Case study: ScrapDeal — A scrap collection and donation app
Sell or donate your scrap from the convenience of your doorstep, and much more!
Problem Statement
With increasing population and irregular timings it is not convenient to keep track of scrap dealers visiting the area. Working individuals can’t find a convenient way of recycling scrap or donating useful items. Find a streamlined way of dealing with one’s waste in a convenient way.
Why scrap?
Especially during festival time, I end up cleaning out a lot of scrap, and I noticed people from my neighbourhood who are shifting houses have a lot of scrap collected, or my friends who don’t get the time to do a timely cleanup of their place and struggle to get rid of their scrap. I figured that there needs to be a streamlined way of managing one’s waste. That’s how ScrapDeal idea was born!
Introducing ScrapDeal
ScrapDeal is an app that let’s users request a pickup to get their scrap picked up from their doorstep on a day and time of their own choice and get paid a fair price for their scrap! Or, if they wish, they can donate their scrap as well and contribute to a greener environment.
Target Audience
- The target audience can range from age starting from 14 years old teenagers looking for extra pocket money till any age!
- People who are either working and are too busy and happen to miss the scrap collector who visits their area, or are too old to carry their own scrap and go to the scrap collection shops on their own.
Or have a look at the app below!
Research
Before anything else, I wanted to research and understand the issues that come with scrap management as India is a country with a rising population.
Desk Research
Various different scraps materials struggle to get recycled because of poor infrastructure, less awareness and the high costs of managing waste. As a result, only a very small percentage of waste manages to get recycled. As we move forward, waste production in India will keep increasing so for the environment it is necessary to come up with efficient ways to get rid of one’s scrap in time.
Interviews
Next, I interviewed 15 people from various backgrounds and age groups to understand their problems stemming right from their home.
I asked various questions to understand how much scrap they produce, what their process of getting rid of the scrap is, how often do they donate and what pain points they have with regards to their process.
Here are the insights from the interviews
User Story
After the insights from my research, I wanted to create a user with a user story to help me picture the user and their pain points in a better way!
User flow
Have a look at the user flow below for the process of raising a request to get the scrap picked.
Final Screens
Here are the final screens of the app, after a lot of sketches, iterations, A/B testing here we are with ScrapDeal!
Iterations
I want to highlight some of the iterations that were done after getting the initial designs tested with the users.
- When it comes to the UI Design, the accordion were all also in the primary colour of the brand, and hence were creating a confusion as the primary colour is also used for the CTAs. So the screens were iterated to avoid confusion and create a clear visual hierarchy to communicate the right purpose of the accordion.
2. Other option was added along with the rest of the items, in case the user wants to sell/donate something that isn’t already present in the list of options, they can describe their item and get notified for the same!
3. A raise a request CTA was added in the price list screen so that it becomes convenient for the user to check the prices and then directly raise a request from there without having to go back and then select the request option.
Takeaways
- I noticed from my first case study to this, that over time my design process has changed and it also depends on the kind of problem that one is working on.
- This time, before doing my research I listed out all the assumptions that I had about this problem statement, and I was amazed to see how it really helped me in framing my interview questions in a better way and get valuable insights.
- I wanted to work on improving my visual design skills and really understand how a real world application is designed, which is why I iterated with my designs by taking inspiration from real apps and examples online.
- I understood the importance of taking feedback and really testing out your designs, every person had a valuable suggestion for me which really helped with the iterations.
I would like to thank all my friends and family, and the interview participants for helping me out with this!
It would mean a lot to me if you could long press on the clap icon, drop a few claps and give me your valuable suggestions!
I am currently looking for product design roles in Bangalore, India
Do reach out to me on LinkedIn and Twitter and Instagram for feedbacks and opportunities.
Or you can mail me at anjisharma81@gmail.com.
