1. INTRODUCTION
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Surfrider Foundation Australia was founded in 1991 in response to poor water quality issues along Australia’s coasts. Since its inception the movement has grown and expanded into addressing various issues such as ocean conservation, reducing plastic usage, campaigning against oil drilling and ocean spillage etc. The foundation now has more than 18 volunteer branches across Australia, and they provide a direct line to local communities and businesses which enables SFA to perform campaigns and activities addressing challenges faced by a specific region. “Our mission and vision is to inspire an engaged surfing and coastal community who are passionate about protecting oceans, waves and beaches.”
As a part of their campaigns and following in the footsteps of Surfrider US. SFA launched their Ocean Friendly Restaurants program in 2018 to reduce single use plastic at its source by engaging businesses to adopt sustainable practices and use reusable/ non-plastic alternatives in their day to day operations.
Figure 1 - Ocean Friendly Australia Brochure
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Figure 2 - Ocean Friendly Logo
“Surfrider Foundation Australia’s Ocean Friendly certification supports the operation of sustainable Australian Hospitality business”
The salient feature of the program is the certification which a business achieves by fulfilling 6 mandatory criteria set in place by SFA to influence the businesses to reduce single use-plastic in favour of reusable items and non-plastic alternatives. The criteria include no polystyrene usage, getting rid of single-use plastic straws, using reusable tableware, not selling plastic bottled water, not using plastic bags and following proper recycling practices. The certification is provided free of charge to the businesses and once certified a business can identify themselves as an Ocean Friendly business. The certification is validated once per year by the local Surfrider branches to ensure the businesses are meeting the 6 criteria. The Ocean friendly program has achieved rapid growth since its inception but SFA are keen to expand further and one of their challenges is getting more businesses to join which leads us to our problem space and their brief. 3
DESIGN PLAN AND PROCESS
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DESIGN PLAN AND PROCESS
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IDEATION PLANNING
IDEA GENERATION
The starting point of ideation was the fundamental question. I also revisited the project goal. I continued to check the solutions against the fundamental question and the project goal throughout the entire design and testing phases.
I used a mix of methods so that I could tailor the method to talents of the contributors:
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Fundamental Question:
How might we showcase the sustainability values of our certified businesses in a way that recognises their efforts and connects them to new opportunities? ●
Rules of brainstorming: 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7.
Project objective:
To design a strategy/ solution which caters to all our discovered user needs and challenges and provide a simple and easy to use platform for all the stakeholders to engage. ● I split the ideation into distinct chunks based on the user needs and ideated on each of those. This made the process more manageable and less overwhelming: 1. 2. 3.
Impact Connection Knowledge
Fun 5s brainstorming: 8 minutes to put a minimum of 5 ideas on post-its. Each post-it must have an illustration of the idea and a short text description. Do in silence until time is up. Share with the group. Group ideas that are similar.
Defer judgement Encourage wild ideas Build on the ideas of others Stay focused on the topic One conversation at a time Be visual Go for quantity
Decision Matrix: Once the ideas are sorted into groups, start putting them onto a decision matrix based on Effort required vs Probable Impact and select ideas to iterate further and get rid of ideas which are not viable.
In this order the user needs to follow a progression. That is, meeting one need is conditional upon meeting the preceding need. This way my ideation followed a rough user journey, and each ideation phase built on the output of the previous one.
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IDEA SELECTION First Iteration ●
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Create ideation sketches and notes by brainstorming various ideas to explore possible solutions to tackle the problem space and issues. Use a decision matrix to help explore and organise the ideas. The goal of the decision matrix would be to rank the on the basis of Effort required and its probable Impact. The ideas were then clubbed together into probable solution topics and areas to be explored further in the second iteration.
Second Iteration ●
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Further explore and iterate the shortlisted ideas from the First iteration, create Concept Briefs taking into consideration various factors that would affect the design of the solution. Create low fidelity wireframes and test them further with the participants using think aloud protocol and brainstorming. Using the feedback, select one idea or combine different ideas to form the Final solution and design proposal.
