Opportunity
The world wastes about 1.4 billion tons of food every year, however, the US discards more food than any other country in the world: nearly 40 million tons (30-40% of the US food supply) every year. New York City, one of the most densely populated cities in the world sends 12 tons of waste to landfills every day. When the compost collection program was suspended in 2020, the challenge of how to manage food waste and deliver organic produce spurred action. GroundCycle sprouted during the global pandemic and is one of many NGOs across NYC taking action to engage communities in composting to reduce misdirection of organic waste into landfills.
Still in its early start-up stage, GroundCycle is in need to raise awareness of their services and steadily grow website traction. Collaborating with the founder, as the solo designer, I was responsible for the website redesign.
Still in its early start-up stage, GroundCycle is in need to raise awareness of their services and steadily grow website traction. Collaborating with the founder, as the solo designer, I was responsible for the website redesign.
Research
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Understanding the American consumer using various research methods
In order to uncover the problem, we first need to know “what” is food waste, “how” Americans waste food in order to understand “why” these values are so high for a global population of 8 billion. I set out to understand 3 areas that contribute to food waste: purchase habits, waste management, and the consumers mindsets.
What is Food Waste?
According to Feedingamerica.org, food waste is safe, high-quality food that is thrown away rather than eaten.
Food waste occurs for a variety of reasons, including:
Food waste occurs for a variety of reasons, including:
- Uneaten food that is thrown out at homes, stores, and restaurants
- Crops left in fields because of low crop prices or too many of the same crops being available
- Problems during the manufacturing and transportation of food
- Food not meeting retailers' standards for color and appearance
Purchase Habits
Americans are often impulsive in their food purchases, unrealistically assessing the quantity of food needed and as a result overspending and under-consuming.
Waste Management
As a result, food scraps are tossed that can still be consumed or composted. Waste accumulates, organics end up in landfills.
Consumer Mindsets
Consumers lack awareness and education surrounding food waste, food life-cycles. Composting is not a routine habit.
Exploring the competitor landscape to uncover current trends across nonprofits working to address food waste
To explore the issue further, literature reviews, and user interviews were conducted around two focal areas: understanding user habits, and assessing market trends. Connecting with users who have varied involvement in environmental concerns along with evaluating the business landscape to understand competitors’ success strategies and services can help to understand where GroundCycle can differentiate themselves.
Cross-examination of direct competitors such as GrowNYC, Big Reuse, and
Earth Matter and indirect competitor, Solana Center provides insight on how environmental focused organizations address food waste challenges.
Earth Matter and indirect competitor, Solana Center provides insight on how environmental focused organizations address food waste challenges.
Competitor Success Strategies
- Clear mission and vision for the cause
- Validation of impact through evidence-based data
- Resources/education hub
- Recent and positive customer reviews
Since GroundCycle is already combating food waste, I wanted to explore why their website has low conversion rates and why users rely on other sources for updated information
After meeting with the founder, I was informed that the user base currently consists of predominately returning customers and a portion of new customers learning about their services for the first time. Due to time constraints operating in a 4-week timeline, it was difficult to locate available customers for an interview who met the screening criteria. Thus, I decided to widen the participant criteria to a global community of users across 3 profile segments:
Interviewee Profile
User segment A:
climate action oriented,
users who compost regularly
climate action oriented,
users who compost regularly
User segment B:
environmental enthusiasts, users who have no experience with composting, want to get started
environmental enthusiasts, users who have no experience with composting, want to get started
User segment A & B:
advocates, users who lead mostly sustainable lifestyles, have composted within the last 5 years
advocates, users who lead mostly sustainable lifestyles, have composted within the last 5 years
Focusing the GroundCycle redesign on alleviating new customers’ frustrations
A majority of GroundCycle’s website returning users are already members for services such as Bin Swap and community compost hubs. The users we will work with for the project include first-time users and infrequent visitors that represent a large portion of incoming customers and potential members. From the research data, several themes emerged:
Theme 1
Lack of resources & confused on how to get started
“I don’t know what ‘the cycle’ means. “On the homepage, I want to know: how to compost, service offerings and how to get started. Make it the action I want it to do.”
– Emily
– Emily
“The navigation is unclear– I don’t know where to start. For example, I would expect to see Bin Swap, Compost Hub, and Learn More in the “Get Started” page.”
– Yan
– Yan
Theme 2
Unaware of how to incorporate compositing into their lifestyle routines
“For compost: is there a reminder for compost collection? What goes into the compost? What is the process? What day of the week and time? Compost drop-off map? I am left with more questions than answers.”
