How We Transformed Waste Management: The Surprising Secrets Behind Send Your Waste’s Redesign!
In mid-2021, my team, consisting entirely of UI/UX designers, was involved in the development of Send Your Waste, one of the products from Waste4Change.
Waste4Change is an organization dedicated to managing and reducing waste in a sustainable and responsible manner. They focus on providing innovative solutions for waste management, promoting recycling, and fostering environmental awareness among communities.
We chose to tackle this project because of the pressing need to simplify waste management processes for users who are eager to contribute to environmental conservation but are often deterred by complex or cumbersome systems. The goal was to make waste disposal as easy and accessible as possible, encouraging more people to participate in recycling and responsible waste management.
The Send Your Waste product was designed to help the community send non-organic and recyclable waste more easily. The primary target for this project was environmentally conscious users who want to participate in responsible waste management.
Our team, comprising Febryand Artansyah, Gugun Mediamer, and myself, collaborated to design a service that allows waste to be sent voluntarily, efficiently, and without hassle. We were responsible for all aspects of design, including user interviews, creating user flows, wireframing (both paper and digital), prototyping, and conducting usability studies.
The project spanned from June 25 to October 30, 2021, with each design iteration aimed at creating a more intuitive user experience, with a straightforward and easy-to-understand waste delivery flow. In addition to providing practical solutions, we ensured that users felt actively engaged in environmental preservation through Waste4Change.
Defining the Problem
When we began working on this project, Waste4Change was facing several challenges with its Send Your Waste product. Although the program was designed to make it easier for users to send their non-organic waste for recycling, many users reported difficulties understanding how to navigate the website and complete the waste submission process.
One of the main problems that users frequently encountered was confusion regarding the flow for submitting their waste and the layout of the site, which felt unintuitive. Some users expressed that the information presented on the homepage was overwhelming, making it hard for them to locate essential features, such as the waste submission options and package tracking status. In addition to this, gaps in the copywriting led to misunderstandings, further complicating the user experience.
As my team and I dug deeper into these issues, we identified that the root cause was tied to an inefficient user flow and the need for a more streamlined user interface. The way information was presented lacked clarity and needed to be more direct. With these insights in mind, we set out to redesign the user flow and optimize the site layout, focusing on providing a clearer, more intuitive experience for users who wanted to engage with the waste submission process efficiently.
Our Design Process
We followed the Design Thinking methodology throughout the design process, which consists of five stages: Empathize, Define, Ideate, Prototype, and Test. Below is a breakdown of each stage we went through:
Empathize: Uncovering User Frustrations
When we first joined the Send Your Waste project, we knew we were tackling something impactful. As a team of three UI/UX designers — Febryand, Gugun, and myself — our mission was to address a growing environmental concern: making waste disposal easier for everyday users. Yet, understanding user needs in the context of sustainability presented its own set of challenges.
We began by immersing ourselves in the mindset of our target users. Through user interviews, we discovered that while many people cared about recycling and waste management, they often found the Send Your Waste platform to be overwhelming. The homepage bombarded them with too much information, and they struggled to navigate key features like the waste submission option. Users shared their frustrations about the submission process being too complicated, requiring multiple steps that were neither intuitive nor streamlined.
One user, a young professional from Jakarta, mentioned:
“I want to do my part for the environment, but using this platform feels like a chore. I end up giving up halfway.”
This sentiment echoed across many interviews and highlighted a critical issue: the platform’s complexity was hindering its mission.
Additionally, copywriting surfaced as another obstacle. Instructions weren’t clear, and several users misinterpreted the process or misunderstood the available features. For example, they didn’t know how to track their waste submissions or how to redeem points from previous waste drops. These pain points made us realize that, while Send Your Waste had the right intent, its user experience needed serious rethinking to meet its goals.
To ensure we captured every user pain point and didn’t miss any key insights, we visualized our findings using sticky notes. Each note represented a challenge or frustration that users had voiced during our interviews. This method helped us organize and prioritize the core issues that needed addressing in the redesign.
Define: Shaping the Problem Statement
After gathering insights from user interviews and mapping out their pain points, we moved on to the Define phase. At this stage, it was crucial to synthesize our research into a clear problem statement that would guide our design efforts moving forward.
Through deep analysis of user challenges, we identified recurring themes: confusion with the overwhelming homepage, frustration with the multi-step waste submission process, and a lack of clear guidance on how to use key features.