Final Iteration and Concept ●
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Create Mock-ups of the digital prototype based on the feedback from the participants. Create Screen flows and map of the design solution and test it with the users, to get more feedback to refine the final solution further Define the limitations and improvements for future development of the final concept.
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SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS From the information supplemented from the background research, the problem space and the user needs, the required solution needs to cater to a number of needs and challenges. The Heads of the organisation want to increase the reach of their organisation and want more and more businesses to join and be a part of the Ocean Friendly Program. They want to showcase their and Ocean Friendly programs credibility to businesses and encourage them to become a Ocean Friendly Certified business. The branch leaders want recognition for their efforts, they require more support from the leadership of the Surfrider Organisation and they require a steady and constant way to acquire volunteers for their on-ground efforts. The certified businesses hope to be partners of the Ocean Friendly program and not do a tick-box exercise of only getting certified. They expect the organisation to acknowledge the efforts they are making to follow sustainable practices in their day to day operations and hope that Surfrider can provide them with further expertise in the area by providing them with more value in the form of tips and alternate materials for plastic tableware and packaging. The final design solution needs to be devised in a way that it can cater to all or atleast most of the above mentioned requirements and be easy to understand and use for an unacquainted as well as an acquainted user. CONSTRAINTS As with all design solutions constraints play an important part in the development of an idea and solution, given Surfrider Foundation is a not for profit organisation, it is not feasible to suggest high investment projects and solutions as they can become a challenge to execute and might dissuade the organisation from implementing them, keeping a balance between the effort required and the impact generated is of the utmost importance. Given the time frame and lack of expert technical know-how at this stage, it won’t be possible to provide the client with a finished working solution as it’d require further exploration and dedicated resources. 8
DESIGN BRIEF AND THE PROBLEM SPACE
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“How could we redesign the Ocean Friendly program so that more businesses can adopt Ocean Friendly practices? “ To make sense of what was required to fulfil this brief we conducted research through interviews and desk research. to discover the challenges faced by the various internal stakeholders of the program which were the Program Directors and the Local Branch officials. This provided important context to the running of the program and enabled us to analyse the collected data to build insights and explore what we can do to uncover user goals and needs. We conducted internal research within the organisation to understand their pain points and challenges which lead us to redefine the initial brief to – “How might we clarify roles and responsibilities within the Surfrider Foundation so that the branch volunteers have the energy and motivation to recruit new Ocean Friendly businesses and nurture existing Ocean Friendly business ties?” Building on our redefined brief we dived into exploring how certified businesses perceive the program and what are their needs and pain points. We conducted interviews and provided the businesses with a questionnaire to explore our redefined brief further. After understanding our users, we were able to further refine the initial brief which would help us in spring boarding to the next phase of design. The third iteration of the redefined brief was –
Figure 3 - Ocean Friendly Promotional Message
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“How might we showcase sustainability values of our certified businesses in a way that recognises their efforts and connects them to new opportunities and encourages other businesses.” To further explore the redefined brief I’ll be going through various Research and Design processes to select a salient and appropriate solution to address our problem space.
User Goals and Needs After conducting internal and external research and analysis and redefining our problem space and brief we were able to uncover the goals and needs of our users Organisation Leaders The organisation’s leaders primary goals included making the Ocean Friendly Program a standard of accreditation for businesses, they want the program to have more exposure amongst their targeted user base, which can in turn facilitate more networking opportunities and also create awareness about following sustainable practices. The organisation’s leaders want the program to have more credibility so it can be scaled-up to a bigger level which would involve big conglomerates and food companies adopting Ocean Friendly practices as well which could act as a catalyst in making Ocean Friendly Program a national movement instead of being a local community driven movement.
