Transparency for sustainable future

A speculative journey for designing interactive recycling bin to promote second hand clothing.

- A Research through design approach

TRUST GAP IN SECOND HAND FASHION

The global fashion industry produces an estimated 92 million tons of waste each year Only 15% of textiles are recycled, the rest ends up in landfills.

This research through design project explore possible cause for reduced recycling in second hand clothing.

The research is carried out through workshops experience prototyping with physical and digital prototypes with second hand business in and around Dundee, scotland.

CONCEPT USED FOR RESEARCH

A speculative design concept, called interactive cloth donation bin prioritizes transparency to build trust and motivate donors.

The system analyzes the condition of donated items and predicts their destination, fostering accountability.

Additionally, the bin offers instant access to purchase second-hand clothes, promoting circularity.

Background

The global fashion industry produces an estimated 92 million tons of waste each year Only 15% of textiles are recycled, the rest ends up in landfills

The UK is the fourth largest producer of textile waste in Europe 1.7kg of fashion waste is landfilled yearly per person.

This project explores interactive, transparent design concepts for cloth donation bins, focusing on user needs for textile donations and purchases. Using surveys, interviews, workshops, and prototyping, it involves donors, recipients, recyclers, and second-hand shops. The goal is to encourage a circular textile economy.

View Figma prototype

What does the research Found out?

The research highlights effectiveness of interactive bin in circulating clothes, particularly in closed communities like universities
Transparency in the donation process is essential to encourage people’s participation in circular economy .
Recycling bins are often stigmatized, but making them interactive and adding collection options can positively shift public attitudes.
Emotional attachment to clothing poses a challenge to donations, which can be eased by providing informed decision-making tools.
Ontology-based informed decisions can reduce the emotional impact of donating clothes by clarifying their future use.
However, transparency about clothes being recycled might discourage some people from donating, requiring a balance in communication.

Primary Research

Primary research found out the

Major stakeholders (who need to be involve in the project)
user persona and
mind mapping.

The problem is further narrowed down using

5 WHYS
4 W’s
User perspective&
User research perspective

First HMW Question:

“How might we encourage young people to donate clothes for increasing value of second hand clothing?”

Further Research conducted through interviews and surveys

The interview was conducted among

Second hand clothing shops in Dundee
RAGBAG- Cloth recycling company
Students it Dundee university

The interviews helped for better understanding for

how donated clothes are processed and what happens to them
to understand user behaviour in second hand shops
experience of users in shops
Understanding transparency & other problems faced during cloth donation.

Survey

The survey identified

how often people donate cloth
whether they informed about post donation process
Do they want to know what happens to their donation.

RESULTS

None of the donors dont know what happens to their donations
More than half of the participants would like to know what happens to their donation

Primary research Insights

Second hand clothing organisations doesn’t provide transparency in the donation process
The Donors would like to know where their contribution end-up
This concern is more when people donating through donation bins.
Donations through bin make it less personal
Transparency and interactions are the reason why people dont donate through bins.
Donating through bin make the feeling of disposing trash.
Recycling bins are stigmatised now.

“How might we encourage people towards circular economy of clothes by building trust and convenience in donation ?”

New HMW Question

Secondary research

Literature review

To understand existing research going on about textilensparency and how transparency can encourage people to donate clothes.

Existing Way of donations

Secondary research Insights

Critically analysed the literatures focused on transparency in donations, circular economy and human computer interaction
Analysing existing designs helped to identify problems associated with them
Secondary research helped to validate design ideas and support the primary research
It also helped to identify the gap in the research.

Idea Generation Mind Map

Through mind map,an interactive cloth donation bin as been taken as first prototype.

Initial Prototype

Through mind map,an interactive cloth donation bin as been taken as first prototype.

Early Feedback

The monitor can be more interactive and the formation about the donation can be shown in detail
The concept will encourage the people for donating, but some features can be added from the perspective of receivers to encourage them also.
While showing the information about reusing, the privacy of the receiver should be considered

Redesigning BIN

For the second iteration, an interactive touch screen with lo-fi User interface is created.For providing detailed information about post donation process, different organizations that deals with recycling, upcycling and reusing are explored and those data are added to the user in-terface A feature where people can take clothes directly from the smart bin is added.

Experience Prototying

"Experience prototyping is a method where the designers can easily communicate with users and the users can experience themselves, rather than witnessing a demonstra-tion" (Buchenau.M,2000).

The workshop was conducted with students in Dundee uni and the voulteers in "The Wardrobe" shop

Workshop Insights

Participants find the redesigned donation bin more personal and engaging compared to existing bins, appreciating the transparency about where their clothes go.
The interactive features change the perception of donation from waste disposal to meaningful contribution.
Direct access to used clothes encourages second-hand purchasing.
However, concerns include emotional discomfort when informed their clothes are recycled or deemed unusable, as donors prefer to believe their items are reused by others.

Iterating the Design

Iterating the design Introducing ontology for donated clothes

“Ontology is a branch of philosophy that seeks the classification and explanation of entities”

Ontology for clothes will help to analyse how informed decisions can reduce the negative impact on people when they see their clothes are recycled

Co-Design Workshop on Ontology

The ontology workshop followed bottom to top approach. le, categories are predefined which are reuse, recycle and upcycle Activity involved finding subclasses and suitable properties associated with the class, which is clothes.

Workshop Results

High-end brands, even after being used for over two years, are typically preferred for reuse due to their durable material quality.
Mid-range clothes can fall into reuse or upcycling categories, depending on their overall condition.
Fast fashion items, even if barely used, are generally not preferred due to their low quality and tendency to damage easily.
While general trends exist, analyzing a larger set of properties can reveal unexpected categorization patterns.
The categorization of high-end, mid-range, and fast fashion items often depends on the condition and duration of use, which can influence typical trends.

Prototype-3

HI-Fi UI for Bin

Experience Prototying-2

The second experience prototyping test how early info about where their cloth end-up will change the attitude

The third prototype provided participants with a more interactive and engaging experience compared to the second prototype.
The user interface made the donation process more intuitive and user-friendly.
The bin's ability to inform users about their clothes' recycling status before donation improved transparency and decision-making.
Providing detailed information on why clothes are recycled helped educate participants about the recycling process.
Some participants felt that receiving this information earlier might lead them to reconsider donating, opting instead to care for the clothes themselves or give them to someone they know.

Insights

Research Findings

People's participation is crucial for a successful circular economy, and transparency in the donation process is essential to encourage it.
Recycling bins are often stigmatized, but making them interactive and adding collection options can positively shift public attitudes.
Emotional attachment to clothing poses a challenge to donations, which can be eased by providing informed decision-making tools.
Ontology-based informed decisions can reduce the emotional impact of donating clothes by clarifying their future use.
However, transparency about clothes being recycled might discourage some people from donating, requiring a balance in communication.

Discussions & Recommendations

Participation is essential for a circular economy, and transparency in the donation process is key to encouraging involvement.
Recycling bins are stigmatized, but making them interactive and adding collection options can improve public perception.
Emotional attachment to clothing is a challenge in donations, which can be mitigated through informed decision-making.
While ontology-based decisions can reduce emotional impact, they may also discourage donations if users learn their clothes will be recycled.

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