One user described their experience during the interview:
“I just want to send my recyclables, but the website makes it feel like I’m going through a maze of options before I can do that.”
This perfectly encapsulated the user struggle — too many steps, too much information, and too little direction.
In light of these findings, we framed the key questions for the project:
- How might we simplify the waste submission flow to make it more intuitive?
- How might we organize information in a way that’s easy for users to digest?
- How might we improve clarity in instructions and copywriting to prevent misunderstandings?
By honing in on these questions, we defined a clear direction for our redesign: streamline the experience, prioritize ease of navigation, and enhance the clarity of communication.
Ideate: Exploring Creative Solutions
With a well-defined problem statement in hand, we entered the Ideate phase, excited but aware that the road ahead wouldn’t be entirely smooth. Our mission was clear — simplify the waste submission process — but finding solutions that worked for all users was far from easy.
We began with Affinity Mapping, grouping the insights and pain points from our research. While this exercise helped us identify common issues, one of the challenges we faced was the sheer diversity of users. Some users wanted a quick and minimalistic interface, while others needed more detailed guidance and reassurance throughout the process. This led to a lot of back-and-forth as we tried to balance simplicity with thoroughness, and it wasn’t always easy to find a middle ground.
From the results of the grouping, then I prioritized ideas based on user value and how much effort needs to be expended.
Next, we engaged in Crazy 8’s, a rapid sketching exercise designed to push our creative boundaries. Each team member sketched eight ideas in eight minutes. Although this generated a lot of concepts, the challenge arose when we realized some of our more ambitious ideas weren’t feasible within the project’s timeline or technical constraints. For example, we initially considered integrating AI-powered suggestions to streamline the waste sorting process, but it became clear that this feature would require more resources than we had at our disposal.
After several rounds of discussion and refinement, we had to make difficult decisions on which ideas to prioritize. We used the Prioritization Matrix to rank ideas based on impact and feasibility, and while we felt confident about our direction, it was hard to let go of some of the more innovative ideas due to time constraints. We ultimately focused on solutions that would have the most immediate impact on the user experience.
The key solutions that emerged from this phase were:
- Simplified User Flow: We restructured the waste submission process to minimize steps, creating a more direct and user-friendly experience. However, balancing efficiency with clarity was a constant challenge.
- Decluttered Homepage: We decided to reduce unnecessary content and create a more focused layout. The tricky part was ensuring the essential features remained prominent while trimming down less relevant information.
- Clearer Copywriting: While simplifying the text seemed straightforward, it was surprisingly challenging to maintain clarity without losing important details. Every word choice was carefully debated.
As one of our team members, Febryand, aptly said during this phase:
“The solution doesn’t have to be overly complex. The simpler we make the process, the more users will engage without frustration.”
Despite these challenges, we felt confident in the direction we were heading and looked forward to prototyping and testing our newly envisioned user experience.
Translating Ideas into Action: Creating the User Flow
Once we had solidified our solutions, the next critical step was translating these ideas into a concrete user experience. This is where the User Flow came into play — a visual representation of the steps a user would take to complete key actions on the platform, such as submitting waste or checking their delivery status.
Prototyping the Experience: Bringing the Vision to Life
With the user flow clearly mapped out, we moved on to the Prototyping phase. This is where ideas truly began to take shape, transforming abstract concepts into interactive designs. We started by sketching out low-fidelity wireframes to focus on structure and functionality, without getting bogged down by details like colors or typography.
We chose a grayscale palette to keep the team’s attention on the flow and layout, ensuring we could validate the design’s logic before refining it further. The goal at this stage was to iterate quickly, taking feedback from team members and stakeholders as we honed in on an optimal design solution.
One of the biggest challenges we faced during prototyping was balancing simplicity with functionality. We wanted to strip away unnecessary complexity but without sacrificing any of the essential features that our users needed. It took several rounds of testing and revisions to ensure we struck the right balance.
Style Guide
In our redesign of the Send Your Waste platform, we utilized the existing style guide provided by Waste4Change. This guide included pre-defined visual elements such as color palettes, typography, and iconography, which ensured brand consistency throughout the application.
By adhering to the original style guide, we aimed to maintain the familiar look and feel of the platform while enhancing usability and simplifying user interactions. Our focus was on refining the user experience rather than altering the established visual identity.
