Recycle Jungle

A way to increase campus recycling

March, 2014 - April, 2014

Have you ever wanted to recycle an item but couldn't find a recycling bin nearby? Recycle Jungle is a mobile app that guides you to the nearest recycling bin by using elegant augmented reality technology.

By using Recycle Jungle, you get the reward to grow plants or animals you like. You may even get to grow your own zoo or garden if you recycle a lot!

My Role: UX Designer

Process: Research | Analysis | Prototyping

Tools: Illustrator | Photoshop

Research

We interviewed 6 college students of varying ages and backgrounds to learn about their recycling habits. We found that they all thought recycling was important because it can save the environment.

However, the most interesting thing we learned was that students did not recycle when it wasn't convenient, or when they couldn't see any recycling bin nearby.

Students want to recycle, but will not go out of their way

I won't bother with searching if the recycling bin and trash can aren't next to each other

I don't have a bin ( for bottles ) in my office, and other recycling bins are never nearby.

Storyboard & Persona

Based on our research, we used storyboard to illustrate the most common scenario that happens in college students daily life in which students would need Recycle Jungle. We also created a persona to characterize our target users.

Aspen is studying in the university library with her friend.

She just finished a bottle of soda.

She cannot see any recycling bins nearby, but doesn't want to throw the bottle away.

Logo Exploration

We explored various patterns during the design of the logo. Below are some of them. The right one was one of the splash screen design options.

The Use Case

Here's a simple use case demonstrating how users would use the app. We decided to use the augmented reality technology to make the experience more engaging and fun!

Choose what you want to do now... Search for a recycling bin or view your achievement.

Search or Achievement

Plastic water bottle

Plastic water bottle

Enter item type here

Plastic water bottle

Enter Recycling Item

Enter the type of item you want to recycle and Recycle Jungle will show you the nearest recycling bin.

An arrow with distance will direct you to the bin.

Follow Guidance

You find the recycling bin!

Congratulations!

Next Steps

We plan to implement the "getting rewards for your plants and animals" idea as one of the main features of Recycle Jungle. Below are part of the illustrations we plan to use in the future.

Recycle more
to raise us!