Plaive
A one stop platform where people can find replacements to everyday-use plastic to reduce their plastic footprint.
Tools
Adobe XD
Adobe Illustrator
Duration
3 months
My role
UX Researcher
UI Designer
The rising awareness about global warming has given birth to several options that can replace plastic. However, even with these new and improved product options that don’t harm our planet, a large number of people are either unaware about the issue, don’t know how to start or simply ignorant to take any actions.
Problem
An application that provides a platform for people to find solutions/replacements to everyday-use plastic. I kick started the project by following the UX design thinking process of Empathizing, Defining, Ideating, Designing and Testing.
Solution
EMPATHIZE
My goal was to understand if people are willing to change and track their behaviour towards reducing their plastic footprint and contribute towards slowing down global warming. I conducted user research using two methodologies:
1. Customer Surveys.
2. Diary Studies
This led me to discover user’s primary pain points:
Pain points
DEFINE
The insights that I received from above research helped me in narrowing down my target audience, their personalities, frustrations and goals.
User persona
Competitors analysis & heuristic evaluation
A very few apps existed that had the same goal as plaive. So I studied these competitors and listed down what they do best and what they don’t.
I used the heuristic evaluation method to pinpoint exactly how competitors app do the work.
IDEATE
I performed the crazy 8’s design sprint exercise to come up with 8 distinct ideas for my app. This exercise gave me the direction to define user tasks and user scenarios.
Brainstorm
DESIGN
Using the ideas generated through the crazy 8's exercise, I first created a few low fidelity screens
Low fidelity wireframes
I conducted user testing to better understand how users would navigate my app and what obstacles would they face.
User testing
Test 1
Screen
Select product
The problem
The 'info' of the product was not evident. It lacked the 'match between system and the real world' heuristic.
Key changes
I used the ‘i’ symbol which is a more universally accepted symbol for information' instead of the three dots. Clicking on this icon would open a pop up window with some basic information about the product.
Test 2
Screen
Homescreen
The problem
Really confusing buttons that say 'Buy' and 'Reuse'. It was not clear to user what action he was supposed to do next.
Key changes
I made the option of adding more items easier that occupies less of the screen and has a secondary focus so that it does not confuse the user. I also added the option of adding new task after user successfully sets one task.
Test 3
Screen
Connect
The problem
In a humanitarian app like this, it is not very common to have a 'add friend' or 'make a new connection'. The connect option needed to be clear as to what it exactly meant and the typeface was far too thin for it to be on the main menu bar.
Key changes
I renamed the ‘Connect’ option from the hamburger menu and also increased the font size of text on the top bar.
HIGH FIDELITY PROTOTYPE
LEARNINGS & TAKEAWAYS
Since this was a school case study done during the pandemic, one important takeaway was to have user interviews and user testing in a physical setting. As designers, we can take a lot of information and subtle hints through the user’s posture and his overall interaction with the product.