TIMELINE:

Terra - Composting App

Helping composting enthusiasts to start and maintain home composting practices.

📝 User Research

📱 Interface Design

👑 Design for Gamified Experiences

📱 Visual Design

Terra is an app from an ecosystem of design solutions proposed to solve the problem of Urban organic solid waste management. This is just an overview of the project. Do reach out to me for walking you through the entire journey.

TYPE:

Individual Academic Project

TIMELINE:

6 month long graduation project, 2023

TIP OF THE ICEBERG

This case study is just the tip of the iceberg

The entire journey of this project including the research, analysis and the all the backstage work has been curated in my graduation Project Document. Hit me up for a detailed walkthrough of this interesting journey!

THE CHALLENGE

While many urban Indians try composting 🌳, they lack Composting confidence. This leads to most of them discontinuing home composting practices due to failure within the first few months 🙁.

There is a significant need of community support and handholding by to build composting confidence, leading to more successful composting practices.

THE APROACH

Understanding the target Users: Urban Composting Enthusiasts

To understand the challenges urban composting enthusiasts face, we interviewed several users, visited urban composting communities, probing about their composting journeys, understanding their motivations and inhibitors.

WHAT WE FOUND

"Connecting" is the Key

There are user archetypes with high composting confidence who are eager to share this confidence. There are user archetypes who have low composting confidence but have the intent to learn.

Connecting these archetypes with each other to enable seem less exchange of knowledge, guidance and handholding is the key make more urban Indians compost confidently. Increasing individual composting confidence snowballs into community empowerment over time.

These connections have to to be local.

Besides, type of composting practices and the overall composting ecosystems of an area are hyperlocal. Thus connecting archetypes who reside within close proximity of each other is key.

THE OUTCOME :

" Terra " meaning earth, is a gamified composting learning and community building platform with the aim to promote urban composting and help tackle multiple issues that users face during initiating composting practices.

Based on my understanding of the user needs, I wanted to build something where Users should be able to:

Learn Composting Step by Step

Terra has a curated composting learning platform where you can step by step learn about composting through videos, articles and short reads.

Connect with nearby experts and services

One of the key features of the app, it connects you with composting experts around you and the composting services which might help you start or scale up your composting practices.

Use the composting Marketplace

You can compare between various composters and other composting products and also sell your excess compost with nearby willing buyers.

THE APP :

A friendly Onboarding to
orient users to the platform and it's offerings

As the user downloads the app, they onboard onto the terra platform and the app introduces itself.

The onboarding screens are designed to be simple yet make the user feel curious and excited about the application. An interactive app tour follows the onboarding process, guiding users through its features and functionalities.

Sign Up page and Loading Animation.

The Terra
Home Screen

The home screen functions as an app dashboard, displaying recent posts and updates from various sections of the app. It serves as a centralized hub for users to stay updated on all content additions across the application.

The composting learning module offers curated content on composting, including videos, articles, posts, and short reads. As the user engages, the system tailors information delivery. A quick search bar enables specific topic searches.

Composting Learning Module

One of the key features of the app, it connects the users with composting experts, fellow compost buddies, composting communities and composting services around them using a playful map viualization. The user can easily see what people around them are doing and get inspired and motivated to themselves start adopting composting practices.

Connect Page

Connecting with an expert

Every nearby member of the app is represeted by their piece of land on a gamified map. The users can find their nearby compost experts on the map and see and learn from their posts and can further even request and talk to them and get their composting doubts solved.

The user can easily locate the composting services near them by selecting the services filter. This will highlight all the composting services active in the user's locality. Further clicking on every service reveals more details about it.

Exploring nearby Composting Services

Marketplace and AR
Composter experience

The marketplace is a platform to buy composters and other composting products. The " View in AR " feature of the app enables the user to experience the products in their space and then make a choice. This feature in the future also aims at becoming a compost exchange platform where people can share their excess compost harvest.

Weekly log is an additional feature where users can track their progress by logging in theirr weekly composter updates in quick easy steps.

Weekly
Compost Log

Excited to know more about the project? Please do reach out for a detailed walkthrough!

Terra is a part of larger solution plan to promote adoption of composting practices, currently in the phase of User Testing. Please do reach out to me to see the other solutions part of the plan entire design process from research to conceptualization to design detail. See you soon!