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Branch Leaders The branch leaders have a very different view to the stakeholders on the wants and needs of the Ocean Friendly certified businesses. Unlike the stakeholders, the branch leaders feel promotion and networking is a core part of their value proposition. The branch leaders feel that there is a disconnect between them and the National team, the branch leaders expect more support from the National team to enable them to perform the on-ground activities and campaigns with freedom. Given the branch leaders are also volunteers they feel they are not able to provide as much time as they would have if they were a part of a paid structure in the organisation and they find it hard to retain volunteers because of not being able to provide them incentives to work towards the organisation’s goals. Certified Businesses The certified businesses consider the certification process as a partnering opportunity with the Surfrider Foundation as opposed to a service or promotional activity, they consider SFA as experts in sustainable practices and expect the Ocean Friendly program to provide them more information and support as opposed to a simple certification exercise. They expect to be more involved in the campaigns and activities SFA conducts by organising events with them. The businesses want to generate community awareness not only to promote themselves but to showcase and communicate their values and sustainable efforts they are making to help reduce their operational effects on the environment. They expect more support from Ocean Friendly Program before, during and after they have certified as an Ocean Friendly Business. 12
DESIGN ITERATIONS FIRST ITERATION
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The first step to devise a solution involved multiple brainstorming sessions to suggest as many ideas as possible for the problem space keeping in mind the context, user needs and the brief. The idea was to let the ideas flow with an open mind without judgements, while keeping in mind the defined brief and the user's needs. Taking 5-7 minutes in 3 rounds and generating as many ideas and probable solutions during that time frame. The exercise yielded in excess of 30 ideas and concepts which included on-ground activities and campaigns, social events, structural organisation change, introducing digital channels, developing multiple platforms etc. (Appendix 1) All the idea notes were then put together on a board and were discussed in detail with peers, taking one note at a time and discussing its pros and cons, to further judge the viability and ease of execution of the idea. A decision matrix was used to help explore and organise the generated concepts. The goal of the decision matrix was to rank the concepts on the basis of ‘How much effort was required to execute it’ and ‘What kind of impact it could yield’. Dividing the matrix into 4 quadrants of Bright Stars (High Impact-Less Effort), Wild Cards (High Impact-More Effort), Low Hanging Fruit (Low Impact-Less Effort) and Show it the Door (Low Impact-More effort).
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The decision matrix also helped in forming new concepts by building them together to make more robust solutions. An important aspect of this method was not just the decision making step but the requirement to first develop a mutual understanding of the ideas together before categorising them into different topics or concepts. Once the ideas were mapped on to the decision matrix, the next step was to club together ideas which could be executed together as a strategy and broaden the solution space more to incorporate similar functions as a whole instead of having numerous standalone ideas. The various topics mapped afterwards in accordance with the user needs, values and brief included (Appendix 2) 1.
Becoming Business
an
Ocean
Friendly
2.
Acknowledging and Certified Businesses Businesses
3.
Making it Easy for Businesses to Find Alternate Solutions and Materials
4.
Increasing Volunteer Acquisition
Connecting to Other
and simplifying Engagement and
These strategies were then developed further in the Second Iteration of the Design Process to build upon more robust solutions for the problem space and help reach the final solution.
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DESIGN ITERATIONS SECOND ITERATION
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The next iteration in the design process involved building upon the concepts and ideas shortlisted from the previous iteration, to achieve that Concept briefs were created for each topic which elaborated upon the planning and execution of the concept and the challenges which might affect them and Andy the business persona and Rebecca the branch persona created in the previous research report was taken through the journey of using these concepts. (Appendix 3 and 4). Once the concept briefs were completed, low fidelity wireframes were developed for each of the concept briefs to give the ideas a more robust look and feel, the wireframes were then provided to the participants to go through them and the participants were asked to think aloud what they were doing and where they were struggling to use the wireframe, they were asked to give their views and suggestions while they were using the solution. The concept briefs, user journey of personas and wireframes for each concept were as followed -
1. Becoming an Ocean Friendly Business The Goal - To help interested businesses in their process to becoming an Ocean Friendly Business, giving them proper guidance and directive and motivate other businesses to do the same. The Problem - Many businesses try to follow sustainable practices in their day to day operations but aren’t aware about the Ocean Friendly certification and when they do they find it difficult to follow through with the mentioned criteria and can be discouraged into not getting certified.
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The Idea ●
Creating easy to understand online/offline guidebooks and brochures to help businesses learn more about the Ocean Friendly Program.
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Having a dedicated website which provides latest updates and information about the ocean friendly program and about new alternative materials to interested businesses.
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Having a help and support feature to help businesses with their doubts and queries.
