UX DESIGNER
The Reusable Rewards project is a mobile app designed to encourage sustainability by rewarding students for reducing single-use plastics and food packaging waste. At our university, the public cafeteria generates significant plastic waste from single-use food containers. To combat this issue, our team developed a point-based reward system that incentivizes students to bring and use their own reusable food containers. Verified through the cafeteria receipt's barcode, students can earn points redeemable for free or discounted food items at the cafeteria. The project was completed in three months and submitted to the UNT We Mean Green Fund for further development.
Personas
Initial Interviews
To better understand the problem and potential solutions, we conducted interviews with three key stakeholder groups: students, cafeteria staff, and sustainability officers at the local recycling plant. We learned that students were aware of the environmental impact of single-use plastics but found it inconvenient to bring reusable containers. Cafeteria staff expressed concerns about hygiene and logistical issues related to verifying container usage, while sustainability officers emphasized the university’s growing focus on reducing waste. These interviews shaped the design of our reward system, ensuring that it addressed user needs while supporting broader sustainability goals.
Based on the interviews, we created two personas to guide our design decisions:
DARREN, THE BUSY STUDENT
Darren is a junior at the University of North Texas. He is involved in several organizations around campus, and captains his intramural basketball team. He finds finds himself at the union often to hang with friends and at many campus events. His busy schedule leads him to eat on campus often due to convenience.
CHARLOTTE, THE ECO-CONSCIOUS STUDENT
Charlotte is a sophomore at the University of North Texas. Part of the reason she chose to attend UNT over competing universities was because of the school’s goal to reduce their carbon footprint. She loves meeting with friends at the Union to grab a quick bite or a pick-me-up coffee. She volunteers with her sorority to pick up trash around campus.
NEW USER JOURNEY
In the second iteration of the app, we came up with a system that removes the potentially difficult problems associated with the employee having to type in the code and instead offloads it into additional steps for the user to take.
The employer simply adds a modifier on the register that will generate a code that prints on the receipt, and the user would then be able to use the app to scan that code which will give them the appropriate amount of points. While it is more steps, it is practically more feasible so as to not disrupt the flow of service in the food court.
Defining Logistics
FIRST ITERATION
In the original iteration of the app, we came up with a scenario where earning points would come through a code, which only the employees of the food court would know and would have to type in. After consideration, we realized this would likely cause more problems than it would solve.
To the Left: First round of UI Wireframes
How would employees get the code? Would it need to change on a weekly or monthly basis? This would also have the potential to hold up lines, as it could take some time for the employee to get the phone and type out a code. After talking with UNT Dining Services, we learned more about how their systems work and what would be most feasible for them.
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The circle from version B and the size of visual elements from version A were combined to create a new iteration of the home screen.
NEW HOME SCREEN
Participants expressed that the visual elements felt too small, but were overall very drawn to the central circle that contains the points.
HOME SCREEN B
The hierarchy of elements in this version was designed to linearly explain the purpose of the app.
HOME SCREEN A
We set up a table by the Campus Chat food court [where the app would be used] and conducted A/B testing between the two screens we created. We asked passerby students if they would participate in exchange for a piece of candy. 11 participants were surveyed.
From our results, we synthesized elements from Home Screen A and Home Screen B to create a new home screen.
82%
of testers said they would be inclined to use the app
64%
of testers immediately understood the purpose of the app
OF THOSE SURVEYED:
Wireframes & Testing
Features
GAME-IFIED FOR GREATER INCENTIVE
Students can see their ranking across with other users across the school. This feature could create competition which might motivate some to bring their reusable items more often. Prizes could be given to users with the highest points at the end of the week, month, etc.
Should this app be integrated beyond UNT, this feature could be used between schools to compete with one another.
Prototype
BRING YOUR OWN REUSABLE ITEMS AND EARN POINTS IN EXCHANGE FOR FOOD.
Users would bring their reusable item to the checkout line and show it to the cashier as they pay for their purchase.
The cashier would then add a modifier on the register pertaining to what item the customer brought, which would produce a unique code at the bottom of the receipt from the purchase.
Users would then scan the code with the camera on their phone through the app, which would then verify the point value and load in the user’s account.
These points could then be redeemed in the app for prizes such as a free fountain drink or a meal voucher.
Usability Testing
To gauge the functionality of our system, we tested 10 students at our university to operate the application and give us feedback regarding how they felt about it.
We sat down students in the UNT Union and asked asked them to complete three task flows and observed their paths, reactions, and pain points to determine what would need to be adjusted within the system.
While most users were successful in using the app, there are room for improvements. We learned that the visibility of navigation could be improved, as well as the general hierarchy of information on the landing page.
Tested Workflow:
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WHERE WOULD YOU GO IF YOU WANTED TO COMPARE YOUR WEEKLY TOTAL OF POINTS TO OTHER PEOPLE AROUND CAMPUS?
2
WHERE WOULD YOU GO TO EXCHANGE YOUR POINTS FOR REWARDS?
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YOU’VE JUST CHECKED OUT AT THE CAMPUS CHAT AND YOU BROUGHT A REUSABLE BAG TO PUT YOUR ITEMS IN. HOW WOULD YOU GO ABOUT GETTING THOSE POINTS?
Reusable Rewards was submitted to the UNT Mean Green Fund, a grant program to fund student-led sustainability programs, in 2019. Due to the start of the COVID pandemic, the Mean Green Fund was placed on pause, and Reusable Rewards was shelved to due the circumstances.