This approach allowed us to leverage existing components, ensuring a seamless integration of the new design with the current branding. By doing so, we maintained a cohesive experience for users while implementing the necessary improvements to the interface.
Mockup Screens
With our user flows and style guide established, we moved into the prototyping phase. This step was crucial as it allowed us to transform our wireframes into interactive prototypes that could be tested with real users.
Using Figma, we created mid-fidelity prototypes that mirrored the final design closely. The goal was to provide users with a realistic experience, allowing them to navigate through the key features and functionalities of the Send Your Waste platform.
Challenges Faced
During this phase, we encountered some challenges. Ensuring that the prototypes accurately represented the user flows while being easy to navigate was a delicate balance. We had to make several iterations based on feedback from both our team and initial user tests.
Our focus was on refining the interaction design and ensuring that each step of the waste submission process was clear and intuitive. We incorporated features such as tooltips and hints to guide users through any complex actions.
By the end of the prototyping phase, we had a comprehensive interactive model that was ready for usability testing, setting the stage for the next important step in our design process.
Testing: Validating Our Design
The testing phase was a critical moment in our design process. We wanted to ensure that our prototype effectively addressed the pain points we identified earlier and provided a seamless user experience.
Usability Study Setup
- Study type: Unmoderated usability study
- Location: Yogyakarta, Indonesia| remote
- Participants: 2 participants
- Length: 20–30 minutes
Research Objective
- Evaluating the efficiency of the waste submission process in both Regular and Sponsored programs.
- Assessing the success rate of users in utilizing features like shipment tracking, delivery history, and point redemption.
To validate my proposed solutions, I asked two users to perform the following set of tasks using the prototype:
- Asking the user to make a regular waste delivery as a new user
- Asking users to send sponsored program waste as new users
- look for the “monitor pengiriman” menu
- check “riwayat pengiriman”
- redeem points to pulsa
Key Findings
The results of the usability study were promising. Both participants successfully completed all assigned tasks, which indicated that our redesign was on the right track. However, valuable feedback emerged during the session:
- Users expressed a desire for an “exit” option in the point redemption dialog, as they felt it was not immediately clear how to cancel an action.
- Some users found the terminology used in the instructions slightly confusing, suggesting that minor adjustments could enhance clarity.
Conclusion
Overall, the testing phase confirmed that our design choices were effective, but it also highlighted areas for improvement. This feedback was essential as we prepared for the final adjustments before launching the redesigned Send Your Waste platform. The iterative nature of our design process allowed us to refine our solution based on real user experiences, ensuring that we delivered a product that truly met the needs of our audience.
Final Clickable Product
Let’s put all of that research and user testing to work.
Wrap Up
Overall, I’m very satisfied with the results of my first UX case study. In particular, I learned how important it is to consider the user at every stage of the design process. I underestimated the amount of time it took to complete the project, so next time I’ll have to set a realistic deadline. I would also like to do more usability testing to see where further enhancements can be made. I have so much fun interacting with and understanding the users.
What I learned
Redesigning Send Your Waste was a real eye-opener that showed me how important it is to connect with users. By chatting directly with them, we got to understand their challenges and feelings, which helped us come up with solutions that really worked for them. The design process was super valuable; each round of testing not only highlighted what worked but also pointed out what needed changes, reminding me how crucial feedback is for improvement.
Teamwork was key to our success. Working with my awesome teammates, Febryand Artansyah and Gugun Mediamer, showed me how different viewpoints can spark new ideas. I learned that keeping things simple often makes the site much easier to use. Seeing how our work positively impacted users’ experiences with waste management really fueled my passion for creating designs that make a difference.
Moving Forward
As I reflect on these lessons, I am motivated to apply them to future projects. I am excited to continue exploring user-centered design, collaborating with diverse teams, and striving for simplicity in my work. The experience gained from redesigning Send Your Waste has not only enhanced my skills as a UI/UX designer but also deepened my commitment to creating meaningful solutions that benefit society.
Disclaimer: This project is part of the UI/UX Training Program held by the Ministry of Communication and Information Indonesia with Skilvul and Waste4Change as Challenge Partners. I am not employed or bound by a professional contract by Waste4Change.
Thank you for taking the time to read my case study! If you have any feedback or want to contact me, please feel free to reach out.
