Case Study : How to be Stepping-stone for Plastic Waste Management in Indonesia.
A short roadmap of Binpin App.
Let’s understand the real problem here first.
Plastic pollution is still a nerve-wracking topic because it’s a major global threat to the environment that has many causes and serious consequences. Indonesia’s domestic demand for plastic waste has increased by 5% to 4.6 million tons in the last five years.
Before we dive in, though, let’s start with a need-finding process through the understatement of the context first.
How serious are we in dealing with this issue?
Well, the research data that has been done certainly can not lie, right? Based on data from the Environment and Forestry Ministry, of 68.5 million tons of waste Indonesia in 2021, as much as 11.6 million tons, 17% is plastic waste. The previous study which had been done by the Journal of Environmental Science and Sustainable Development also showed that the urban population in Java Island generated around 189,349 tons of plastic waste per month, but only 11.83% of it was collected. The remaining 88.17% was either directly transported to landfills or littered in the environment.
The discourse on plastic waste management has been around for a long time…
With the growing middle-class to 90 million by 2030, there will be an increased demand for products utilizing plastic packaging (WEF, 2020). Therefore, alternative practices that allow more improving plastic waste recycling management is one of the solutions to prevent an increase in plastic pollution.
The rapid growth of Waste Banks as household waste management in Indonesia.
Waste management has a complex and long, long process. The solution is not limited to the end-of-pipe system, but also the management itself such as waste reduction from its source, waste-sorting, and recycling process. Therefore, public participation must be taken in the assumption that the public already have awareness and knowledge in waste management in their smallest neighborhood community.
Waste Bank or “Bank Sampah” is one of the community-based waste management systems that enables the public to actively participate in managing their environment, the concept itself grew first from Surabaya’s local household initiatives in 2008. In addition, a Waste Bank could function as a dropping point, a place for the community to collect waste collectively and turn it into savings.
There should be further development of Waste Bank management in Indonesia. Given the increasingly widespread problem of plastic waste that should be processed through a waste bank, there must be a connecting bridge between the waste bank and the user. This action is followed by an integrated special application that has a feature to display the exact location of the waste bank which is directly synchronized with the user’s real time location.
Setting The Stage
Scope and Constraints.
Binpin was born as a collaborative project to design a platform that provides a service to help people sort their waste more accurately. The basis of the idea was already defined by my friend, Shazkia Aulia Shafira Dewi. I was an end-to-end featured as UI/UX Designer throughout the project from ideating solutions, building wireframes, Hi-Fi design, prototyping, along with Alita Kuntoro and also the collaboration of two Product Managers, Mega Mayangsari and Fathurrachman Saputro Wiratama. It also became the first project after a four-weeks study I worked on which involved a collaboration with other UI/UX Researcher, Designer and Product Managers.
This project is done as a last chapter of Design Challenge from Binar Academy Bootcamp under Ms. Fitri Eka Cahyanti’s facilitator.
Binpin comes from two words, “bin” which means an enclosed container used for storing things as in this case, a trash bin — and “pin” which means a pin point on a map, to locate or aim with great precision or accuracy. This combination of two words hopefully can convey a great purpose of this app to provide the service for helping the users to find trash organizers or known as Waste Banks based on the user preferences.
Here is the journey of Binpin
First of all, we started by conducting a desk research to understand better the concept of plastic waste management in general. We deep dived into the Design Thinking framework and continue walking through the Design Sprint approachment for the entire roadmap, because it focuses on what the end-user wants and prioritizes consumers’ needs above everything.
Now that we had a better idea of the projects scope we begin to create a Trello board. Trello is best-known and frequently used in task management. With our new project plan in place in this Trello board, we can easily see what's been done and quickly assess what needs to be done.
We also discussed our continuous plan to observe people’s habits around recycling and the preservation of the environment. Our objectives that followed and highlighted two issues that we wanted to solve when starting this process were:
1. What are the goals for the targeted-user?
When you’ve grown so used to tossing all manner of your garbage into the trash bin, without giving a second thought to whether it is organic or non-organic waste, it’s easy to not care where your garbage ultimately ends up. But the harsh reality is that your garbage gets mixed together with other garbage of millions of households in Indonesia, creating mountains of garbage, leaving experts alarmed at the level of pollution in our country’s ecosystem.
So, our aim here was to promote the recycling culture, and make the separate waste collection easier for everybody. As simple as the concept that you can exchange your plastic waste for goods, based on the weight of the waste you deposit. The more you recycle, the more you earn.
