Redesigning
Smart City Poznań
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Overview
I co-created this project during a hackathon aiming to encourage waste segregation. Utilizing user research, prototyping, and iterative testing, I redesigned a module of the city's official app, delivering valuable insights. Our work is partially implemented and is still being developed.
Client
Smart City Poznań
My role
UX research and design
Time frame
24 hours
Tools
Figma, Figjam
The challenge
How might we
design an engaging platform that informs users about waste segregation rules, collection schedules, and related activities, making it both original and useful for city residents?
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The framework
Embracing Lean UX
We were (and still are) very passionate about 2 things: sustainability and usability. So despite having only 24 hours, we dedicated almost 1/5 of that time to perfecting our problem statement by writing and validating our assumptions through interviews with users and stakeholders.
Why Lean UX?
I implemented the lean UX methodology to be as flexible as possible, ensure we address the right needs and efficiently maximise the value we bring despite having a very limited time for the project.
Hypothesis validation
Discovering insights through research
After brainstorming and refining the strategy, my teammates started researching existing solutions.
I focused on preparing & conducting the interviews.
I interviewed 4 prospective users and met with stakeholders and later with developers mentoring in the competition. Afterwards, I sorted the findings to our previous assumptions.
Main take aways
Users are unwilling to use a new app just for waste disposal information. To use a product like that they need it to fit seamlessly in their day.
Stakeholders want an innovative eco-friendly solution to promote and establish eco habits in people living in Poznań.
Key Finding:
Existing educational materials do not answer most of the users’ questions.
Scope
Innovating within existing frameworks
We decided to improve the existing city app instead of creating a new one, ensuring sustainability, cost-effectiveness and taking advantage of their user poll.
We knew that our users needed a way to identify what to do with problematic waste easily. Our focus was on two new modules:
1. Chatbot:
To provide answers on waste disposal, and collection schedules and address city officials’ needs for reporting illegal landfills and promoting the circular economy.
2. Circular Economy Hub:
A map for locations dealing with used items and resources about circular economy.
Iterrating
From insights to impact
We spent the rest of the time developing and testing our idea. I made sure to stick to mid-fidelity designs as long as possible. This approach allowed me to frequently test our ideas to gather as much feedback as possible and iterate on them quickly.
Well, in reality, no. The app and the prototype I created during the hackathon are in Polish. However, I translated all of the finished screens for this case study. In the process, I implemented some small usability and layout improvements. All those and the reasons behind them are in a PDF version of my portfolio available upon request :)
Final product
Delivering impactful results
Smart City Poznań recognized our solution by acquiring it to implement it in the product. Right now (May 2024) it’s partially completed and is still under development. We provided a roadmap for further refinement, including interaction design elements and prioritized the next steps.
Reflection
Lessons learned
Impact of user testing
Even minimal testing can significantly influence design decisions and add value to the product. Without constant user input, this project would have gone into a completely different direction. And to be honest it probably wouldn't have been used much.
Importance of balancing goals
If we listened only to project briefs this project would have been a game or an AI scanner of some sort. But, by finding a balance between users' and organisers' goals, I found that small user-focused innovations can benefit stakeholders and help the product grow.