Project Type: FYP, Android app development | Role: UI/UX Design, Full-Stack development | Duration: 3 months | GitHub Link

OVERVIEW

The National Recycling Rate in Malaysia was 33.17% in 2022, while the Ministry of Housing and Local Government had previously set a target of 40% by 2025. To attain the goal, the country needs to raise the rate by 2.3% annually. This goal includes all waste types that can be recycled, including rubber and fabric items and metal, paper, plastic, and glass. However, through my observation as a Malaysian, the awareness of recycling among Malaysians is poor, especially in small towns and rural areas.

THE PROBLEM

People want to improve their recycling habits, but they don’t know how.

It is often the case that people want to contribute a little to recycling, but they face obstacles that lead them to give up on their recycling journey.

• They have no idea how to sort the wastes

• They refuse the efforts of calling collectors and sending waste to recycling stations

• They thought the little contributions recycling made no impact

• They might put some effort into the first few practices, but give up on their recycling habit eventually

THE SOLUTION

Guiding people towards recycling habits

MYRecycle’s goal is to provide users with convenient collector reservations, waste image recognition, and personal record tracking.

Key Features

• Book collectors near the user's location

• Image recognition to help sort the recyclables

• Recyclable catalog showing the latest unit price

• Records and reports for tracking and summarizing user's recycling journey

• In-app wallet for receiving earning payments

THE PROCESS

Understanding the user

Before starting with the design process, I wanted to clarify the users’ needs. I conducted a survey using questionnaires to understand better the participants’ approach to contributing to recycling and maintaining recycling habits, and what their pain points are with existing recycling apps.

• Users need help with waste sorting to enhance recycling efforts.

• Transporting wastes and reserving pickups by calls cause user inconvenience.

• Thorough recycling records boost satisfaction and motivation for users.

• Transparent rates for recyclables alleviate user confusion and uncertainty.

User Persona

I created a persona to visualize my research findings better and empathize with the users during the design process.

User Flow

Further Research

I conducted a competitive analysis comparing two applications on the Malaysian market, KITARecyle, and Trash4Cash, to better understand the good and bad UX patterns and distinguish my product’s USP.

Low-fidelity and mid-fidelity prototypes

Once I had a clear idea of the main features I wanted to include in the product, I drew some wireframe sketches on Miro, and I moved on to Figma for the low-fidelity prototype once I had a general idea of the layout I wanted to implement.

THE FINAL DESIGN

Sort with AI Camera

The user can scan the item using the embedded AI Image Recognition Camera to sort the recyclables, the result leads the user to know more about the details of the recyclable.

Book Collector

The user can book a collector by inputting the pickup address, time, and expected recyclable category. Booking can be edited or canceled anytime.

Pickup

When the booked collector is there for pickup, the user have to acknowledge the pickup details by pressing the Accept button. Any editing on the pickup details will be done on the collector side on the spot.

Recycle History

The user can keep track of the recycling records on the History page.

Catalog

The user can view the clear up-to-date prices and details of the recyclables.

Data Visualisations

The user can easily see the accumulated earnings of the recycling journey

and statistics about the amount earned of the month, the total kilogram of wastes recycled, the most recycled category, and the total carbon footprint saved.

On the detail page of a recyclable category, user can view their earning and recycling data in that particular category.

Final Reflections and Insights

This project was a valuable exercise in practicing impartiality, particularly given my familiarity with the subject matter. Leveraging tools like user personas and user flows proved indispensable in maintaining objectivity and gaining a deep understanding of user perspectives distinct from my own. Through this process, I realized the importance of being open-minded as a UX designer, prioritizing user needs over personal preferences and being willing to pivot from initial ideas when necessary. Becoming too entrenched in a single concept can pose risks not only to the user experience but also to the success of the business. Looking ahead, my next objective is to further refine the prototype, focusing specifically on elaborating the Profile feature with greater detail and precision.