Research DC citizen's recycling habits and propose a solution for the city to invest in a circular economy process.
My Role
User Research, Data Analysis, Solution Iteration, Client Presentation
Tools
Field Study, Survey, Storyboards, Affinity Map, Journey Map
Duration
3 months
Mission
To accelerate DC citizens’ participation in a circular economy focusing on the lifecycle of electronics.
Discovery + Research
Starting from scratch, I familiarized myself with the circular economy and how companies have embraced this practice. I also held several user interviews to understand DC citizens’ habits around recycling, focusing on their practice with outdated, personal electronic devices.
Additionally, I created a survey to hear from citizens’ outside of my direct reach.
Field Study
With this mission in mind, I did a field study at the Ft. Totten Transfer Station in DC to investigate where Washingtonians need to go to recycle large household items and their electronics. Were there barriers? Where was the “duct tape” in this process?
For numerous reasons, the transfer station was a sensory overload in a negative way with the harsh smell of trash and confusing directions with no signage.
One piece of “duct tape” I noticed was that they had someone man the front gate to give instructions to drivers. This was helpful since there was limited to no signage.
Persona
Compiling all of the research, my team and I developed a persona, Alex, and then created a journey map to hone in on one bright spot where we could have an impact.
“I’m not sure how to recycle or donate my old phone without exposing my private information.”
“My old phone is sitting in a drawer next to my bed. If my current phone breaks I can at least charge the old one and use it as a stopgap. So I have a mobile device to connect to my email, send Facebook messages, stuff like that.”
Journey Map
Looking at Alex’s journey map, the most exciting part of owning an electronic is shopping for a new one. After she gets the new one, doubts and questions start to drag her mood down.
Alex feels attached to her old phone because it once contained important pictures, but since she backed up data to the cloud, she knows those pictures are safe. Her old phone also cost about $800 so she thinks that it is still worth some money. She's heard that you can recycle electronics at the Ft. Totten Transfer Station, but wonders if her sensitive data would get leaked. Looking toward the end of her journey, there are too many factors to consider, she simply puts the old phone in The Drawer to figure out a solution later. Despite occasional pangs of guilt, her apathy remains.
Journey map displaying the persona's journey through the process of buying a new phone and getting rid of the old one.
Design Process
Focusing on the opportunity that we see in The Drawer, our solution needed to be:
Convenient
Wipe user data completely
Make the user feel good about their choice
In order to break the decision-making apathy, our solution engaged the user’s emotions and supply a feeling of joy.
Assumptions
With a tight time constraint of one week, I selected one assumption to prototype and test. I created a storyboard to test the assumption that channel partners would lend to the validation of the initial idea of leasing phones to small businesses.
This assumption in and of itself was weak, but when I tested it on users, I found that it had merit as well. During an ideation session with my team, we reviewed the various assumptions that we each had tested on our own and worked to evolve our original solution.
Client Proposal
Envisioning the “Alex” in our community, our solution is a corporate social responsibility initiative that partners with major retailers and shipping services to create a donation pipeline for used electronics in the DC area. This combines the previous assumption I tested, buoyed by more structure. With that, we see the flow of electronic devices going through 4 major cycles.
Fully functioning devices would be sent to an organization that would distribute them to people in need of phones or internet connection.
Devices with limited functionality would be used as calculators, cameras, or recording devices.
Nonfunctional devices would be taken apart and repurposed for new tech creations and educational purposes.
Final stage, we solicit the old devices and return them to the manufacturers where they can be taken apart for scrap and valuable attributes can be recovered for new devices.
Circular flow of phones going through 3 major cycles
conclusion
We know that The Drawer is the enemy of the circular economy. It’s where momentum dies. We are the only initiative that is trying to create a new way of consumption. We want to change the consumer’s mindset so that when they buy a new piece of technology, they are already conscious of where it will go when they get rid of it. We are looking to eliminate The Drawer altogether.