2. How can we help users achieve their needs along with our business goals?
The recycling waste industry has a good potential market. We did some exhaustive research with lots of people who have already been engaged in waste recycling, including informal collection, waste picking, collection, processing, and trade in West Java as the main demographic of this project. Most of the items collected by Waste Banks are plastic, metals, and cardboard with varying price per kilogram, depending on the product type, source, and collection level (from the source, from waste pickers, from collector/middleman, etc.)
To put it simply, the revenue stream will be based on the platform fee for for each transaction to help cover the 1-to-1 project costs of secure payment and Binpin charges it every month; subscription fees that should be paid by B2B partners for the platform use and One Time Charge that must be paid by the Waste Banks who want to partner and QRIS payment provision. That is why, recycling business ideas are very profitable.
Stage 1 — Empathy
Empathy is at the heart of design and the backbone of design thinking. Without the understanding of what the user sees, feels, and experience — design is a pointless task. Empathizing is about understanding the user’s desires and emotions towards the product.
In this stage, we tried to observe and understand the people being served by putting ourself in their shoes, then you need to interpret all that data and research to determine the underlying problem.
The Empathy stage began with a series of research goals, objectives and questions;
Research Goals
The implementation of plastic waste management in Indonesia.
Research Objectives
Increasing the public awareness of the importance of plastic waste management and how to overcome the barriers/challenges in processing plastic waste.
Research Questions
In order to study the correlation between the consumption behavior and the plastic waste production — three participants were asked a simple questions about their overall experience with the plastic waste management, how they deal with the plastic trash they produce, if they recycle then how they organize it, and what are their motivations towards the preservation of the environment.
After assessing the current system, we had a list of hypotheses in mind that we wanted to validate with stakeholder and user interviews. Once we have gathered all this information, we were able to settle one hypotheses:
People are actually quite aware of the importance of plastic waste management and some of them even start trying to sort the garbage — but they are also confused about what to do and where to give it after collecting plastic waste.
We immersed ourselves in this stage to process in which we applied qualitative techniques. One of our team members, Shazkia, had already set out to validate whether there was a need for the kind of collaborative platform Binpin set out to be. She was able to interview three participants with the prepared questions earlier and estimated duration of the interview being 30–40 minutes per participant. The main findings implementation have been outlined in the user persona below:
Stage 2 — Define
After all the findings implementation, the major findings we uncovered with the interviews along with the defining problems have been detected:
- The lack of clear information about Waste Banks because the limit of media exposure.
- The user invests too much time and energy to send the garbage.
- The user also expressed that one of the challenges they faced was their comfort level to find a suitable Waste Bank.
- From the interviews it also emerged that the average difficulty is the lack of knowledge and motivation.
The Define stage is to clarify the problem, to understand what needs to be solved. From product to service, clarification on a problem is critical because it will lead us to the POV (Point of View) statement. The POV statement is created by making sense of who the users are, what their needs are, and the insights that come from the observations made.
After breaking down the POV statement into smaller chunks, we can generate HMW (How Might We) statements for each of these ideas. Break the larger problem into smaller, actionable pieces.
Reformulated as a user story, it would look like this:
“As a user, I want to know where I should process the plastic waste without interrupting my daily activities.”
The thing that decided us then to squeeze in a research together with Product Managers is to solve a specific and complex business problem; we also come up with new additional feature ideas and validate them through a week of planning.
At this point, we can mapping the Business Model Canvas for this project as follows:
The following stages tackles this project from a UX perspective by addressing each key pain points and frustrations of users in the Ideation stage below.
Stage 3 : Ideate
Now it’s time to build on each others’ ideas!
One idea typically leads on from another; by considering the thoughts, opinions, and ideas of other team members during the brainstorming session, new insights and perspectives can be achieved, which then inform one’s own ideas.
Proposed Solutions
- Provide a feature that displays a number of Waste Banks closest to the user’s location, along with detailed information related to it.
- Reminder feature which will remind them to send their garbage
- Provide two types of delivery options (Pickup and Drop off)
- Get them encouraged to collect waste by getting the money from selling recyclable plastic waste.
Once the general lines were established, a brainstorming session was held to see how we come up with a large volume of ideas in an effort to find the most creative one. The purpose of this is also to push for the widest range of ideas that can be implemented in later stages. This stage also allows me as part of the design team to consider creative ways to address the needs that users have highlighted in the Empathy stage and more clearly outlined in the Define stage.
