Gigi Mobile Application
Problem
Making sustainable choices can be difficult and costly, but breaking down sustainability goals into smaller actions can help people feel more capable of making a difference in their daily lives. Consumable products, which we buy regularly for everyday use, often seem too insignificant to bother choosing a more sustainable option. Gigi is a tool that can assist users in finding eco-friendly alternatives to consumable items that align with their sustainability values.
Constraints
The design solution should be a desktop or mobile application.
Role
Dates
Research Team
Problem Statement
How might we band people together to set an example for their communities and support each other for the benefit of our planet?
Refined Problem Statement
How might we encourage people to choose sustainable options when purchasing consumables?
User Interviews
As a group, we each interviewed four participants to learn about their experience, goals, needs, and pain points related to sustainability and climate change. We conducted a total of 16 user interviews.
Key Findings
The most cited pain point is that sustainability is too expensive and there’s a lack of time to research about more sustainability options (9 participants)
Participants need to have more information about sustainable brands (9 participants)
Participants want to own an electric car (6 participants)
Most participants practice recycling (14 participants) and most try to shop sustainably by buying products labeled as eco-friendly (11 participants)
“Changing our habits as a society is the only thing we can do to survive.”
— Participant 1
“The design of everything around me has to facilitate easy behaviors that help climate change.”
— Participant 4
Competitive Analysis
We also conducted a competitive analysis to evaluate existing solutions. Primary competitors are e-commerce sites that sell sustainable products. Secondary competitors provide information on sustainability ratings.
Personas & Journey Maps
Based on our user interviews, we developed proto-personas. Our primary persona is the Conflicted Buyer - someone who doubts sustainability claims and prefers to research products before buying. Our secondary persona is the Believer - a person who trusts product labels and prefers not to spend extra time before purchasing. The journey map shows both personas when they need to shop and replace a consumable product.
Affinity Mapping
Using affinity mapping and value propositions, we brainstormed feature ideas to support users in their journey toward purchasing sustainable alternative products.
Concept Testing
“I like the [B] barcode scanner because It would be very quick if I was at the store. That one speaks to me when I'm in a hurry, but I also like [C] content/information because I can look here when I have more time.”
— Participant 2
“Efficiency is important, I don’t want to take too much time going through options.”
— Participant 4
Jobs-to-be-done
User Flows
User flow for the mobile application
Information Architecture
Initial and revised IA after conducting a card sorting activity to see how users categorize sustainability values and preferences.
Revised site map for mobile application
Revised IA based on card sorting results
Sketches
Initial sketches of mobile interface features
Product details and reviews drilldown
Eco badge exploration
Eco score exploration
Exploration of layout and eco score breakdown
Product page exploration
Product information cards and FAQ
User preferences and product lists
User preferences and visualization
Product page exploration
Category browsing screens
Wireframes
Visual Design
Keywords
Playful, Earthy, Abstract, Friendly