Luba Uzik
USER EXPERIENCE & VISUAL DESIGNER
"The first design idea to solve a problem is not the last one. That's why we have design processes that immerse us in a world of many possibilities."
Luba is a User Experience Designer with a background in Visual Design, focusing on crafting human-centric designs via print and digital spaces.
She believes that everything has a system, and a holistic, systematic process is key to finding the solution. Since childhood, Luba tried to solve a problem with a creative approach in the equation that had only two variant answers. That directs her toward tireless experimentation and iteration until the problem is solved right. She is inspired by chaos to create order; she likes to dive deeper into details, breaking down the research insights on sticky notes or massaging the spreadsheet data to finish a puzzle.
Luba strives to create meaningful designs using a human-centric process and working with like-minded people in collaborative environments to bring positive change and enhance business value and human experience.
She loves carrying about her avocado trees and plants in her spare time, taking a walk with her cat, Hazelnut, or exploring beautiful outdoor PNW.
Soil Loop
COMPOSTING SYSTEM WITH A TRACKING IMPACT FOR ENVIRONMENT-ORIENTED PEOPLE IN URBAN AREAS
Project Overview
Studying the topic of global warming gave me the understanding that everything on Earth is connected. Suppose one person does not compost organic waste. In that case, it has little effect. If many neglect processing organic waste, systematic behavior ruins the balance in the environmental cycle. The minimum goal of the project is to acquaint people living in cities with composting processes and the opportunities they can get from effective, successful composting on their balconies or at home. It's not a waste; it's food, nutrients, and minerals for other organisms. While analyzing a few reports, I've noticed that people don't see value in composting or don't want to compost because of many excuses, such as lack of motivation or knowledge.
My project, Soil Loop, allows apartment residents to choose one of the types of composting that best suits their habits, goals, and daily activities. Empowering with personal tracking, the user tracks how much CO2 and methane emissions they have reduced due to proper recycling of organic matter. As a bonus, they get their compost and can do anything with it: use it for flowers and plants or donate to the local community.
My goal was to synthesize the research data that I did in the past and gain insights from the user interviews so I could develop a fully clickable mobile prototype that is easy to use, enjoyable, and efficient.
Process Work
RESEARCH
The first step was to analyze the literature on the composting problem. Then, I conducted user interviews to gain signs of people's composting knowledge, pain points, and goals on recycling food scraps. The affinity map helped to see patterns between users. Then, after I settled on a baseline of what I learned from my target audience, I created personas and the How Might We chart to visualize the possible solutions to satisfy users' needs and goals.
As my target audience had different experiences of composting and diverse backgrounds and lifestyles, I did a competitive analysis on several composting methods, community hub programs, and composting pick-up services. This analysis helped me build the structure of my onboarding flow in the app and transform the composting experience in the digital space. Also, I compared the compost bins to learn about odor control, which was "why" people do not compost but throw organic materials into a trash bin instead.
DESIGN PROCESS
After synthesizing all data from my research, I created a user flow with a site map to create a simultaneous experience for my users. I sketched ideas digitally and on paper, then built the low-fidelity wireframes. Then, I turned them into high-fidelity and created an identity for the project.
Deliverables
My final deliverables consist of the fully-clickable mobile prototype with major flows of setting an account, onboarding on composting methods with purchasing a compost starter kit, and setting and achieving goals through recording composting impact.
Conclusion
After all activities, I tested the clickable prototype with my friends. Though it was not my TA, my friends could go through several flows without significant obstacles. They could get on board and set an account. The onboarding process was fun as they ended up with a purchased compost starter bin and began their composting journey by following the activities of setting a goal of reducing food waste or CO2 emissions and recording the impact of properly recycling food scraps. I am open to exploring the idea of informing users when the compost is ready to harvest. The following steps will be to complete the second part of the happy pass for the users to sign up for the compost pick-up service or to use the map to find the local drop-off sites and test the prototype with urban residents. Also, the flow for redeems is still in progress because the design is about evolving.