Greening workspace
Internship project at Scotland’s Design Museum V&A Dundee
“Change is a difficult task. It is because people dislike change, especially in the way they live”
-Don Norman
My Role
Design Intern
Project type
Design for behaviour change
Main goal
Improve waste management
V&A DUNDEE’S BARRIER TO NET ZERO
Scotland’s Design Museum V&A Dundee is committed to achieving the UK’s Net Zero goals. As part of this strategy, the museum is focused on finding opportunities to reduce its carbon footprint by addressing the waste it generates.
HOW I SOLVED IT
The research found that considerable amount of waste is generated from workspace and it is linked to the staff’s behaviour to waste management.
Two feasible solutions were found out for this problem which are:
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Bin map
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Customised Bin design.​
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These concepts can be implemented in any Businesses through a collaborative approach to improve their waste management and to make the business more sustainable.
THE IDEA
“Collaborate & Make it Playful!”
Bin Map
Co-design workshop with multiple department of V&A to design a map for bin, focusing reducing general waste bin and increasing recycling bins which is accessible, ease to use. The result was
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Reducing the number of general waste bin by 10 no’s
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Increasing recycling bin by 15 no’s
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increasing food waste bin by 8 no’s
Custom Bin Design
A concept that help staff “ learn from mistakes”. The game is to dispose item, and to identify if they made the right choice from the hidden box.
HOW THE SUCCESS LOOK LIKE?
Before
Fewer recycling bin and accessibility was a barrier for segregation. Therefore recycling bins were contaminated and ends up in general waste bin.
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Contaminated Bin
After
Increased number of recycling bin and through gamifying waste disposal helped less contamination thus increasing recycling rate.
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THE IMPACT!
The data from waste service provider was analysed for the prototype testing period and was found recycling rate increased compared to previous year.
Design Journey
Design Brief
This project at V&A Dundee focuses on sustainability projections, exploring innovative practices in design and architecture that contribute to the UK's net zero goals.
Introduction
The United Kingdom works toward its ambitious target of achieving net zero carbon emissions by 2050, the role of sustainable design has never been more critical. This project seeks innovative design interventions in waste management that help V&A Dundee for achieving net zero goals.
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This project explores powerful intersection of sustainability, creativity and problem solving leading to positive changes in waste management practise.
Initial research
The first step was to find out the sources of waste generation in the museum and their % of contribution.
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The initial research involved surveys, interviews & observational research.
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The survey got 90+ response and it provided a turning point for the project.
The result showed that majority of waste are from catering service with 52%. This is followed by staff’s contribution with 20%.
Surprisingly,
The public contribution to waste was only 5%!
Defining the Problem
Survey is followed by interviews and other ethnographic research with museum stakeholders. Using rose, thorn and bud, different themes were made.
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The major problems associated with people behaviour towards waste management identified are:
Idea Generation
The idea generation involved several co-creative approach such as co-design workshops, user testing and motion studies.
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I collaborated with external companies and service partners of museum such as spectrum, Heritage Portfolio, v&a operations and UNISAN.
Considering accessibility, the co- design activities found the potential for:
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Reducing general waste bin sand increasing recycling bins
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Removing personal bins and placing centralised bin in accessible location
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Adding new bins around the museum which wasn’t installed before.
Insights
Concept-1
Following the insights from workshop helped me to create a new bin map, which found the potential for:​
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Reducing the number of general waste bin by 10 no’s
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Increasing recycling bin by 15 no’s
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increasing food waste bin by 8 no’s
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more accessible place for bin , removing personal bins in workspace.
Concept-2
“Learn from Mistakes”
It is always challenging to change the way which people used to do that they believe as right.
The initial research found that there is contamination in bins that make recycling challenging.
Therefore i choose to redesign bin , in collaboration with UNISAN, a custom bin manufacturing company.
The concept is to make a transparent installation on the bin which is filled with the right waste materials.
To gamify the task, the box is kept hidden , where the user has to lift the flap to see if they have made right decision after using the bin.
3D Model using SOLIDWORKS
Prototype Made using Laser cutter
Concept-3
The third design intervention was a public digital dashboard that help regular monitoring of waste and to make informed decisions.
It provides comparison of carbon emission from previous year , recycling rate and weekly dashboard of waste.
Prototype using FIGMA
Prototyping & Testing
Considering the feasibility of the concepts and timescale of project, first two concepts were prototyped and tested.
Concept-1
Image :Modified bin box installed in staff room
Concept-2
Image :Bins placed around museum according to bin map
Results & Feedback
Recycling bin Before:
Image: Contaminated recycling bin with non recyclables.
Recycling bin After:
Image: Recycling bin with recyclables only
Cleaners emptying Recycling bin:
Before:
Recycling bin bag contaminated with all other non-recyclables
After:
Dedicated bin bags for each waste materials, where recycling bin bag is not contaminated at all
User Feedback:
Data analysis
Challenges
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As found in the feedback form “ treating adults like children” , change in practise is found to be a difficult task. And it can result in ego among people, especially in professional work environment.
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Health and safety concerns in working environment is a barrier for innovation with digital prototype. But the barriers can turn into opportunities.