Sustainable Shopping
Helping shoppers make sustainable choices
During my UX design co-op at TD's innovation lab, I worked on the design of a sustainable shopping application from conception, through to research, and wireframing. Users can discover sustainable brands and stores near them, search for sustainable, affordable, & convenient product alternatives, and keep track of their progress towards a number of sustainability goals.
CLIENT
ROLES
User & market research
Qualitative data synthesis
Journey mapping
User flows
Wireframing
UI design
Concept testing
Workshop facilitation
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TOOLS
FigJam
Figma
Survey Monkey
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COLLABORATORS
Project manager Business analysts
Developers
Senior UX designer
Research scientist
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How might we help eco-conscious consumers find more sustainable goods and services while shopping online?
Journey of Sustainable Shoppers
Our team identified two groups of sustainable shoppers. Passive shoppers who are open to sustainable purchases but do not prioritize sustainability, and proactive sustainable shoppers who actively seek sustainable products.
Passive sustainable shopper
Proactive sustainable shopper
"Right now I choose affordability over sustainability… you have to go out of your way to find sustainable products and you have to pay so much more."
Initial Consumer
Interview Thoughts
After identifying user journeys, our team conducted preliminary interviews. Our conversations with targeted users led to the discovery of four main themes detailed below.
01
02
Trust is imperative
Collective impact > individual actions
Trust is incredibly important in terms of brand recognition, platform, reviews, quality of the product, label etc.
Without a clear understanding of the greater impact from personal decisions, sustainability is not a priority
03
04
Affordability is a top priority
Convenience is key
Users are willing to make sustainable purchases but only if it can align with their definition of affordable
Sustainability needs to be relatively convenient and fit into users' lifestyles
Solution Concepts
From the user research, our team developed 8 possible solutions from which I created Adcepts for preliminary concept testing. The first, one of my original concepts, received the best response from users.
Prioritization
of User Feedback
As a team, we prioritized user feedback based on desirability and feasibility to understand what to include in our product moving into the validation phase.
"Corporations aren't doing enough but
they have the potential to"
Validation Phase User Research
METHODS
TARGET USERS
MY ROLE
Survey
1-1 interviews
Focus groups
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Youth (17-25)
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Survey design
Focus group design and facilitation
Research analysis
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Emerging thought patterns
01
Judgement
"I feel guilty buying from Amazon & companies with bad sustainability reputations"
"Corporations aren’t doing enough but they have the potential to"
02
Mistrust
"I don't believe corporations have the best interest of the environment at heart"
"For me to trust corporations, I need transparency"
03
04
Practicality
Lack of knowledge
"Sustainability must fit into my lifestyle. Right now it is unaffordable and inconvenient"
"I need more information to make sustainable choices"
"I don't know of any sustainable brands"
What we need to know for our product?
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Product/brand recommendations must be both affordable and convenient
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Clear, transparent information and accurate data are needed to gain consumer trust
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App cannot focus solely on consumption
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Positive language and emphasis on collective actions is imperative
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Recommendations need to be realistic and easy to implement into existing lifestyles
Wireframes
App at a glance
Make an impact
See high-level metrics, get quick recommendations for sustainable actions you can take today, and discover sustainable brands.
Find your good
Keep it local. Filter by category to discover sustainable shops, restaurants, and events near you.
Track your progress
Make an impact. Keep track of your carbon footprint and find metrics on your sustainability habits.
Shop sustainably
Looking for something in particular? Search or filter by category to find sustainable options from a variety of brands.
In just 4 months, I...
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Created solution concepts that ultimately helped the PM secure project funding.
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Designed an innovative application idea that was chosen to move forward to production.
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Led an integral workshop for my team to determine product priorities and features.
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Planned and conducted a successful focus group with youth to understand their thoughts on sustainability.
