Cosmic Waste
Cosmic Waste is a mobile app that helps to calculate the home waste generated weekly or monthly.
It allows us to control what we consume and throw away to become aware of our consumption habits.
Why Cosmic Waste?
With this tool, it is possible to see our consumption visually as well as through statistics,
figures, and numbers.
Realizing the amount of waste makes the problem more visible.
Why is it important to keep our consumption or waste in mind?
To minimize waste, it's crucial to be mindful of our consumption habits and disposal methods. Implementing separate bins for various types of waste enhances waste management effectiveness. Separating waste at the source is essential for ensuring quality recycling and reuse.
But, how much waste do we produce?
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In the EU, 781 million tonnes of waste excluding major mineral waste were generated in 2020, equivalent to 36 % of the total waste generated, (this includes mineral, mining, and manufacturing waste, also water services and other economic activities).
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When expressed in relation to population size, The EU generated, on average,
1.7 tonnes per inhabitant of waste excluding major mineral waste in 2020 *
How does Cosmic Waste work?
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This mobile app allows you to playfully keeping track of your waste.
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Each bin that is owned and disposed of is recorded on the platform.
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The user can divide the bins by materials or places.
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Depending on the number of waste bins generated, a nebula will form.
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At the end of the month, the user will obtain a picture of the small universe generated.
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It is possible to obtain comparisons and statistics of the current consumption.
The goal
The goal is to visualize the amount of waste that we produce and promote recycling
and waste sorting.
Role
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UX, UI Designer
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Graphic designer
Tools
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Figma, Adobe Illustrator
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Miro
Method
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Qualitative
- Unmoaderated usability study
The challenge
How to create a digital tool that can keep track of how much we throw away in our homes?
User research
The research goal was to understand how people observe their consumption and waste.
The interviews concluded that:
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Potential users have a general idea of how much waste they generate per week or month but cannot measure it.
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There is interest in visualizing the amount of waste they generate and also in reducing garbage, especially plastic and disposable items.
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The interest persists even among people with no concern about the environmental crisis.
It would be interesting to know
how much I throw away,
you can tell a lot from people's garbage.
I think seeing the numbers would make my waste situation present and I would take it more seriously.
The research concluded with these types of users:
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Victoria is a woman who wants to make better consumer decisions in the future.
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Ramón wants to have a better perspective of what he consumes
The following questions derived from the user research.
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How might we create a mobile tool that can track people's home waste?
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How might we create a tool that track our waste with a reward and in a playful way?
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How might we create a mobile app that the user can adapt to the household routine?
First sketches & wireframes
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The sketches began with the idea of making a mobile app that gives an incentive, something back to the user.
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The concept of nebulas and universes was generated. For each bin/waste/ticket registered, a nebula is created. At the end of the month, a picture is generated, called universe, in addition to the statistics and comparisons.
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The key question was, how to register the waste? First, it was taken into account to scan the purchase tickets, then to register the garbage per day, and the bins that are discarded.
After the digital wireframes, a lo-fi prototype was created to make an usability study.
These are the results of the study:
Information Architecture
User flow
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Design elements
What I learned
When creating a project that has to be included in the user's daily routine, it helps to have a defined image and concepts that the user can remember and interact with.
It is also important that the project is customizable and gives an incentive in return.
Next steps
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Continue testing the prototype with users.
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Add more options to record, such as water and light consumption
Thank you!
