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IrenW
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Raccoon
Making trash education accessible and sustainability a habit.
Won *Best Sustainability Hack* reward.
Time:
Tools:
Type:
Role:
Team:
48 hours (CitroHacks)
Figma, Procreate
Hackathon, Mobile App Design
UX Design
3 (Irene, Priya, Wing)
Overview
Raccoon aims to take on the gaps in knowledge about proper trash disposal, providing opportunities to learn more about a more climate change and ways we can slow the effects. The hackathon themes were to either address (1) social good: how can we benefit a large number of people and make a positive impact on society? and (2) sustainability: how can we live harmoniously with our planet.
Go Straight to Design!
The Problem
How can we take part in being more eco-conscious
and inspire others to also take action in waste management?
“The waste sector is one of three key methane emitting sectors — following agriculture and oil and gas — and is responsible for about 20% of human-driven methane emissions globally.” Clean Air Task Force
The Barrier
“The results showed that 32% of Americans are unable to correctly identify the universal recycling symbol signifying a product can be recycled…This highlights the knowledge gap between consumers who are looking to do their part and businesses who are already stepping up to the plate.” New York Post
Improper waste management leads to a disproportionate amount of recycling and possible donations going into our landfill - negatively affecting our climate.
Concept
Raccoon hopes to make information about trash sorting more accessible for households and provide resources and directions for a more eco-conscious lifestyle. The app aims to make learning about "trash" intuitive and entertaining by incorporating a (1) Trash Questionnaire, (2) Scavenger Hunt, and (3) Quick Trash Game + Infographic.
Design Iterations
FInal Designs
Raccoon aims to intrinsically motivate users to recycle and donate by providing step-by-step instructions informing them what type of trash category it falls into and where they can find a special handler facility - limiting the amount of unsorted trash that goes directly to the landfill.
Design Decisions
The main feature that I was in charge of was the “Scavenger Hunt”. I wanted to make exploring the different disposal sights interesting. Looking at the starred locations can indirectly teach users where they can dispose certain types of trash and what trash should handled with a certain kind of care. This feature was inspired by the SFPL Library Scavenger Hunt where people could collect library specific stickers to complete a map of all the SF public libraries. I wanted to make this section “fun” and appeal to a younger audience to help bring awareness to climate change and social change.
Gold Stars for Nostalgia: Like “gold stars” reminiscent of childhood and what you might have gotten on your homework.
Footprints Icon: Represent carbon footprint and the steps you are taking to reduce carbon emissions
Sustainability Fact: There is a sustainability fact after you visit a site. These facts are based off of reliable articles and sources and will be linked for users to continue learning about. These facts are meant to boost the user’s ego and encourage them to continue visiting.
Personal Reflection
If I were to do this project again knowing what I know now:
more cohesive designs
I would encourage my team and I to have a longer discussion about our design system so that we had something that was more cohesive and flowed together better
taking notes during competitive analysis
I would have notes on which sites we drew inspiration from and detail features from which site that worked and did not worked
Overall, I collaborated with two other undergraduates to create this interactive prototype. I was able to help my teammates with understanding how to better use/navigate Figma. This was my first hackathon and it was an extremely gratifying experience. I'm so lucky that my first experience went as well as it did because my teammates were equally as excited and equally as new to this. I didn't realize just how quickly I was able to come up with a game plan and able to come up with a list of action items that worked with my teammates. I worked primarily on the map portion of the prototype. I'm sure this is common with many hackathon projects, but I wish I had more time to work on aspects of this prototype such as the sorting game and the item search, but regardless I'm still proud of what the team and I was able to come up with. 💖