Recycled Rain
Many people are unaware of rainwater harvesting and its benefits. In the Northwest, where much of our water comes from snowpack, it's essential to consider rainwater harvesting due to climate change potentially affecting mountain resources here in Washington state. To address this, I researched and created a conceptual marketplace for rainwater harvesting to address this.
This project aimed to develop an eco-friendly e-commerce website for an interaction design class.
Utilize research and planning methods to guide the project, resulting in two web pages designed in Figma.
Figma, Google Forms, Procreate
Four weeks
Using a KWHL diagram, I assessed my knowledge, learning goals, research methods, and findings. The research included reading and watching materials on rainwater harvesting, surveys, and interviews with landscaping companies and HOAs. Key takeaways: Rainwater is viable for small-scale use, greywater can benefit gardens but not for drinking, and most people don't know about the subject.
Affinity diagrams during class group work highlighted the need to focus on educating people about rainwater harvesting.
An interrelationship diagram revealed that people need knowledge about rainwater harvesting benefits. This underscores the importance of education for user buy-in.
The direction to design this as an educational and e-commerce site was decided on. To attract users, flyers at gardening centers were proposed as a physical touchpoint, complementing SEO efforts. A basic user flow through the site was created for this direction.
Despite needing only two pages, I designed the entire site based on insights from the KWHL diagram. A simple calculator to size a tank and demonstrate ROI was developed. Tanks were pre-sorted based on user inputs.
Sketching, inspired by established e-commerce sites like bhphotovideo.com and newegg.com, informed the site's structure. The ROI calculator was the most time-intensive, with custom icons created by modifying Noun Project icons.
Wireframes were created in Figma, and feedback improved the e-commerce page, particularly the calculator, which was optimized for a linear user flow. A zip code entry was added to estimate average rainfall, guiding tank selection.
The user flow starts with the rain harvesting calculator, followed by a modal showing savings and a link to the tank e-commerce page. Tanks are prefiltered based on user input, simplifying selection.
KWHL diagrams were invaluable for research and finding direction. Tools like affinity diagrams, interrelationship diagrams, journey maps, and user story maps helped define site needs. Physical flyers at garden centers can drive traffic. Linear flows ensure user-friendly processes. User testing and qualitative interviews would further enhance the project if time allowed.
