Design Challenge: Google Waste
Design Challenge - Google Waste
Google Waste is an extension to Google Home’s smart products. American families waste an average of 4 million pounds of waste and recyclables annually. Google Waste allows people and families to be more conscious about their waste habits.
Information
Project: Design challenge
DURATION: 2.5 hours, 2019
Constraints: Viable within 3-6 months, existing technology
Target audience: Middle-class american families
Process
Ideation & Brainstorming
Determine effective touchpoints
concept building
Develop User persona & story
DESIGN INTERFACE AND CONVERSATION
Key Features
Trashcan Tracker
A small tracking clip can be added onto any trashcan of any size. This is a more affordable and convenient option than buying multiple smart trashcans. This allows people to track multiple trash bins without breaking their wallet or giving up on their interior design.
Mobile app Extension
Through the existing Google Home mobile app, there will be a new section for smart waste where users can track the amount of waste in their household by adding a modular component to their trashcans. The app is a space users already encounter, and encourages them check statistics and trends about how much waste they are producing in the house.
Dialogue
Conversation design is a strong element of Google Home and has the potential to expand for a new product. By adding new dialogue to Google Home, there is a simple way to integrate new smart products.
Ideation
“How might we allow people to more conscious about how much waste and recyclables they have?”
I was prompted with this vague opportunity statement for this design challenge, with the time constraint of 2.5 hours. Immediately, my mind wandered towards smart products because they allow people to track and manage data. But I was concerned about how individuals would come across this product and be compelled to purchase it. A smart trashcan would be bulky and most likely expensive. It’s hard to imagine who would be willing to spend a lot of money on a new trashcan that might not fit their aesthetic. Another concern that came up was how a smart trashcan would relay information back to the user. There would have to be the possibility of adding a digital panel of LED lights, thus making an outlet necessary for the trashcan to plug into.
I tried to think about how a product could effectively give feedback to the user in a clear, yet concise way. A voice assistant could solve that problem. But in order to relate back to waste and recyclables, I needed it to relate back to a physical product. It tends to be confusing if an item is recyclable or not. A recyclable scanner/tracker could solve that issue. This product would vocally let users know if an item is recyclable or waste, therefore clearing up confusion. People would be more aware about what they are tossing away. However, this product does fit into the constraint of being viable within 3-6 months. This type of technology does not exist and therefore I moved forward with an idea that is plausible.
The idea I ended up following through is still a smart product, but it is in an existing ecosystem of products - Google Home. I chose Google Home for various reasons. I previously did a project on Google Home and already had the research and foundation. My prior research established Google Home as the perfect candidate for a smart trashcan because of their seamless conversation design and existing touchpoints. Not only is there is an existing app that current users interact with, but also a smart ecosystem of products that encourage automation and updates. It would be possible to add a GoogleWaste extension to the mobile app and dialogue alongside a physical tracking component.
Concept Building
Trashcan Tracker
A smart trashcan was an effective idea in that it allows people to keep track of what is going inside of it. However, it’s extremely limited due to price point and availability. There has to be a way to create a universal component that can be added to any type of trashcan. A separate tracker that can be added to any trashcan as a clip is an efficient way to keep track of multiple bins - as people tend to have 1+ bins in their homes.
Trashcan Scale
Another possibility was creating a product completely external to the trashcan - underneath it. Creating a smart scale for trashcans would be an extremely easy way to measure the weight of one’s net waste. Various sized scales with a minimal design would be easy to implement that wouldn’t affect the trashcan itself or get affected by the items inside. However, trashcans vary in size and shape and thus an effective shape would be extremely difficult to manage.
User Persona
I was given the target audience of middle-class American families. I built a user persona around a working parent as they are the one’s primarily responsible for household chores. Children would not be the correct audience to design for because they wouldn’t directly purchase the product. As a busy mother of 2, she wants her house to be clean but have enough time to make memories with her family. Trash becomes such a mundane, repetitive process that can interfere with quality time. Taking out the trash and replacing trash bags are tiring. Having a smart trashcan allows parents to be conscious about the waste they are producing but also save time to hang out with their family.
Wireframes
By looking at the existing Google Home mobile app, I could see where Google Waste could be added. Because Google Home has functionality over smart lights and thermostats, there is already a section to oversee those functions. An additional section for smart trashcans is extremely plausible and simple to implement.
Once the new section was finalized, I looked at how the information should be displayed. Google Home makes it possible to separate out devices by rooms. A similar concept can be done with trashcans to see data from different rooms. There is potential to create a long list of all the trashcans in the house with all the data alongside it. But in doing so, the information would be extremely crowded and overwhelm the user. By creating a concise list with icons, individuals can tap on whichever bin they want more information about.
Final Concept
Trash Tracker
A small tracking clip can be added onto any trashcan of any size. This is a more affordable and convenient option than buying multiple smart trashcans. This allows people to track multiple trash bins without breaking their wallet or giving up on their interior design.
Google Home Mobile App extension
Through the existing Google Home mobile app, there will be a new section for smart waste where users can track the amount of waste in their household by adding a modular component to their trashcans. The app is a space users already encounter, and encourages them check statistics and trends about how much waste they are producing in the house.
expanded Conversation Design
Conversation design is a strong element of Google Home and has the potential to expand for a new product. By adding new dialogue to Google Home, there is a simple way to integrate new smart products.
Outcomes
Feedback
Upon presenting this design challenge to my interviewers, I received feedback on a couple elements.
Why did you decide to add a graph/trend line on the mobile app? What is the purpose of the graph?
It was a mindful choice to add a graph on the mobile app where users would see details about the amount of waste they had produced for the past month. It’s a subtle nudge to indicate if they have had more or less trash recently. Visual information brings awareness to people’s waste/recyclables thus they will be more conscious about what they throw away.
My interviewers suggested the line on the graph be compared to the average amount other users have in their bins or another statistic. It would provide a stronger nudge in a positive direction, rather than users not knowing what to do with their own data.
Why google home?
Due to my previous experience researching and doing a project on Google Home, I already had existing research on Google Home and their competitors. Amazon’s Alexa is also an effective voice assistant, but its’ conversation design isn’t as fully developed and conversational as Google. Alexa tends to have trouble understanding different sentence structures while Google waits for the conversation to end. Also looking at Siri on the iPhone, Siri is simply frustrating and ineffective as a voice assistant. Siri works for simple tasks but similarly, if not worse, Siri struggles with understanding what users have said.
Not only does Google have a seamless voice assistant, their overall brand aesthetic is clean and cohesive, making it easy to integrate new products and third-parties.
About the tracker
My interviewers spoke about the trash tracker and the logistics with how it would work. It would be extremely interesting to see a realistic mockup of this time of device in a real-life scenario. In future iterations, various designs would have helped make this product more believable. However, they were understanding of my background as an Interaction Designer rather than an Industrial Designer.
NExt steps
If time had permitted, I would have ideated longer and in more detail to truly explore different possibilities for waste management. Waste and recyclables have become a huge topic of the environment. In future projects, I want to explore topics that include the environment, global warming, and how we as humans can help.