Benefit to the Customer ●
The Guidebook provides an easy way to learn about how to get certified it also makes them aware about the latest activities Surfrider foundation is taking on.
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The website and blog can be a one stop location for interested and certified businesses to keep learning and being informed about new materials and strategies to be more sustainable.
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The support feature would help in answering any doubts that a potential or an existing certified business might have.
Benefit to Surfrider Foundation ●
Promotion through collateral and guide books would help in solidifying Surfrider’s credibility amongst businesses, and cater to their need of having proper support from them.
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More traffic on the website would increase Surfrider’s brand awareness and establish them as the go to organisation for sustainability expertise.
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Challenges and Unknowns ●
Designing of the Guidebook and brochures can be a time consuming exercise and the stakeholders can have varied ideas about which information is most important to be included in it.
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Website development and maintenance would require human resources to keep it updated regularly.
How it Works ●
Andy, is thinking of getting his Cafe certified as an Ocean Friendly establishment, and hopes to learn more about the procedure and the criteria required.
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A Surfrider volunteer visits him with an Information Brochure and briefs him about the Ocean Friendly program.
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On his day off Andy goes through the brochure and visits the mentioned Surfrider website and learns about what the organisation is doing on ground and how his cafe can get certified.
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While going through the information Andy comes up with a couple of doubts about which alternative packing material he can use instead of plastic containers.
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He notices that the Surfrider website offers a support form under frequently asked questions, he fills up the form along with his questions and sends it.
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Soon a Surfrider volunteer responds to his queries and helps him with selecting an alternate way to pack food and get rid of the plastic containers to achieve OF certification
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2. Acknowledging and Connecting Certified Businesses to Other Businesses The Goal To act as a link between different certified and uncertified businesses to connect them with each other so that they can understand and learn from each other and encourage each other to be more sustainable. The Problem ●
Uncertified businesses don’t always know where to start, they want to be more environmentally friendly but don’t always know where they can start and learn more about it.
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Certified businesses go through their own sets of measures and activities to ensure they are meeting the criteria and are being sustainable but feel there is scope to learn more and be acquainted with new ideas and materials which other businesses are incorporating.
The Idea ●
Hosting various community and business events and annual awards to create awareness and appreciate excelling businesses.
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Quarterly Updates handbook including information on various businesses and their strategies
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Providing Happy Hours at the venue of an event to invite more customers to join in.
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Benefit to the Customer ●
Uncertified Businesses get a chance to learn about how other businesses are being sustainable and be motivated to that themselves.
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Certified Businesses get a platform to share and exchange their ideas with other businesses aiming for the same goal, instead of a digital exercise, this platform provides more community involvement.
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Customers get to see which businesses are doing their utmost to help the environment and make an informed decision.
Benefit to Surfrider Foundation ●
Encourages more community involvement from the businesses instead of working as stand alone entities, Surfrider would facilitate leading by example by awarding the good work being done by a business which would encourage other businesses to get certified as well.
Challenges and Unknowns ●
Getting venues to agree to hosting events and providing discounts to patrons can pose a challenge in execution.
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Human resources and volunteers required to plan and look after the arrangements of events and on-ground activities.
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How it Works ●
Andy is thinking of getting his Cafe certified as an Ocean Friendly establishment, as a sustainability enthusiast he’s doing his bit in making sure his day to day operations are not affecting the environment adversely.
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To learn more he navigates to Surfrider website and notices that they are hosting a Cocktail Night at a nearby Ocean Friendly Certified business with happy hours in place.
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He visits the event with his wife and they make a good night out of it, all of it while learning more about how to be more sustainable through a Quarterly Report provided to them when they arrive and hearing other owners talk about their journey and challenges.
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He noticed that a lot of the Patrons at the event are business and cafe owners in his vicinity and many of whom got a lot of appreciation and recognition from the Surfrider foundation as well as the local community.
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3. Making it Easy for Businesses to Find Alternate Solutions and Materials The Goal - To minimise barriers for new and existing businesses that want to find affordable and sustainable products, enabling them to adopt Ocean Friendly guidelines. The Problem ●
Uncertified businesses that would like to be more environmentally responsible believe that meeting Ocean Friendly guidelines is difficult and expensive, so they don’t go through with certification.
