Background

Only ~15% of e-waste actually gets recycled

Instead, electronic waste ("e-waste") is filling landfills and ocean worldwide.

The consequences of this create increasing concerns for the following areas that affect everyone regardless of geographical location or socioeconomic class to a serious degree, with underrepresented groups suffering the most.

Capitalism's toll on ethical practices in tech

We were interesting in the conglomeration of the Right to Repair, vape waste discussion, and "disposable tech" (i.e., Capitalism enabling companies to constantly push consumers to buy the 'next big thing').

Only ~15% of e-waste actually gets recycled.

Instead, electronic waste ("e-waste") is filling landfills in ocean primarily the Global South and oceans worldwide.

The consequences of this create increasing concerns for the following areas that affect everyone regardless of geographical location or socioeconomic class to a serious degree, with underrepresented groups suffering the most.

Capitalism's toll on some ethical practices in tech

We were interesting in the conglomeration of the Right to Repair, vape waste discussion, and "disposable tech" (i.e., Capitalism enabling companies to constantly push consumers to buy the 'next big thing').

The Problem

Mindful consumption of tech devices is intimidating and inaccessible

Digital device consumers who lack knowledge about sustainable end-of-life options often experience confusion or apathy when discarding their electronics, leading to improper disposal decisions that contribute to environmental degradation and public health risks.

Rather than dumping their electronics straight into the trash or stuffing their devices into a pile to forget about eventually ending up in landfill, my group and I aimed to help educate users on alternatives that are more sustainable for the planet and its inhabitants.

research I: Interviews

Connecting the dots between perceived accessibility and sustainable tech device practices

My team interviewing a participant

Objectives for 30-60 Minute Semi-Structure Interviews

• What are the most pressing issues related to e-waste that need immediate attention?
  
• How might technology help address these challenges?

Participant Breakdown

We wanted to start with a large project scope to gain an understanding of possible challenges involved in e-waste through conducting  semi-structured interviews with e-waste experts before we narrowed down our project scope.

Main Findings

Objectives for 30-60 Minute Semi-Structure Interviews

• How can we better prepare and support COOP captains and students teaching / taking certain programs (i.e., digital market, data analytics)?
  
• COOP is expanding with many new locations nationwide, how can we foster community through distance?

Participant Breakdown

Research II: Usability Tests

Enabling participants to get a feel of the product

I created several user flows at the mid-fi level to determine what steps users will take to resolve their pain points, including learning immediate ways to responsibly dispose e-waste for a specific product and gaining motivation to dispose e-waste correctly.

Gathering input on navigation & possible features

Participants rated Unearth moderately easy to use

I led conducting a System Usability Scale in conjunction with mid-fi usability testing to assess participants' immediate reactions and understanding of the product.

Impact

A Majority of Users Found it Worth Upgrading to Premium

While this was an an academic project, it sought to gain feedback from a variety of users involved in the cycle of e-waste.

To gain an understanding if this product accomplished its goal, we asked users whether they had an interest in a 'premium' version, determining if users considered the product to go beyond "interesting and useful enough".

Premium Version

• Internal store for upgraded coupons.
  
• Door-service e-recycling service.
• Guerrilla testing: ~80% found it worthwhile to upgrade to premium.

Measuring Premium Version's Effectiveness

Here are ways I would have measured success the success measures had this project been developed.

Completion rates & comparing metrics between the basic plan and premium plan users, assessing:

• How many users upgrade to premium.
  
• How many receipt uploads do premium users upload vs. basic account users.

Measuring completion rates would be able to tease out where users would drop off in the main flow, while comparing different user plan rates may help determine if users feel that the premium plan is worth upgrading and helpful to use.

Benchmark to find the estimated conversion interest

What percentage of users do we need to convert to premium to break even or turn a profit, given that 80% of users find it worth upgrading?

Then, I plugged in numbers, based on a successful early-stage startup, into ChatGPT to calculate the estimated conversion interest.

Takeaways

Reflecting for Forward Motion

Learnings

Other Ideas Worth Exploring for the Future

• Perform more usability testing in the latest hi-fi
  
• Potentially embed disposal center pick-up scheduling
  
• Possibly change incentive goals (i.e., monetary incentive, being eco-friendly is a plus) to increase new users