spenderherz
DEPOSIT DONATION SYSTEM UNDER THE ASPECT OF USER CENTERED DESIGN - CONCEPT AND VISUAL DESIGN
Bachelor thesis
welcome note
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First of all, I would like to thank you for your interest in my bachelor thesis, with which I completed my studies in User Experience Design at the Ingolstadt University of Applied Sciences in 2018. So don’t be surprised that the illustrations have German wording.
I try to explain everything as quickly and accurately as possible, however, the topic is very complex and the original thesis consisted of 80 pages and various design deliverables such as moodboards, personas, paper prototypes, mockups, app concept and a product film. I will therefore give you the opportunity to jump directly to the respective topic via quicklinks.
But of course I’m happy if you take the time to look at all the work.
introduction
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This thesis addresses the issue of people collecting bottles and cans from the rubbish for various reasons in order to get deposits. This kind of collecting is often inhumane, as people have to reach into the bins with their hands. In doing so, they come into contact with dirt and things that can harm them.
On the other hand, these people are often stigmatised by society because of their actions. Thus, the focus of this thesis was to try to create a human way to integrate these people into society with a digital approach under the aspect of user-centred design, to avoid someone having to search in bins with their hands and to build a circle of collectors, donors and sellers.
As an aside, the question of how street artists can be paid for their work in the future cashless era is adressed.
UCD & Target Group Research: The Collectors
Collectors main problems
Benchmark "existing solutions"
Stakeholder of the concept
Concept description
Concept elements
Use cases
Personas
Paper prototyping
Mockups
Usability Testing
Moodboard
Screendesign
Research
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User-centred design (UCD) is a holistic, user-oriented approach to the product development of interactive systems. The goal is to offer the user a product with the greatest possible usability, accessibility and user experience. To achieve this goal, it is important to know the target groups.
That’s why I talked to a lot of people who are familiar with the topic. Among them were of course pledge collectors, social work officials, street workers and many more. These people helped me to classify the deposit collectors and to understand what motivates them to do what they do. The groups of people and motivations are very different, but can be roughly divided into 4 different groups: Homeless, Immigrants, Retired and Unemployed or Low Income. The following overview shows why these groups of people gather.
collectors main problems​
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Displacement from the public sphere
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Lack of social status
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Return of the collected containers
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Cashless payment
Displacement from the public sphere Deposit collectors move predominantly in public spaces, in places where the fluctuation of people is particularly high and where collectable containers are most likely to be found. This means that they also spend time in prestigious places that are often visited by tourists. This, in turn, bothers the city authorities because it does not reflect well on their city when „poorer“ people collect bottles in the trash cans. Thus, different measures are taken to keep people away from these places. Lack of social status Many bottle collectors, especially pensioners, the unemployed and the homeless, are united by the lack of a structured daily life and an opportunity for identification, which is usually provided by one’s working life. The activity of collecting offers them this identification and at the same time creates the possibility to prove themselves in front of other people in our working society and to experience their appreciation. However, this appreciation does not take place in all parts of society and the collectors also experience rejection and humiliation again and again. Return of the collected containers For the deposit collectors, the supermarkets - mostly branch stores of large retail chains - represent the end of their collection activities. For them, handing in the deposit containers means payment for work done. However, even though bottle collectors are now the norm, they are not welcome in supermarkets for economic reasons. For retailers, accepting the bottles means a greater deployment of personnel and creates a considerable additional workload for their employees in terms of the work they have to perform. In addition, the return machines are blocked by the collectors, making it difficult for the store’s customers to access them. Cashless payment Cashless payment does not result in any specific problem for the activity of collecting deposits per se. However, it does affect people who are counted in the circle of bottle collectors, namely people from the homeless milieu who have to secure their subsistence in several ways and, in addition to their collecting activities, often have to wait out pedestrian zones and depend on the donations of their fellow citizens. A donation behavior, which in the course of the cashlessness, purely from technical view will probably no longer take place. The same fate, although from a different social class and possibly without far-reaching existential consequences, befalls the group of street artists.
stakeholder of the concept
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Deposit collectors
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Consumer of the beverages
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Retailer
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Homeless people
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Street artists
Based on the analysis of the topic, various target groups can be defined for this work, which are affected by the topic of bottle collection and are taken into account in the development of the concept. On the one hand, the deposit collectors, in their heterogeneous composition and the direct execution of the activity of collecting. On the other hand, the consumers of the beverages who, for various reasons, dispose of deposit containers in trash receptacles and the surrounding area or donate them directly to the deposit collector. In addition, there are the municipalities, which are entrusted with the task of managing the public space and which, as a result of the fact that they have to ensure that order is maintained, are repeatedly in a conflict of interests with the deposit collectors. Other participants include all operators of semi-public areas, such as airports, train stations, etc., where collectors go in search of bottles. Furthermore, the retailers, mostly large supermarket chains, belong to the circle of those affected by the topic, which take the end in the activity chain of the collectors and are often overloaded by large quantities of return containers. Finally, the development of cashless payments and donations should be included in the concept of this paper. This results, with the street artists and people from the milieu of homelessness, further target groups with relevance.
