UX Case study: Let's Compost At Home
'Lets Compost' is a tool to help people learn and make compost at home from kitchen scrap. Its a mobile app and a responsive website.
Project overview
The Product
Let’s compost is an organization of environment enthusiasts who work on spreading awareness, encouraging and training people for zero waste lifestyle. The organization needs a tool to help people learn and make compost at home from kitchen scrap. Their target audience is anybody who is transforming into zero waste lifestyle and those who would like to learn more about what they can do to reduce waste.
The Problem
Garbage dumps continue to increase in size
Mixed garbage slow down the decomposition process.
Organic waste in landfills releases green house gases such as methane
Odour and air pollution that contribute to global warming
The quality of soil is polluted by the large amounts of waste.
The Goal
Design an innovative compost app that offers users a comprehensive solution to their wet waste management needs. Featuring a sleek design and a comprehensive website, the app will provides an interactive way to learn about composting and help users improve their home composting practices.
My Role and Responsibilities
UX Designer
UX Research
Visual Design
User Testing
Understanding the user
User research
Personas
Problem statements
Competitive audits
Starting the design
Digital wireframes
Low-fidelity prototype
Usability studies
Refining the design
Mockups
High-fidelity prototype
Accessibility
Understanding the user
User Research: Pain Points
1
Lack of awareness
Many people have no knowledge about compost making and its benefits to the environment
2
Busy schedule
Most participants were worried about the environmental issues and wanted to do something but due to their busy schedule they can't spend time on things like compost making
3
Lack of single end platform
The knowledge on internet is scattered, takes much time to learn about compost making. Those who make compost face problems and can't find all the solutions on a single platform.
4
Combined garbage collection
Even after collecting garbage separately, the garbage collector guy mixes it while collecting daily garbage and it ends up in the dump yard polluting soil, water and air.
Persona
Fictional user whose goals and characteristics represent the needs of larger group of users. This will help identify patterns and behaviors in users that might point to a common pain point that a group of user experience. Build based on research and data collected.
Problem Statement: Sampada is an Environment enthusiast who needs a way to learn and make compost out of kitchen waste because she believes in a zero waste lifestyle
Problem Statement: Rowa is a professor and an authority of a housing society he lives in who needs a way to make a well planned compost making as a group activity because he wants to spread the awareness and educate people about the environment safety.
Ideation
I did a quick ideation exercise to come up with ideas for how to address gaps identified in the competitive audit.
Usability Studies : Parameters
Study type:
Unmoderated usability study
Location:
India, Remote
Participants:
5 Participants
Length:
30 to 60 minutes
Usability Studies : Findings
1
Learning
The learning procedure should be more graphical and less text
2
Scheduling
​Few of the participants were confused about the scheduling
3
Finding
Simplifying the path and giving the clue about where in the app the participant is.
Refining the Design
Sticker Sheet
Accessibility
1
Color Contrast
The use of color contrast is as per the WCAG guidelines.
2
Labeling
Every icon has text written below (showing the purpose of the icon) so that the screen reader can read everything important on the screen.
3
Language
Change to any language option is given
Takeaways
Impact
Users shared that the app made kitchen waste seem like something they could actually help recycle. One quote from peer feedback was that “the compost making app helps bring caring about the environment to a personal level in a way that’s easy and engaging.”
What I Learned
I learned that even though the problem I was trying to solve was a big one, diligently going through each step of the design process and aligning with specific user needs helped me come up with solutions that were both feasible and useful.