Matter

With global warming spiraling dangerously out of control, we are increasingly conscious of how our decisions affect the precious ecosystems on this planet. 

Capitalizing off of the self-tracking movement, our goal is to develop a solution that helps Seattle residents limit their impact on the environment by reducing the amount of waste that ends up in the landfill.

As a solution we developed Matter, a bluetooth and data tracking product that helps users monitor waste consumption and sign automated petitions.

SCOPE

  • Student Project

  • Cat McCartney and Christy Rosenlund

  • 8 Weeks

  • Figma, Photoshop, Illustrator, Zoom

  • Desk research, surveys, user interviews, persona hypothesis, journey mapping, affinity diagramming, wireframing, prototyping, user testing

PROBLEM

  • How might we create a system to increase recycling and composting success rates?

  • How might we empower the user to move past a fear-based freeze response into action?

GOALS

  1. Reduce the amount of waste sent to the landfill

  2. Eliminate recyclables and compost in the trash

  3. Design a passive tracking system that doesn’t feel like a chore

  4. Demonstrate personal benefits to reducing waste

RESEARCH

When faced with a monumental and complex problem such as climate change it is important to begin the discovery process exploring the problem space through existing research. This exploration provided higher level insights around the state of waste in Seattle, but failed to capture baseline data around waste habits amongst Seattle residents. To gain insight on the attitudes and behaviors of our potential users we developed an attitudinal survey and conducted unser interviews that produced qualitative and quantitative data.

THEMES

  • Waste Generation: The primary factors leading to waste generation are population growth and increased economic activity.

  • Growth in Seattle: With over 150,000 newcomers to the city in the past decade, Seattle is ranked as one of the fastest growing cities in the nation.

  • State of Waste: Almost 35% of what ends up in the landfill are items that could be composted. In 2019 over 122,000 recyclable items were found in King County landfills. 

  • Climate Action: Seattleites feel too overwhelmed by the scope of the problem to believe their actions will truly make a difference.

  • Waste Habits & Tracking: Overall, Seattleites would like to be doing more to reduce their impact on the environment. However, many people do not make climate change a top priority in their daily lives. Individuals prefer data tracking applications that are free or low-cost, include data visualization, and include some kind of changing element to keep things fresh.

  • Pain Points: The major factors stopping people from doing more are fear, time, convenience and finances.

  • Feelings: People feel powerless, guilty, and unsure how to improve their waste habits. Participants also expressed confusion around recycling and waste rules

  • Behaviors: “Aspirational recycling” when people throw items in the recycling hoping it gets to the right place.

FEATURE ANALYSIS

With no other mental model, a traditional competitive evaluation was not possible. Instead, we chose to conduct a feature analysis of recycling, carbon footprint and data tracking applications as they incorporate features relevant to our end product. The goal for the feature analysis was to take an in-depth look at how others solve similar design problems, discover strengths, and identify weaknesses.

THEMES

  • Clear definitions around garbage, recycling, and compost

  • Passive data collection 
(i.e., pedometer, Bluetooth, & GPS)

  • Goal setting and recommendations

  • Cash or money saving incentives

  • Gamification

  • Data visualization

  • Material categories with icons

  • List and map views

  • Recycle site contact information

  • Localized disposal information

  • In-app calling

  • Search feature

  • Special item pick-up requests

  • Reminders

  • Cart calculations

  • Educational materials (articles)

  • On-boarding questionnaire

  • Home screen widgets

PERSONA & JOURNEY MAP

After conducting extensive discovery, we developed a persona and future-state customer journey map. The primary goal of our persona Zoe, is to support user-centered design in the remaining stages of the design process.

AFFINITY DIAGRAM

The research phase produced a considerable amount of data around our users and their needs. In order to organize this information and hone in on our product and features, we chose to conduct an affinity diagramming session. Prior to the session, we worked to develop two primary “how might we questions” to help us generate additional ideas not captured in our research.

At the conclusion of the affinity diagramming session we finalized our product, a waste-tracking mobile app that helps people easily take action towards slowing climate change on personal, corporate, and governmental levels. Through passive tracking and micro-activist actions such as automated petitions, our product builds users’ agency to combat climate change without feeling like a chore.

KEY FEATURES

  • Bluetooth scales: in-home scales for trash, recycling and compost bins to help users track their waste outputs. 

  • Tracking + Data Visualization: general and personalized data visualization, optional goal setting.

  • Recycling Database: Scanner and search feature to look up harder to recycle items and localized recycling centers.

  • Microactions: Automated letters and petitions, petitions based on scanned items, tips to further reduce waste.

USER FLOW

After identifying key features, a user flow was needed to conceptualize the application architecture. The primary goal in developing a user flow was to optimize task completion for a streamlined user experience.

PRODUCT SKETCHING

After identifying key features, a user flow was needed to conceptualize the application architecture. The primary goal in developing a user flow was to optimize task completion for a streamlined user experience.

PROTOTYPE

Due to time constraints we focused on developing the data visualization and petition signing task flows. Built in Figma, our goal for the mid-fidelity wireframes was to produce an interactive prototype for testing and iteration.

USER TESTING

Our goal for testing was to assess interactivity, visual design, content and navigation hierarchy. In order to accomplish this, we administered four qualitative, unmoderated, and remote user tests via Zoom.

KEY FINDINGS

  • Waste numbers are too big for a single household

  • Include more gamification through things like badges and medals

  • Include UI flourishes throughout the application to create that “feel good” moment

  • Include other actions or options to help aid petition searchability

  • In larger data visualizations, users should be able to quickly zoom in to view a specific day.

BRANDING

After a brainstorming session, we decided to name our product Matter. Matter represents both standing up to combat climate change and also the physical matter we throw out everyday. 

Most climate change organizations and brands employ the color green. As we built out our design system we wanted to avoid this association as it can lead to feelings of panic, anxiety or even moral failure for not doing enough. We wanted Matter to be a place where users could experience a space that is grounded and soothing.

FINAL PROTOTYPE

All of the recommendations from our user testing was implemented into the final design.

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