ZeroMe
Mitigating transportation needs through carbon credit education
Climatebase Fellowbase | Nov - Dec 2024 | Duration: 7 weeks
Overview
Carbon credits allows corporations and consumers to offset their carbon emissions while supporting sustainable initiatives. Yet most carbon credit platforms are tailored to corporations rather than the average consumer.
ZeroMe is made for everyday climate enthusiasts, aiming to provide transparent information about high quality carbon credits so users can feel confident making decisions that support their values.
Role
Senior Product Designer
Duration Team
Jason Park
Kavya Kowtha
Target Demographic
Eco-conscious drivers with gas or hybrid cars who want to lower their carbon impact
Context
Design Strategy
Information Architecture
UX Design
Visual Design
Prototyping
Platform
Mobile App
The Challenge
We set out to educate climate-conscious drivers of their carbon footprint and empowering them to support the planet through carbon credits. Our goal was to build the foundation for consumers to confidently take climate action.
The Process
Research, design, and development happened simultaneously. This required the team to build strong communication skills, support feature debates, and hosted regular design-engineering alignment sessions.
The Result
We successfully demoed the prototype to Climatebase Cohort 7, resulting in 40% of participants joining the ZeroMe waitlist.
Opportunity
How consumers choose to travel day to day has a large impact on carbon emissions, but there are many barriers to green transportation. Not all eco-conscious drivers can afford a new electric vehicle. Even for those that can afford it, does purchasing a new vehicle really make a positive environmental impact?
That’s where carbon credits come in!
Carbon credits work by allowing companies who are reducing, capturing,
or storing greenhouse gas emissions to sell credits to companies or individuals looking to reduce their carbon footprint.
Carbon credits enable everyone to be a climate-conscious consumer without breaking the bank.
Key Issues
-
Carbon credits are a new concept to most consumers
-
The media narrative around carbon credits doesn’t inspire trust
-
Consumers are wary of greenwashing and deceptive impact reporting
Dilemma
It’s hard for consumers
to understand which carbon credit projects to trust.
They want to understand the tradeoffs between carbon credit types, ensure their portfolio align with their personal values, and validate that these projects have the intended impact.
SOLUTION
Sabrina Yang
- College senior, Violin major
- Debating career path
between teaching and
joining the Pittsburgh
orchestra
- Enjoyed helping her peers
in school but unsure if she
can teach someone with
little or no experience
- Worried that she won't
know how to structure
music lessons but wants to
have a positive impact
"How can I combine my passion
for music with teaching?
Would I even be a good teacher?"
Sebastian Ried
- Junior art major, CS minor
- Busy course load, member
of the soccer team, works
a few hours a week as an
art instructor
- Has an interest in music
from guitar lessons in high
school, wants to try his
hand at learning the piano
- Would prefer to be able to
meet other people to play
music with in the process
"I have so many passions that I want to explore, the possibilities are endless!"
Kelly Meyers
- 23 year old recent grad
- Just moved to Pittsburgh for
her new job, looking to
make new friends
- Wants to dabble in the arts
but is open to learning any
new skill
- Has a graphic design
background, would be
willing to teach if people
are interested
"I'm interest in meeting new people in unique and interesting ways"
1. Connecting one user
to another
2. In app messenger
3. Search bar
4. Suggested curriculum
5. Suggestions regarding
who your match is
6. Navigation
7. Internal teaching tools
From our research, we identified seven key features to incorporate into our application:
DESIGN PROCESS
BRAINSTORMING
EARLY WIREFRAMES
EARLY PROTOTYPES
After going through rounds of task-based user testing, we refined aspects of the experience such as improving the transition between stages and altered the wording of text or appearance of buttons to avoid confusion. We also adjusted the interface to be more intuitive when completing common tasks, aligned our visual styles, and tried to give Swap a simple but artistic aesthetic.
FINAL RESULT
STYLE GUIDE
APP FLOW
FEATURES
Profile Built by Questionnaire
Profile built by
Questionnaire
By getting the user invested early and filling out questions so the site is customized to their needs, we are able to create a pleasant experience where the user is easily able to accomplish their task: finding someone to teach them through Swap.
Users are able to browse other people whose skills/interests align with their's. While other competitors function like marketplaces, we make finding other people easy and intuitive.
With our review system, users are also able to identify good teacher and have the option to offer constructive criticism.
Personal
Human
Connections
Personal Human Connections
Easy Chatting
Easy
Chatting
Swap features a simple, easy to use messenger where users can get to know each other and negotiate what services are being exchanged without risking their privacy.
Scheduling is as easy as a click of a button from there.
Swap easily syncs with
any calendar application of your choosing so you'll able to send event requests, share your availability, and schedule meetings without even leaving the app.
Once both parties come
to an agreement, their calendars automatically update so no one has to worry about forgetting.
Integrated
Calendar
Integrated Calendar
Unlock Teaching Potential
Unlock
Teaching
Potential
New teachers looking for guidance have the option to follow a suggested curriculum of level appropriate songs that will adjust as the student learns.
Related applications will appear on the teaching resources page so the teaching process can be as streamlined as possible.
Users are also able to get advice as well as a variety of other resources
INTERACTIVE PROTOTYPE