Design process of Greenguide
Seperating true sustainability from greenwashing using Green guide
About:
‍Academic project
Thesis Defense
UX Research
UI Design

Key Methods:
Generative Research
Strategising
Market Validation
Scoping
Information Architecture
Wireframes
Usability Testing
Prototyping
Problem
Greenwashing is when a company conveys false impression that its products are sustainable when in fact they are not by using terms like " Green " or " Eco-friendly ". This is a problem because
1) 42% cases analyzed by the European Commission found some degree of greenwashing
2) 98% of 2,219 products making green claims were guilty of greenwashing
3) 58% of environmental marketing in the US had at least one misleading claim

Challenge
‍How might we reduce the time and efforts spent on researching sustainable products by creating a reliable and efficient method for eco-conscious consumers to differentiate between genuinely sustainable products and greenwashing claims during the product purchase process?


How I grew as a Designer:
Confronting the real-world challenge of making sustainability accessible, I learned the art of simplifying complex concepts for a diverse audience. The project not only refined my technical expertise but also instilled a deep sense of responsibility as a designer contributing to positive societal change.
Introducing Green guide
Green guide is an application that helps users buy sustainable products without getting green washed by companies, through clicking a photo of the product while at grocery store and then they will get brief information that is backed up by sins of greenwashing concepts and regenerative organic certified product. Apart from this, the user can also know where to buy a particular sustainable product nearby and what to buy from a list. This is how it goes. See research
I started by identifying the key user scenarios and map out the sequence of screens and actions required to accomplish specific tasks. Storyboarding helped me identify any gaps or usability issues in the design, and it ensured a smooth and intuitive user experience. Apart from this, the user can also know where to buy a particular sustainable product nearby and what to buy from a list. This is the story of a wannabe busy eco-conscious consumer,

Information Architecture

Users begin with onboarding, swiftly transitioning to the home screen for tailored recommendations and sustainable scores. The search feature facilitates efficient exploration, leading to detailed product information. The scanner adds an interactive layer, enabling real-time assessments. The shopping list becomes a strategic planning tool, seamlessly connecting users to product availability. Personalized profiles and notifications enhance engagement, creating a cohesive and user-friendly experience. This thoughtful user flow ensures simplicity and empowerment in making sustainable choices.
Design outcomes

Home page

The home page works like a dashboard that tracks every small action that user have taken in and outside of the app usage. User can learn more about living and eco-conscious life through home page. This consists of design elements like
1) Learning more ways to earn green points
2)Different types of house hold products are displayed here for easily filtering and looking over information from this horizontally scrolling slider
3) Activity dashboard
4) Most recently visited stores that user visited and shopped from, so the user can go back and add products to list again and again

Search Bar and Scan / Snap

Search page is uded to quickly search product listings display search results, including product names, descriptions, and sustainability scores.

The "Product Scanner" is a fundamental feature of the Green guide app, allowing users to quickly assess the sustainability of products by scanning barcodes or capturing product images.
‍

Shopping List Creation

The "Create new list" feature allows users to create and populate their custom shopping lists with products they want to purchase, making it easy to keep track of the items they need.

The "Locate Items in Nearby Stores" feature assists users in finding physical stores or online retailers where the products on their shopping list are available. This feature streamlines the process of discovering where to purchase sustainable items.
‍

Become a member

This feature allows users to access premium content and features by subscribing or becoming a member of the Green Guide app. It typically involves a paid subscription that offers enhanced functionalities and exclusive benefits to users who opt for this premium service.
Users can opt for a premium membership, unlocking exclusive features, personalized recommendations, and enhanced sustainability insights. Users pay a subscription fee for premium access. Premium members earn Green points at an accelerated rate, providing them with more significant rewards and incentives
‍

View Prototype
Usability testing

I have conducted usability testing with 5 users and all of them are eco-conscious consumers who prefer sustainability while shopping for household items. This usability testing approach aimed not only to identify problems but also to understand the underlying reasons behind user behavior. The gathered data, both qualitative and quantitative, was meticulously analyzed to identify recurring patterns, pain points, and areas of delight. This analysis formed the basis for actionable insights

Turning usability testing data into action

Recognition and prioritisation of severity is done by finding out which task is severe. The double diamond is exactly what we need to build a framework that will handle the usability issues and find ways to solve them. Adapting the model above to usability testing of the result is a four-step process 1) Data collection 2) Issue prioritization 3) Solution generation 4) Solution prioritization
This starts with averaging the ease and confidence of each task.

After finding out what task is intensely severe and highly severe to use, I have redesigned the features accordingly. These are the top 6 difficult tasks that are redesigned..

Why Journalling?
💡 After picking the behavior you want to give up, be it eating an undesirable food or indulging in a distraction that doesn’t serve you, the next step is to write it down, along with the date you gave it up for good. This action marks the shift from a temporary “can’t” to a permanent “don’t.”
-Nir Eyal in his article about Progressive extremism

Market validation

Pretotyping is a validation technique that is used to test the ideas quickly in low budget. This month long process starts off with figuring out risky assumptions that have all the possible ideas and ways of validating the concept of green guide in several ways. I have strategically used various marketing techniques for gaining reach to attract and know the interest towards Green guide.

Making Design Decisions

The “Timely ask”. The first screen that user lands on when they open the app in this page. They have to answer the 5 questions and that is it! This is the Journaling screen. With changing times, technology also adapted, and reducing the ability factor makes users’ actions more easier and usable. The usage of Emoticons, Tags, and sliders makes the process seamless.
User can redeem their money from their profile. People with emotional weight do not get enough motivation for day-to-day activities. Building a habit like journaling seems to be unachievable especially when the world around you is falling down.

Storyboard
Storyboarding is a good way to elaboratively explain the user flow and the actual structure of the project. I made a storyboard where Emma is going through a breakup and was not feeling good at all. She uses MoJo to bring back joy into her life. The whole process is depicted step by step in the form of the story involving screens.
Contact
me