UXUI Designer | Product Designer |
Engineering Perspective | Business Mindset
Piece by Peace
Product Design
Piece by Peace
An environmental awareness application for clothing and accessories.
Approximately 1 million plastic bags are being used every minute across the globe.
Only 9% of plastic gets recycled and this process contributes to the carbon emissions in our atmosphere. Recycling is not going to cut it anymore.
Where do we start?
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Whose products are durable and have a long life expectancy
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Who are conscious of their energy use and carbon footprint
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Who are conscious of their chemical use and disposal
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Who are conscious of their resource use and disposal
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Who are activists in this movement towards a healthier planet
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Easy right?
Wrong.​
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Customers have two big problems.
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They simply don't know which brands are environmentally friendly
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The brands they know of are too expensive
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Survey
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I set up an online survey to gather more in-depth research on customers' thoughts, feelings, and behavior regarding environmentally friendly brands.
Quick responses and heavy interest
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Due to time constraints, the survey results were collected within three days. However, the time constraints allowed me to verify the abundant interest in the topic. I collected twenty responses, as well as received personal, inquires regarding the project.
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78.9% of participants don't know which brands are environmentally friendly
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57.9% of participants said prices of environmentally friendly brands are too high
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94.4% of participants are willing to shop from environmentally friendly brands
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70% of participants said they would be very willing to try an environmentally friendly brand using a discount or coupon code
85%
Product life cycle
80%
Products are made from reused/recycled materials
70%
Energy use and carbon emissions
What are the top three most important environmental factors when choosing an environmentally friendly brand?
How do users want to learn about new products and practices that support the environment?
70%
Social Media
65%
Articles
45%
Videos
25%
Competitive Research
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I researched other environmental awareness applications that are already on the market and found these complaints from their users
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Users wanted more choices and more brands present on the applications
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Users are concerned with durability and product life cycle
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"There are lots of brands whose clothes are cheap and it adds to the waste problem."
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Some users found these applications to be overwhelming for beginners
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Users want a favorites feature
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“I like the articles but wish you could save to favorites."
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Research
Users
Who are the users?
Based on the survey responses and research I collected, I derived these key points of the user persona.
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They want to help the environment
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Don’t really know which brands are environmentally friendly
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Shop at some environmentally friendly brands
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By accident
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Famous/highly advertised brands
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Frustrations
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Environmentally friendly brands are too expensive
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Contributes to the environment in other small ways
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Recycles
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Use some reusable items (water bottles, grocery bags, etc)
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This application aims to educate users on the products, practices, and current news regarding the environment. As well as, promote environmental brands that are producing sustainable products and implementing environmentally safe practices.
The main functions of the application
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Users can gain more information regarding environmental brands as well as potentially gain discounts
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Brands can benefit from more advertising and publicity through this application
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Point system
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Encourage people to buy from environmentally friendly brands as well as reduce high prices
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News
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A way for users to find out more information regarding new products, practices, and environmental news
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User Interface
Sketches
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I usually start the design process with low fidelity wireframe sketches. This gets the important aspects down on paper. I can easily create various ideas as well as decide on the key points of the user-centric design.
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I was able to work through the red routes and main screens the users will need
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Understanding the users need for a simplistic layout was considered during my sketches
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I used a bottom navigation bar as many users are used to this type of format among various social media apps.
UI Designs
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It is important to note that I desired to complete user testing on the wireframes before moving on to the prototype, but due to time constraints, this was not possible.
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Main points:
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Simple visual style
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Black and white color scheme
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Using existing pictures and logos from brands to be more easily recognized, as well as for users to easily gain insight into what products the brand offers
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The top three most important environmental impact concerns are viewable with an option to "Read More"
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The price point is indicated on the brand profile by the number of $
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The news sections offer links to articles, videos, and social media posts
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All articles, brands, etc can be shared or favorited
But how can I get discounts?
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Users will gain points by doing various tasks within the app. When the users have enough points they will be able to redeem these points for a discount.
It will be up to each brand to choose whether they want to offer discounts, what each discount will be, and how many points each discount will cost.
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To gain points you can do the following:
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Make a search (1 pt)
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Read an article (10 pts)
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Share content (50 pts)
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Favorite an item (5 pts)
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Open the app (1 pt/day)
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Watch an advertisement (50 pts)
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Suggest a new brand (15 pts)
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Click on an ad or brand to visit their website (10 pts)
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Next Steps
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User Testing
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Further research
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Research regarding successful implementation of the point system
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Touch-ups and tweaks
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Future Features
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Expand from clothing and accessories to more products (skincare, makeup, food)
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Promote charities and nonprofit organizations
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Follow feature to stay up to date with certain brands
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Include information regarding animal cruelty and labor
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Add more detailed information regarding brands environmental impact
“The greatest danger to our planet is that someone else will save it.”
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Robert Swan
What's Next?
