Product name: R3 => REUSE REDUCE RECYCLE
Persuasive + Commercial + Performance + Enchanted Object
The product is a simple paper recycling bin with additional functionalities, compared to other recycling bins other there.
It’s visually distinguishable and is used to raise environmental awareness. The inspiration for this project came from the amount of paper
we consume each day at our school. Additional research also shows that 35% of the total tree cut around the world are used in the paper industries.
The problem statement is that paper recycling bins around campus are not visually distinguishable/distinct.
Solution: The solution I proposed for the problem statement is that we can add more functionalities to current recycling bin designs. The additional functionalities mainly aim to encourage users to perform a specific task and remind users of the impact of their actions on the environment.
The product uses two types of feedback mechanism to achieve its goal, (1) statistical information (2) images that invoke emotions
Prototype: The product is made up of a rectangular cube covered with LED screen on the surface.
Top View :
- A timer for recording how long the collector has been in use.
- A motion sensor for open and close functions
- Three LEDs for estimating the space left inside the collector
Front view:
- Displays the number of papers that have been collected
- Gives an approximate estimation for the number of trees that could be saved after the recycling process
Lesson learnt while designing :
Adding more functionality doesn’t equal resourcefulness. This means initially I intended to design a product with more functionality, however, while going through the design cycle I realized the additional functionality created more energy waste, which is counter to my original plan of saving energy.