Concept description
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In order to do justice to all facets of the topic of deposit collection and the resulting problems and circumstances, various interlinked conceptual elements are required, which have been developed in consultation with the stakeholders. For this purpose, the integration of technical devices and applications is planned.
The focus is on a deposit box for handing in deposit containers, which can be used to solve the two problems of displacement from public spaces and the return of deposit containers, an app for targeted deposit donations with a playful approach and a kind of „social card“ with a storage function for digital amounts. In combination with the app and the „social card“, it is possible to donate digitally to people and thus solve the problem of cashless payment.
In addition, there are the directly involved parties of deposit collectors, deposit machines or beverage consumers, the municipalities and retailers in the form of large supermarkets.
Furthermore, this conceptual approach also integrates parties that have not been directly affected by the issue of bottle collection so far. For this purpose, small regional retailers, cafés, bookshops or similar that act as deposit boxes are taken into account and included in a solution concept while considering a benefit. In order to counteract the social exclusion resulting from the collection activity, it is planned to assign small tasks in the system cycle to the deposit collectors.
Conceptual cycle
concept elements
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The deposit collectors box is a type of container for bottle drop-off that can be rented by companies and retailers of all kinds - but preferably by small regional retailers that appeal to the target group - and receives the branding of the tenant. The plan is to place them in urban areas directly in front of the tenants’ respective stores.
The containers are equipped with a barcode scanner to register incoming bottles. The registration also opens the box to deposit the container. Return amounts, generated by the deposited deposit containers, are stored on the container and a visual display provides information about the amount of deposit donated so far. In addition, the box has an interface that ensures data exchange between the box and the donor via smartphone. The interface also allows the donated amounts to be transferred to a memory card. It should be noted that this is not a credit that can be used as a means of payment in retail stores.
For each amount donated, the deposit donor receives bonus points from the respective retailer or tenant of the box. These bonus points can be redeemed in the store of the box tenant and the donor receives discounts on the latter’s products in return.
This results in a number of advantages for the box displayer. On the one hand, he acquires customers by awarding bonus points that can be redeemed by the donors in the store. On the other hand, he advertises with charity through his charitable commitment.
collectors box
social card
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Another part of the concept is a memory card for digital amounts. This card is, with one exception, exclusively given to pledge collectors in social institutions in order to avoid misuse. The owners of this card have the option of transferring the donated amounts to this memory card at the collector boxes and having them paid out later at the facility. The amount donated to the boxes will be transferred to the social institution by the box owners for this purpose.
There is a special case in the issuance of the memory cards, namely the group of people of the street artists, because they can no longer be remunerated for their arts in the course of cashless payment. In this case, the allocation of tickets takes place at the municipality, namely when the street musicians register their activity.
To donate to homeless people and street artists, the donor must scan the barcode of the other person’s card with his or her app. The barcode is stored with an identification number that can be used to assign donated amounts to the respective persons at the collection point.
social card
deposit donation app​
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The deposit donation app is an application for the beverage consumer, who is also a deposit dispenser, and at the same time for the tenant setting up the boxes. Like the memory card, the app communicates with the deposit box via the smartphone.
Once the bottles have been deposited in the box, the deposit amounts donated are transformed into bonus points and stored on the app. The approach of this deposit donation app is a playful one that enables the deposit donor to engage in a competitive game with other donors that has positive connotations. The bonus points generated by pledge donations serve as the basis for this.
The bonus points can be exchanged for discounts and other benefits at the respective box displayer. The app generates a barcode that is scanned by the box displayer to calculate the bonus points.
Furthermore, on the donor’s side there is the possibility to increase donated deposit amounts, to donate directly to homeless people or street musicians, in combination with the memory card, to get a map with the locations of the deposit donation boxes and to share his activities in social media.
