In collaboration with three other graduate students, I contributed to the design of the Wecycle app. This app was designed to help individuals to monitor and facilitate their individual recycling behavior.

NOTE: The very talented Andrew Ku created the final graphic design and user interface for this app.

Team Members: Sybil Boone, Andrew Ku, and Shengjie Zhang

In order to gain background information on how people recycle, their thoughts on recycling, and the barriers they face, we interviewed students and faculty at the University of Michigan. After recording these interviews we came together and discussed several key themes which had emerged. These themes were consolidated into the areas we would then focus on with our design: knowledge, habits, norms, barriers, and motivation.

Each of us then came up with many different design ideas to address the pain points and problems which had come up through our user interviews. As a group we developed categories for each of our design ideas and narrowed our scope. This is shown in the sticky notes posted on the white board.

Brainstorming ideas

Working with a team member in narrowing our designs down.

Early on we envisioned a wearable which the user would use at the point of recycling. This sketch shows how the wearable wristband would allow the user to scan the bar codes of items to determine if they are recyclable. Recycled items would be logged by pressing buttons on the bracelet and then visualized and tracked on a webpage or app.

After additional research and discussion with other designers and additional research into recycling behavior, we decided to move away from the wearable idea and constrain our project to the development of a recycling app.

Developing the features necessary for our app.

With the ideas we developed, we generated a rough prototype for usability testing. This particular screen shows users how they would be presented with stories about the recycled items that other users had recycled at their current location when using the app.

NOTE: These mock-ups were created by the very talented Andrew Ku.

We originally incorporated a "truth or dare" feature to make recycling more entertaining. During user testing, many individuals expressed dislike for this feature, and it was removed.

This screen shows an early version of a screen which allows users to see their recycling behavior for the day. The screen next to it shows users where the nearest recycle bin is located.

With user feedback, we made modifications to our app and created an outline for the elements which would be needed in our final design.

The final graphic design and user interface for the WeCycle app was then put together by Andrew Ku.

Creating habits and facilitating recycling knowledge:

The Wecycle app is linked to users' credit cards, so that when they swipe their credit card to pay for an item at a store, it pings their phone and tells them if the item is recyclable. Users are also given the option of scanning items with bar codes to discover if an item is recyclable (left screen). Users can then select which items they recycled from the list of items which were added by credit card or scanned during the day (center screen). To motivate users, the app then shows them what their recycled item could become and the resources which could be saved by recycling (right screen).

Many users told us that one of the largest barriers to recycling was knowing where the nearest recycle bin is located. Because of this, we added a feature in which users can tap a button at the bottom of the screen and see where the nearest recycle bin is located.

To make recycling more meaningful, users are shown not only the resources they save the environment by recycling a particular item, but the "recycling journey" that the item takes on its way to becoming a new item. This recycling journey is activated when recycling a new item.

Bar graphs showing the percentage of items recycled out of those inputted into the system (by credit card data pull or scan) are easily accessible and viewable by day, week, or month by the user (left screen).

Percentages of paper, plastic, and aluminum items recycled are represented by a circular container containing a proportionate amount number each of these categories (left screen).

The daily view (center screen) shows progress for the day along with the individual's direct impact on their environment.

To normalize recycling behavior, users are paired with "recycle buddies"who have also recycled the same items as them (right screen). Icons of these buddies are also meaningfully used to represent the amount of items recycled that day (right screen).

When users recycle an item they are paired with a "recycle buddy," who has recycled the same item at that location in the recent past. This is done to reinforce and normalize recycling behavior. To make this connection with recycling buddies more meaningful, users can read about what the individuals were doing with their recyclable artifact (e.g. "having coffee with friends").

There are many ways that users can see the impact that they are making by recycling. In addition to seeing the resources they are saving (left screen), and how they can make a bigger impact (middle screen), users can compare their impact from recycling with those of their "recycling buddies," further motivating and normalizing recycling behavior.

To get the word out about our app and promote recycling behavior, we propose partnering with local municipalities on placing our Wecycle logo on recycling containers. We would also partner with local businesses which generate recyclable waste to display this logo on their containers.

Finally, to expand the impact of the WeCycle app, we propose the possibility of partnering with organizations which generate recyclable waste for donations to clean energy on a one-for-one basis of items recycled in the same way that TOMS donates shoes and "(RED)" donates a portion of product revenue to fight AIDS (the donation to clean energy could be a dollar amount for a percentage of items recycled). Coca-Cola has partnered with organizations for similar one-for-one donations of energy units to needy households for individuals recycling bottles and cans.