The Eco-Guide is designed for the Troy Farmer's Market and the people who attend the market every Saturday. Eco-Guides aim to reduce the human error from the market’s current waste system as it inhibits proper sorting of waste, and provide further structural support to ensure stability of their composting, trash, and recycling frames.
Problem Identification
Through our research and onsite visiting, it was realized that they had a problem with their waste system due to a plethora of human error when it comes to differentiating whether an item goes in the compost, landfill or recycling bins. In addition to this, it was clear that there needed to be further structural support to ensure stability of the frames for each of the bins.
Ideation
During our brainstorm, we focused on how we can create a product that can be implemented into the environment fluently and also be transported effortlessly do By targeting the disposal bins that were already present. The dimensions of our redesign must stay relevant to the six of the existing disposal bins. We also wanted to redesign a new collage to educate users on proper disposal practices.
A major aspect of the farmers market is that the location of the market changes seasonally. They are also only active one day out of the week, Saturday, meaning the redesign must be compatible with transport and storage. The Idea of make our new bins collapsible seemed like the most logical choice.
On the Left are two pages of pin-up drawings that adapted the thought process of our ideation.
Prototyping
We initially started with our low fidelity prototypes adapting our previous ideas using a mixture of vinyl and cardboard. These editions of them
Eco-Guide focused on collapsibility and transport but the freest ended being smaller is size and volume capacity. We also focused on using 2D imaging to best educate users.
After extensive user testing, we determined that the 2D images were not as effective as we hoped. In the next iteration we focus on maxing mixing size and making a more interactive waste identification board.