The same playful approach is taken for the person setting up the boxes. He has the option to compare and compete with other box setters in his area. The application also acts as a fill level indicator, providing information on the number of bottles in the respective deposit box. In addition, the operator receives an overview of the bonus points distributed.
donation app
central collection point
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The central issuing office is responsible for distributing the memory cards to the eligible persons. In addition, the donated pledge amounts are transferred to this facility by the box collectors and the donors. This is also where the amounts are ultimately paid out to the pledge collectors. Social institutions can be considered as distribution stations.
central point
use case definiton
Why?
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In the course of the user-centered design of a product, visualized prototypes are made available to the users in the steps of the conception phase and the implementation. Usability tests are conducted on the basis of these prototypes in order to gradually adapt the product to the needs of the users. It is advantageous to provide the user with a fictitious action that he can orientate himself on.
For this work, three use cases are necessary, since the finished product is used by the dispenser of the deposit bottles, as well as by the set-up of the deposit box and the deposit collector. Based on the system cycle and the user survey conducted in advance, the following definitions must be taken into account for app development and the concept.​
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use case: donor of deposit
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The user is in a city center and wants to drop off an empty container at a deposit box. To do this, the donor logs into the deposit app with his or her profile. The deposit container is scanned at a box and the user is credited with bonus points from the box’s installer on the app via NFC, thereby generating discounts at this store. The user then has the option of increasing his donation via various online payment options. Furthermore, the user has the option to compare himself with other donors with regard to the generated bonus points and enters into a kind of competitive game with them, at the end of which a reward is given. In addition, a special case is defined in which the user has the option of indirectly donating to street musicians or homeless people. The app can be used to transfer a donation amount to an account at a central collection point, where the cardholder can pick up the money.
donor deposit
Use case: deposit collector
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The use case for the deposit collector is different from that for the deposit dispensers and box displays. The collector does not have access to the app, as it can be assumed that the target group as a whole does not have the necessary devices. He therefore receives a memory card for digital amounts at a central issuing point, onto which he can transfer donations from the deposit boxes set up. The collected amounts are in turn paid out in cash or similar at the central issuing point. As a compensation, he takes over smaller tasks for the box set-up, should this be feasible. Alternatively, cardholders could be integrated into the day-to-day business of the social institutions.
deposit collector
Personas
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Based on the research and conception of the digital deposit donation system in the course of this work, three different target groups have emerged, each represented by a specially created individual persona. On the one hand by the two parties of the app users, with the deposit dispenser and the box setter and on the other hand by the deposit collector who is also an active part of the concept. The respective personas are provided with an indication of the characteristics to be assumed in the respective target group. In addition, there is a small profile overview to provide the persona with a lively character.
user personas
product design
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paperprototyping
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In the context of this work, the requirements for the prototype, i.e., the first sketches on paper, result from the concept cycle that was developed and the use cases derived from it. As a basis for finding out all the required contents of the digital product, i.e. the app, potential users of the product met for group discussions. The resulting requirements were then prioritized in order to be able to focus the rough concept on the elementary features of the app.
paper prototypes
mockups & usability testing​
For usability testing, there are a variety of different methods and approaches to let the user interact with prototypes. For example, in the context of this work, usability testing with focus groups was chosen for testing the Mockup prototypes. In this approach the prototypes are presented to a homogeneous user group by a neutral moderator. The moderator presents different tasks and the users give their thoughts, suggestions and optimization proposals aloud. This round of work is observed by the developer of the product, who notes down the important information and incorporates it into the next work steps.
mockups
moodboard
A mood board is similar to the personas, which are used to repeatedly reflect on user requirements and the appropriate target group during the course of the project. This is where all elements such as color, fonts, shapes and styles are anchored that reflect the characteristics of a product and are to be used in the final graphic design of the product.
The app for the deposit donation system is intended to have a friendly character and invite the user to use it in a playful way. For this reason, light pastel tones have been selected for the color scheme, which are particularly effective on a dark background. Stylistically, it should have a comic-like feel and feature matching avatars and elements. In addition, there are atypical, slanted edges on the navigation bars to underline the playfulness of the product.
moodboard
Final Screendesign
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In the final elaboration of the application, care was taken to pick up on the content defined in the mood board, such as color, fonts and impression, in order to reflect the character of the product. The design represents a playful, creative approach and is intended to give the user a positive feeling when using it. A clear influence on the final design choice is the expected target group around the deposit dispensers and the box stands. For this, the pre-determined personas came into play again to a greater extent.
final screens
