here, a user can decide if they would like to drop this item off at a nearby facility…

Or repurpose their item at home into something new.

Visual design

Inspiration

While RefCycle’s initial features and content were aimed at being informational and helpful, keeping users engaged, involved, and returning to the platform were factored in as a necessity for a positive user experience.

Using these referee references added a charm to the platform, increasing user's trust from a reliable figure.

The inspiration and references for RefCycle, and most notably its feature to determine recyclable items, came from classic sports referees, helping users stay in line with their local recycling “rules.” Using these referee references added a charm to the platform, increasing user's trust from a reliable figure.

Inspiration

Referee cards

A referee’s penalty cards, in addition with the familiar blue recycling bin, would be referenced and used to help identify and categorize different items and materials that users input. RefCycle then provides users with disposal options, locations, and ways to upcycle non-recyclable materials.

Color & typography

Mirage Blue

#17212C

Marine Blue

#4468A1

PELATI RED

#EB4440

Gold

#FFD809

San Marino

#4468A1

PELATI RED

#EB4440

Gold

#FFD809

Mirage Blue

#17212C

Marine Blue

#4468A1

PELATI RED

#EB4440

Gold

#FFD809

Display

Body

Outfit

Hi-fi wireframes

Mirage Blue

#17212C

San Marino

#4468A1

PELATI RED

#EB4440

Gold

#FFD809

Color & typography

Mirage Blue

#17212C

San Marino

#4468A1

PELATI RED

#EB4440

Gold

#FFD809

Display

Body

Usability testing

Sketch Prototype
Low-fidelity Prototype
High-fidelity Prototype
Second High-fidelity Prototype
Sketch Prototype
Low-fidelity Prototype
High-fidelity Prototype
Second High-fidelity Prototype
Sketch Prototype
Low-fidelity Prototype
High-fidelity Prototype
Second High-fidelity Prototype
Sketch Prototype
Low-fidelity Prototype
High-fidelity Prototype
Second High-fidelity Prototype

Sketch Prototype

Low-fidelity Prototype

High-fidelity Prototype

Second High-fidelity Prototype

RefCycle underwent several rounds of testing through different iterations to determine it’s usability successes and flaws. User tests were conducted through Zoom with each prototype.

Users were tested with several tasks, such as scanning materials to determine their disposal options, finding upcycling projects, and finding location-based recycling guidelines, and searching for specific material information on one of the seven different types of plastic.

Lo-fi testing success rate

87%

Hi-fi testing success rate

97%

Testing was a major success, and only improved with each iteration. Testing with the lo-fi prototype held an overall 87% task success rate that increased to 97% with hi-fi prototypes.

User feedback

“Button sizes need to be larger”

Users missed certain buttons or needed help clicking them due to their small size.

“Buttons need to be larger”

Users missed certain buttons or needed help clicking them due to their small size.

“What is upcycling?”

Many users had contextual questions with unfamiliar terms and phrases.

“What is upcycling?”

Many users had contextual questions with unfamiliar terms and phrases.

“Information heavy”

Text load on the certain pages needed to be reduced as users would be turned away when seeing heavy text, even before reading.

“Information heavy”

Text load on the certain pages needed to be reduced as users would be turned away when seeing heavy text, even before reading.

Positive feedback from user tests noted RefCycle's streamlined & modern look, accessibility of features, and general ease of navigation through content.

User testing feedback was taken into account for the second iteration of the hi-fi prototype, focusing on solidifying RefCycle’s branding, navigation, and map interface. Navigational paths were shortened, and a referee’s image was more prominent throughout RefCycle’s content.

First Iteration
Second Iteration
First Iteration
Second Iteration
First Iteration
Second Iteration
First Iteration
Second Iteration

First Iteration
Second Iteration
First Iteration
Second Iteration
First Iteration
Second Iteration
First Iteration
Second Iteration

First Iteration
Second Iteration
First Iteration
Second Iteration
First Iteration
Second Iteration
First Iteration
Second Iteration

Impact

With only a small fraction of plastic ever being recycled, and widespread confusion about recyclable materials, RefCycle bridges the gap between frustration and action with a focus on user-friendliness.

By introducing RefCycle, users were easily able to tackle & solve their waste management problems, find guidance to help streamline their recycling habits, and discover solutions for handling difficult-to-recycle items in a more sustainable way.

RefCycle would empower users like Wesley to lead by example, making sustainable choices more accessible and engaging for their communities, and contributing to a significant positive impact on waste management and environmental health.

RefCycle

RefCycle

RefCycle

salvaging our waste management habits

salvaging our waste management habits

salvaging our waste management habits

Overview

Overview

User research

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