Design for sustainability is not just about preaching the "green" value, but to make the sustainable way of doing easier, cheaper, and more enjoyable.
sustainability, web application deign, Microsoft Imagine Cup
Household items in fair condition are thrown away and unused items are forgotten in hidden corners while advertising and marketing strategies encourage people to covet new items. This results in low use of products and high demand for new ones, leading to increased manufacturing, pollution and consumption of natural resources. To help with green consumption, we designed eXchangeFun-a community household items trade and exchange platform-to better facilitate local reuse activities, with the purpose of increasing the use of products and slowing down consumption.
This design made us one of the six finalists of Microsoft Imagine Cup Worldwide Finals in Design Category, out of more than 300 teams after two rounds of competition.
We conducted literature review, exemplar study and observations in the realm of green consumption in order to understand the challenges and problems, and get inspirations from existing efforts and designs. We saw consumerism and waste on one hand, but also noticed reuse and exchange of things happen locally. We wanted to design a service that better supports local reuse and exchange of things, which does not only serve the people who need it, but also attracts more people into local green consumption activities.
We explored lots of concepts, analyzed the pros and cons of existing services, and iterated the design through sketching, prototyping, design critique and testing, with the goal of making the experience of local good trade easy, fun, and meaningful. We also produced hi-fi mockups, click-through prototype, storyboard, and a video to communicate the design.
Collaborator: Feixing Tuang
Methods & Tools: literature review, exemplar study, storyboarding, wireframing, prototyping, Powerpoint, Expression Blend, Expression Design, iMovie, Camtasia.
Deliverables: hi-fi prototype, video
Timeline: Feb.2009 - May. 2009
