OVERVIEW
PROCESS
This project work is the outcome of the contextual research conducted to understand Waste as a Phenomenon and not just a problem. The project further was narrowed down to waste generated through construction and demolition globally and Savannah in particular.
As we explored this domain, it was interesting to come across various methodologies, one such was “Deconstruction”. The project took its shape from this point and was finally
transformed to Study on Residential Deconstruction Debris in Savannah. As we progressed with the research through primary and secondary data collection, many variables erupted which made our case strong to study the concept of deconstruction and how it could be an essential tool to retain the historic heritage of the city (Savannah) with the intent of
sustainable practices, thereby generating an income stream and collaborative
interventions to support the cause.
Role
UX Research Lead
Duration
10 Weeks
Tools
Miro, JamBoard, Indesign, Figma, XD, Premier Pro
RESEARCH AND PROJECT POSITIONING
SWOT, Research space, stakeholder and methodology maps were prepared to understand the scope of research opportunities in Savannah
SUBJECT OF STUDY
RESEARCH SPACE
We designed research space map tp list down our potential resources that would play a vital role in the data collection and synthesis.
PROBLEM STATEMENT
The UNSD Glossary of Environment Statistics describes waste as “materials that are not prime products (that is, products produced for the market) for which the generator has no further use in terms of his/her own purposes of production, transformation or consumption, and of which he/she wants to dispose. Wastes may be generated during the extraction of raw materials, the processing of raw materials into intermediate and final products, the consumption of final products, and other human activities. Residuals recycled or reused at the place of generation are excluded.” (UNSD, 2013)
THE HUNT STATEMENT
To explore the deconstruction debris in Savannah and analyzing possible opportunities to build an efficient deconstruction waste management system for the city
OPPORTUNITY STATEMENT
There is an opportunity to change the society’s and designers perspective of waste by adding and highlighting the value of materials otherwise deemed as waste. There is an opportunity to create a closed loop system of materials that breaks away from the linear model of the take-make-waste economy by preserving and reusing the deconstructed materials that would otherwise end up in the landfill.
3 Billion
sqyd landfill each year due to demolition
90%
of D&D debris from
demolition projects
39%
of CO2 emission
By the D&D waste
We conducted popular media scan to track and estimate the damage D&D Industry has done so far. This helped us focus on specific areas that needed immediate attention.
34%
of waste disposed
was by C &D
KEY FACTS
POPULAR MEDIA SCAN
PRIMARY RESEARCH
In order to understand what we are designing, it was imperative for to understand those we are designing for. We streamlined our thoughts and categorized our audience into primary, secondary, and tertiary groups. through stakeholder mapping.
STAKEHOLDER MAP
Sites in Savannah, GA
To feel and relate to the experience of the users and getting to know why interviews and participant studies were the most feasible options.
Sites in Atlanta, GA
DATA COLLECTION
Interviews, Visual Research, Behavioral Research, Shadowing, Participation Observation
On average, an interview lasted for an hour. We interviewed them through mediums like phone calls, meeting personally and documented these the data in several ways like note-taking, recording, photographs, videos. After individual interviews, we organized our responses into a spreadsheet for better viewing. We also made coded categories from responses and developed charts to see the information clearly.
A question pool was created from which and selected questions were picked to build the basis of the interviews for the stakeholders. The interviewees were from diverse backgrounds, like organizations, designers, mentors in design schools.
Surveys
A survey was designed with a total number of 13 questions. The intention of this survey was to understand the degree of awareness between residents and designers pertaining to the idea of the use of reclaimed materials from old buildings/houses in Savannah.
The survey also helped establish the urgency of design interventions and opportunities in the D&D industry in general. The survey was circulated online for 72 hours and 119 responses were reaped in the duration.
CULTURAL PROBE
We also designed a cultural Probe.A Cultural Probe is a collection of tools, artifacts, and tasks with the purpose of provoking the user to observe and think about their environment in different ways.
Elements of Cultural Probe
Sell
Landfill
Recycle
Deconstruction
Donate
The cultural Probe was designed to understand the perception of waste for the residents and designers in Savannah. A concept was developed as to how to retain the information on the concept of value and perception of waste.
RESEARCH SYNTHESIS
AFFINITIZATION
Yellows
Blues
Greens
Pinks
The pink notes filtered our data into a more generalized representation of the above green groupings. These are written in the form of possible interventions derived from all the data points.
After a tedious session of grouping the data points, we assigned headers to our yellow data clusters using blue notes in 12 headers.
We finally assigned headers to the blue notes using green notes. These further distilled our data into abstracts describing themes. After much deliberation, we are able to refine the results of our data into the voice of the user into 6 groups.
The first stage of affinity mapping was to cluster all our data points based on our intuition. As a group, we wrote over 578 individual data points on yellow sticky notes. These data points were from our secondary and interviews.
Deconstruction is a very laborious Process
People lack awareness about ways to utilize waste materials
Deconstruction Industry is doing best to salvage waste material but they lack the resources and bandwidth to do that
People have inhibitions about "Salvage Material"
Savannah residents would love to see the city charm stay alive and promote sustainability
Educational Institutes don't teach about Deconstruction
Business Stakeholders need to optimize their process to make it effecient
People lack awareness about Vintage Products but love the Vintage Concept
People need to be guided about Circle of Value
KEY INSIGHTS
EMPATHY AND
PROTO PERSONA MAPS
Empathy and Proto-Persona and Journey Maps were created to understand, evaluate and analyze the experiences of the stakeholders and frame the progress of the project.
EMPATHY MAPS
PROTO-PERSONA MAPS
JOURNEY MAPS
Journey maps were created for Demolition and Deconstruction to draw comparisons. The maps were based on 3 guiding principles -cost, time and material.
DATA ANALYSIS
Poems were used to analyze the participant observation data recordings and reports.
CBSM MATRIX
The CBSM method is based on social psychology and draws from the idea that sustainable behavior change is most effective when it involves direct contact with people and is carried out at the community level.
Conceptual frameworks were designed before brainstorming on the interventions. All the data procured through secondary and primary research was evaluated using different research methods mentioned above. Post analysis it was ascertained that the analysis was drawing a common census.
CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORKS
THE INVERTED PYRAMID
THE TRIAGE
INTERVENTIONS
We brainstormed about different elements that were repetitive and were highlighted throughout the research work. Utilizing different design thinking tools like brainstorming and mindmaps we created 3 interventions. Since this course was more research-oriented and not solutions-focused, we decided to prepare mood boards for the interventions.
SCADcon PLATFORM
SCADcon is a two-way efficient platform that connects deconstruction organizations with the Designers at SCAD. The intent of the platform is to bridge the gap between salvaged and harvested products that are considered waste by people in general.
THE DECON PROJECT
This is an online portal where the haves is connected with the want to have in the Deconstruction industry. This platform connects various stakeholders of the D&D industry as well as the residents who wish to reuse reclaimed materials.
DECON SATURDAY
Decon Saturday is inspired by the concept of the farmers market. This is a community-building platform where workshops will be conducted, and the Decon organization, as well as the residents, will have the opportunity to redesign/build something out of the reclaimed materials from collapsing/ abandoned / old/demolished buildings and sell them off (thereby bringing value and changing the perception of waste).
PROPOSAL DAY
