Green Grow
A solution to reuse daily food waste at home by turning food scraps into compost.
+ Industrial Design, User Experience, User Research, UI Design
Project Brief
Overview
This was a semester-long individual project. The design process included problem discovery, market research, user research, design, and testing. It combines the skills of industrial design and UI/UX design to achieve the final solution.
Goal
The goal of this project is to using design methods to solve the daily food waste problem in our home. By design a product and services for the users, helps to reuse food waste and build an eco-friendly system to benefit the environment.
Problem:
1.3 billion tons of food is wasted every year. During the process, it cost tremendous money and creates pollution in the environment. It’s a problem that needs to be solving.
Research:
According to my research, currently, there are three common ways to process food waste: landfill, compost, and animal feed. Among these, compost is the most beneficial way.
Benefits of Compost:
Enriches soil, helping retain moisture and suppress plant diseases and pests.
Reduces the need for chemical fertilizers.
Create humus.
Reduce methane emission from landfills.
Market & User:
By conducting market research and user research, helps me understand the design opportunities to fulfill the needs of both market and users. Currently, there are many compost services and compost machines in the market but the majority is designed to be used outdoor so people without access to a yard were being left out. There are huge design opportunities for an indoor compost product.
Testing:
By collecting daily food scraps and using the compost method I learned from the previous interviews, I found out that the key elements for indoor compost are: heat, ventilation, mix/breaks, and a filter.
Ideation:
Combining the result from research and testing, I decided to design a compact kitchen compost machine to solve the problem. The ideation process focuses on form developing and function developing for the final product.
Business Model:
To better support the product, I proposed a partnership with Whole Foods Market. Which they can collect compost from their customers and use it in local farms. This will benefit the customer, the market, and the environment.
Final Design:
The final outcomes combine a kitchen compost machine, a digital app, and services to create a business model not only benefits the consumer but also helps to build an eco-friendly service system.