User Flow
With the solutions in mind, we developed a task flow to show the ideal flow that the user would take to complete a task on Binpin app.
We proceeded all the tasks to create a detailed User Flow. This essentially illustrates the various paths that the user can take to complete a task. Creating this flow allowed us to think from the user’s perspective and consider the different options that the user has while using Binpin app.
Information Architecture
We deepened our progress by mapping out the Information Architecture (IA) as the structure and organization of a product in an easy-to-understand way and visual manner.
This Information Architecture highlights the simplicity of the platform while making sure that users aren’t overwhelmed by too much information at any point.
We are diving into the Crazy8 session!
Based on the requirements and acceptance criteria that have been determined together with the Product Managers, me and Shazkia as UX Designers did multiple sessions of Crazy8’s exercises for all highlighted cases. This laid down the initial follow-through ideas for the app. But I ensured there aren’t any biases. These designs were based on the formative and competitive research we made together.
We used this technique to establish in a more detailed way what our solution idea would be like. In this phase, we finalize the direction or concept to be prototyped. We will share our solution sketch to the team first, and be given 5–8 minutes to present our eight ideas. For the decision making of the sketches, we hold a round of voting to determine the best ideas.
We’ve come up with a cool variety of additional ideations. However, generating ideas is not the final step. It’s only the beginning. We shall continue working on sorting the similar ideas into a group of categories after the voting round.
Based on the highest Crazy8's vote given to my sketch, I was able to start formulating ideas for what the follow-through wireframes would look like:
- The navigation bar plays a critical role in the user experience. The initial design on the navigation bar previously consisted of the Home, Map, Bookmark and Profile menus. But, I suggested the idea of changing the navigation bar menu which was originally the “Bookmark” to the “Orders” menu to display the full details of transaction history. This feature allows users to display a list of transactions that the user has made in the application. The transaction list must be one of the things that are used frequently and associated the most by user, so it should be more obvious, bigger, and more-prominent. Therefore, it’s existence should be placed in the Navigation Bar section to make it fast for the user to find what they want in their past transaction list.
- I also built out the components inside “Orders” menu. As what I mentioned before, this page is displaying a list of transactions that have been made by the user along with all the written details. I also added a filter feature which contains filtering based on the length of the transaction period and the current status of the transaction.
- Through the “Select The Type of Delivery” screen, users could choose between the “Pickup” and “Drop off” buttons. It would be very important to signify whether they are deciding to do so when sending the plastic waste. For the “Drop off” button, users can visit any one of Waste Bank’s drop-off branches that can be found in the nearest location. While for the “Pickup” button, it can be requested if they have made a reservation on the Binpin app beforehand, then the driver will come to the user’s location to pick up the garbage.
- I built out a “Waste Deposit Details” page containing of essential info; amount & type of waste, weight details, requirements for the plastic waste photos that must be attached by the user, estimated selling price, and estimated total price on how much money user will get by selling their plastic waste.
- Next, still related on the “Waste Deposit Details” page, containing short summary of what you’ve filled in previous step and detailed information on waste that must be filled in by the user which consists of several components (dropdown of pick up time and date information, some input fields consisting of user’s address and additional notes). If the user has completed all these things, then they can proceed to the next step.
- The idea behind displaying the driver’s route screen is relatively straightforward; to showing the driving direction, obviously. This page also shows a route pickup point and the large map on the screen allows user to track the driver’s pin point.
Wireframes
Once we had the Information Architecture and the ideation structure outlined, we crafted a few wireframes to visualize how each component, content structure, layout and section would look like. The wireframes as the Low-Fidelity design is the visual guide that represents the skeletal framework of the app.
Now we can move on to the next step!
Stage 4 — Design
With a bulk of the research and ideation out of the way, it was finally time for to moving forward. In this stage, we started to “dress” our skeleton by entering the High-Fidelity design.
UI Style Guide
Once the wireframing was complete, we need to set out and establish first the visual, aesthetic, and functional identity of the core design. During this phase of the project, we established a basic style guide for the typography and color scheme that would apply to all of our screen renders.
Our app is based environmentalism, that is why green was chosen as the color primary to signifies as nature and the environment ; and white as the most standard and cleanest color of all existing on the color wheel.
Prototype
The next step in the process is to make a clickable prototype so that the users can test it out.
Take a look with our design animated and interactive user interfaces!