– Stella
– Stella
Strategy
Utilizing user insights and mindsets to define core jobs-to-be done
From conversations with our users, 5 key insights emerged:
- Keep paramount information on the homepage
- USP is missing from the homepage: why compost, how to start, and build a routine
- Site-wide navigation is unclear, can be organized better by depth of subject knowledge
- Create a Resources page that serves as a reference knowledge-base portal for any experience level
- Update the About page that effectively displays the organization’s mission and organizes events in a visually simple manner
Over 80% of interview participants confirm that they are aware of food waste and are concerned with climate change impacting our current and future generations.
100% of interview participants were implementing healthier lifestyle changes but were not prioritizing to make it a habit.
I worked with the knowledge that I would test the prototype matching these 3 user mindsets.
Ideation
From the research insights, it is clear that the users tech-literacy levels vary and the complex terminology of the service offerings make the users confused and frustrated. With this in mind, I explore two How Might We statements that focus on user pain-points and the business goal:
How Might We
help improve the approach to learning about composting so that people of all experience levels can be confident to start composting and build a routine?
How Might We
help people recognize and make healthier choices to lead sustainable lifestyles so that they can have a positive impact on the environment?
Having defined the user and business goals, I set out to redesign the GroundCycle website with a focus on two core needs: closing knowledge gaps through education and connecting people to services
Our users are aware that food waste is negatively impacting the environment, but don’t know how to take action. The GroundCycle website redesign will aid in providing clearer navigation and updated services whilst sharing relevant educational resources.
The core feature redesigns include:
The core feature redesigns include:
- Paramount information is up-to-date on the homepage
- Service offerings are presented in a clear and consumable format
- Language, imagery, and iconography are consistent and uniform with existing brand guidelines
- Consistent UI patterns in navigation for a seamless and familiar feel
- Website interface is responsive on mobile and desktop
Design
Designing ways to improve the site navigation for new and existing GroundCycle customers
Reviewing the research insights, the main opportunities to lower the barriers of participating in services or becoming a member were on the Home page and the Resources page. The Resources page provides most real estate for educational content, whereas the Home page shows previews of all website sections and an AI chatbot assistant optimal for hand-holding. The sketches and digital wireframes are made with the considerations noted above.
Home page improvements
About page improvements
Resources page improvements
A virtual assistant for all your queries– meet Clover.
Clover is an AI chatbot assistant to help users navigate the website with ease.
Clover can answer questions and direct users to resources related to topics found
on the GroundCycle website.
Clover can answer questions and direct users to resources related to topics found
on the GroundCycle website.
The integration has potential for servicing customers beyond Q&A by offering to set compost reminders, event alerts previewing calendar and more to come later.
Testing & Iterations
Quick usability check to review the GroundCycle website redesign
Due to time constraints with the founder, and resource constraints, usability tests were conducted remotely with the same interviewees from earlier studies.
Interview synthesis:
- The prototype was evaluated to see if users can successfully complete the 3 main flows without any major roadblocks.
- Participants were asked to provide feedback on three sections of the website: site-wide navigation, the Homepage, About Us, and Resources page and lastly, the AI chatbot integration.
Final high-fidelity desktop and mobile solution
The GroundCycle brand style guidelines were implemented into the UI design. These are the final screens that were designed:
- Improved site-wide navigation
- Incorporated relevant photos and imagery to compliment the content
- Organized topics into separate sections with clear headings and CTA’s
- Clear and concise mission statement
- Updated timeline with interactive components
- Relevant and latest resources on topics related to food waste management, soil health, composting, circular economy, and zero-waste.
- Advanced search with the option to search by categories and other filters
Solution
Website redesign touchpoint visualizations
Our client prioritized the website redesign, however, I learned that more users are accessing their channels through mobile devices. As a product visualization I designed mobile first because mobile phone is the only way someone has access to the internet while on the go. Essential functionality must be available for mobile devices, and consistent with the website design.
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Considerations for future expansions
Connected to the Cause
Mission driven to substantially reduce waste generation through prevention, reduction, recycling and reuse.
(UN SDG #12).
(UN SDG #12).
Action Oriented- Core Services
Ensure that users have the relevant information and awareness for waste reduction and lead lifestyles in harmony with nature.
Inspire Change & Advocacy
Encourage users to engage outside the platform through partnerships, and implement tools to monitor impacts.
