After doing some research on recycling, retailers' involvement in recycling, and existing digital solutions, we were able to narrow our focus down to 3 major problems.

We all know that recycling is important, but how exactly does it play a role in our environment? What kind of impact does it have? What's the magnitude of that impact? My partner and I, acknowledging this lack of awareness of the impact of recycling, came to a conclusion that it is difficult to comprehend the ecological impact of recycling without visualizing people's impact with intuitive metrics. And this is why we came up with the 'CO2 saved' and 'time saved' metrics. Further explained in Ideation.

We thought about the chances of average people knowing exactly how to dispose all  substances such as plastics (which further breaks down to PET, HDPE, PVC, LDPE, PP, PS, etc.). The answer we got was, most likely not! In order to combat this issue, we decided to create a section on our app where people can view the 11 different types of waste and learn about the most ideal ways each substance can be disposed. We've centralized this information so that users wouldn't have to google every single time they needed to find out about a substance's recyclability.

So far we've come up with ways to educate users about the impact of recycling, allow users to measure/track their impact (with our 'CO2 saved' and 'time saved' metrics), make recycling more convenient, but what's the use if they're never motivated to take action? In order to make it easier for users to encourage each other to recycle and hold each other accountable, we've included a Contests section in our app where users can search, create, and/or participate in recycling competitions. Through the contest dashboard, users can keep track of all participants' recycling status/history.

After identifying the potential problems users might be facing, we each brainstormed our own solutions and then went over them together to pick out the best ideas.

I came up with the 'time saved' metrics which calculates the time earned for Earth by taking the amount of greenhouse gases saved into account. Inspired by the climate change clock in New York, I wanted to reverse the idea of showing time left for Earth until climate change is irreversible and show time saved for Earth by users as a result of recycling, putting a greater emphasis on the positivity generated by their action. I also thought that it would be a very rewarding experience for users since the intuitive metrics make it easy to comprehend their impact. Moreover, for those who might be curious about the calculation process behind the 'time saved' metrics, we decided to include the 'CO2 saved' metrics as well, showing their impact in a more mathematical sense.

We created a "Recycle at Home" section on our main page where users can search and/or browse from 11 different waste categories and identify the recyclability of a substance. In addition to being broken down into the 11 different waste categories, all substances are divided into three groups: dispose in general waste bin, dispose in recycling bin, and drop off at a recycling venue nearby. On each recyclable description page, we have included 1) the substance's parent category, 2) the substance's recyclability, 3) user's estimated impact as a result of recycling, 4) the nearest recycling venue.The circular Call-To-Action button at the bottom right corner is for users who choose to dispose the recyclable at home and log their activity from there. As shown in the images below, this button is greyed out for Bubble Wrap and Perspex as they are recommended to be disposed in a different way.

We created a Contests section for users to compete and encourage each other through worldwide in-app competitions.On the Contest page, we have 1) search public contests button, 2) create your own (contest) button, 3), most popular contests (in the user's area), 4) joined contests, and 5) past contests.On each contest card, we have the following information: contest name, contest description, time left until contest closes, profiles of participants, the number of participants, total CO2 saved and time saved by participants, and the user's rank (if joined).Each contest has its own dashboard (shown on the right) which features its details, leaderboard (today, this week, all time), participants' recent activity, and the participant list.

For users to measure and track their recycling activity, we created a personalized statistics section where users can view their total CO2 saved, time saved, scanned receipts, contest prizes, and achievements.

To reduce the pain of logging every recycled item upon dropping items off at a recycling venue, we have also included an in-app scanner users can use to scan their recycling receipts.

With ideas continuously flowing in, there were a lot of features we wanted to add. The process of setting up the information architecture helped us narrow down our focus and organize our ideas. Some questions we asked as we worked on the information architecture are:

Furthermore, while we were creating this user flow, we were able to spot a few things we were missing that should've been incorporated into our app, which allowed us to have a clearer understanding of our app's purpose and functionality. Hence, we were able to make the necessary changes accordingly and finalize our menu and each category's sub-sections.This user flow list helped us immensely in the prototyping process and with making sure all screens are connected in one way or the other.

While doing research to build a brand for our app, I've come across Target's sustainability strategy post and learned a terminology called "a circular future". Inspired by the idea of circular design/future, we combined it with the word recycling, which led to the name of our app: ReCircle. The name demonstrates a cycle of using, recycling, and reusing recyclable substances; thus, building a sustainable future ahead of us.

We used Material Design's colour tool to create a more accessible colour palette.

As somebody who loves doing logo design, I couldn't help but open Adobe Illustrator to create the logo for our ReCircle app. After playing around with 10+ different variations, we decided to go with this logo:

In coherence with our theme, circular future, the logo demonstrates a cycle of using, recycling, and reusing recyclable substances; thus, building a sustainable future ahead of us.

Sometimes, hand sketches work better!

Prototyping was an arduous but fun process!

Although accessibility was something we definitely took into account while working on the project with the guidance of Human Interface Guidelines and Material Design, there are still some features that can be added to our app that can improve our app's accessibility such as voice control for people with low vision.

Our conversion rate could be improved by shortening the onboarding process. Instead of having users click 2-3 different buttons just to get to the onboarding page, we could show the app instructions right away and get users started on their recircling journey as efficiently as possible. We don't want to bore users with unnecessary steps before they even make it to our home screen!

The notifications feature is something we wanted to incorporate but couldn't due to the time constraint. We would definitely add this feature if we were to re-design our app. In the notifications page, users will be able to check friend requests, contest updates, and so on.

It may seem fairly ironic to address people without mobile devices in a mobile UI case study, but I believe that it is as equally important to consider those without adequate access to mobile devices such as older generations that are not so familiar with modern technologies. How might we educate and encourage this group of people and aid them in recycling?

The brainstorming/ideation process couldn't have been more fun. All these different ideas came to me as soon as I saw the design prompt and, with my fantastic partner, I was able to narrow the focus and scope out the best of the ideas. Always having been interested in sustainable engineering and climate change issues, I was honoured to participate in the Target Creative Jam and devise solutions to combat the environmental issues humanity is currently facing. Even though my favourite thing in the world is design and I did enjoy the design process a lot, I'm going to have to admit that my favourite process for this project was research. Looking into general climate change issues, waste classifications, recycling process, greenhouse effects and so on, I've gained so much knowledge about recycling during the process of designing this app. Working on a UI/UX project intended to solve issues I'm passionate about has now become my favourite thing in the world.

Even though I admittedly did give my heart and soul to this project, I wasn't exactly expecting to win something. With Target Creative Jam being the first designathon I've participated in, all I wanted was to have fun with my partner, Judy. I didn't even think I was qualified enough to win anything. But having won Honourable Mention from the judges, now I'm even more determined to create designs that can contribute to combatting different issues - big or small - and make an impact on the way users interact with mobile/web applications. I've realized that not only do I like the designing process, but that I also enjoy ideating possible solutions and creating a user-centered mobile/web experience. I'd like to thank Judy, my partner designer, for believing in somebody fresh out of high school and working on the Creative Jam with me, and my mom for supporting me throughout the competition despite it being 2 weeks before I had to leave for university.