Stage 5 — Testing
Now we reached to the final step in the Design Thinking process. This step focuses on testing out the prototype with Usability Testing. It is also an iterative process that gives us the opportunity the evaluate whether the design solves the problem or if there’s a request to redesign any parts of the app if needed.
Usability Testing
We conducted remote usability testing using a high-fidelity mobile prototype. It was conducted to test the flow of design, ease of navigation, and the extent to which the design accurately reflects the brand’s values. The test was also used to see whether the design solves the user’s needs and pain points that were captured during the research phase.
Plan The Test
The test was conducted with a total of three participants between the ages of 18 and 35. These participants are people who use mobile apps daily and have done recycling activities before. The usability test would be useful to establish which features are most helpful to the customer journey, which features might be missing, and what could improve the user experience.
To do this, we monitored and analyzed the interactions of users as they completed tasks. This could be carried out using tools used to support the test. All test sessions were done and moderated remotely using Zoom for the session call, and recorded with participants’ consent.
Set Up Environment
We prepared a scenario with 7 tasks for each usability test. All the participants were asked to complete the following tasks scenarios; and each task had one goal that the participant should be able to do.
- Task Goals 1 : Users should be able to find the nearest Waste Bank that recycles the type of waste they have and set a schedule reminder to send their garbage.
- Task Goals 2 : Users should be able to order a courier from their chosen Waste Banks and finish the payment.
- Task Scenario 1 : You are someone who has a high awareness of the environment and plastic waste management, but due to your busy activities, you tend to forget and sometimes losing your motivation to recycle plastic waste.
- Task Scenario 2 : You are someone who has a high awareness of the environment and waste management. But these past few weeks, you’ve been too busy to realized that the plastic waste you’ve collected for the last 3 months has piled up too much. Then, you finally decided to use the Binpin app to send your plastic waste with a pickup service.
Analyze Data
To measure the usability of Binpin, we are using a mixed-methods research approach by merging quantitative data from the System Usability Scale (SUS) for qualitative interview data for each participant.
Before the interview ended, we asked respondents to fill out the SUS form to get quantitative validation. After calculating the SUS score, we get a total score of 82. This score indicates that our proposed design solution is promising and considered above average.
Report The Results
With the feedback gained from the Usability Test, we worked on a few potential revisions of the design. We did not find any inconvenience given the high degree of interactivity with the prototype. Based on the testing, the potential revisions that were obtained were only a few minor design components. So far, there were no problems that were too major and worrying about the entire prototype.
As the project had been ongoing for only one month, we made some minor changes based on the potential revisions in our high-fidelity manufacturing process to provide the right solution for our users. We also decided to use these minor revisions as a way to mark the next iterations we would make on the project to demonstrate our ability to address user feedback. Here are the key points from the feedback received:
Outcomes and Learning
The 4 weeks timeline of our project plan did not allow us for unlocking many interesting features. But I learned a lot in process with and there is always a room for improvement in the future!
Projects tend to get mentally overwhelming and the best cure for that is good organizational skills. Since this is my first ever project with other Product Managers, UI/UX Researcher and Designer; I was a bit struggling with organizing the process, activities, and tools, and getting the job done. But then I managed to handle the task I assisted by try breaking it down into smaller chunks and developing a method that I can use to keep me on track.
Finally, claps and thanks to the amazing team I worked with on this project! Shazkia Aulia Shafira Dewi, Alita Kuntoro, Mega Mayangsari, Fathurrachman Saputro Wiratama. Many thanks also to Ms. Fitri for all the guidance! I couldn’t have pulled this off without you.
This was a learning experience that truly taught me a number of important skills that a UX Designer needs. With my newly attained knowledge and skills, I feel more confident in my ability to tackle new projects in future.
That’s a wrap for now. Claps and feedbacks would be very much appreciated. Cheers!
References:
- Kementerian Lingkungan Hidup Republik Indonesia. (2012). Profil Bank Sampah, Rapat Kerja Nasional Bank Sampah. Jakarta: Kementerian Lingkungan Hidup.
- Ismawati, Y., Septiono, M.A., Proboretno, N. Plastic Waste Management and Burden in Indonesia. International Pollutants Elimination Network (IPEN), February 2022.
- Sahwan, F. L., Martono, D. H., Wahyono, S., & Wisoyodharmo, L. A. (2005). Sistem Pengelolaan Limbah Plastik Di Indonesia. Jurnal Teknologi Lingkungan.
- Ziadatun, Nuzuli. (2020). Java’s Waste Banks. https://www.insideindonesia.org/java-s-waste-banks