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Certified businesses spend a lot of time sourcing their own non-plastic materials throughout the certification period with little or no support.
The Idea ●
A one-stop online store where a cafe or restaurant can find and buy sustainable food packaging products from any brand.
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Certified Ocean Friendly businesses receive a member discount of up to 10% based on size of order.
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Products receive a sustainable they are.
rating
based
on
how
Benefit to Customers ●
One location for sourcing all types of sustainable food packaging, reducing search time
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Rating system with clear guidelines help businesses to understand the degree of sustainability of each product
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Volume based discounts to reduce financial outlay Consolidated shipping option to reduce carbon footprint.
Benefit to Surfrider ●
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Reduced effort for branch volunteers - they will have a single source to refer businesses to when helping them understand the types of sustainable packaging available. Repeat traffic to Surfrider website, building brand awareness and increasing traffic to information about events.
Challenges and Unknowns ●
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Human resources required to administer the store: content management, online marketing, user experience design, hosting services. Manufacturer and supplier relationships: agreeing service terms and ensuring product quality
How it Works ● ● ●
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Cafe owner, Andy, thinking of switching to non-plastics is told to visit the Surfrider site. He navigates to the site from google and see call to action: ‘Find and buy packaging’ The store is easy to navigate: the products are easy to find because of intuitive categorisation and information hierarchy Understanding price range is fast because of sorting features The rating system helps him understand the difference between terms like ‘bioplastic’ and ‘compostable’ He can choose products from any supplier, but notices volume discounts so he simplifies his choices to just two or three brands Shipping (provided by Shippit) is easy to understand and reasonably priced
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4.
Increasing
and
Simplifying
Volunteer
Engagement and Acquisition The Goal To build a reliable volunteer base and source for the organisation to ease the efforts required to find and motivate volunteers to become a part of Surfrider missions and campaigns. The Problem ●
The stakeholders and branch leaders felt that it was challenging to find long time volunteers to become part of Surfrider missions, currently they find it difficult to hold on to them and training and briefing new volunteers constantly becomes a tiresome activity.
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Volunteers not having appreciation and incentives for their efforts also burn out after a while and everything needs to start from the bottom again which hampers the success of a campaign.
The Idea ●
Introducing volunteer engagement from the grass roots level by involving schools and universities in the campaigning of Surfrider projects.
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Creating a platform for all major non-profits organisations in Australia to acquire volunteers through school and college club networks.
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Incentivizing and appreciating current and potential volunteers so they are able to find value and motivation for their time and efforts. Eg. Discounts, Meals etc.
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Benefit to Customers ●
Having a dedicated platform for signing up as a volunteer and finding organisations to volunteer for according to one's interests would ease the process of connecting to an organisation.
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Involving schools and universities would instill sustainability values amongst the future generation and motivate them to be a part of something important.
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The platform would ease the efforts required from organisations to acquire volunteers and connect them with them more reliably and easily.
Benefit to Surfrider Foundation ●
It would ease Surfrider’s efforts to acquire volunteers and provide them with a reliable source to engage them through the platform.
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Having incentives and appreciation for volunteers would encourage them more to be part of the organisation which would help Surfrider keep hold of them without them feeling burned out.
Challenges and Unknowns ●
Liasoning with multiple schools and universities and getting them onboard for the platform can pose a challenge.
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Investment in developing the platform can prove difficult and getting other non-profit organisations on board to pitch in can be a difficult proposition.
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How it Works ●
Rebecca has been working on spreading awareness and educating businesses regarding Surfrider Foundation Ocean Friendly Program, she’s been doing it for a while on her own and feels she'd need more hands on deck to spread the word and do more on ground work.
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She’s actively looking for volunteers at various Surfrider campaigns but feels that keeping hold of them can become very challenging and constantly training new volunteers becomes time consuming.
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Surfrider informs her about their recently launched volunteer base channel which provides them with incentives and acknowledgement.
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On the channel, interested volunteers register themselves and provide their preference and details on which campaign they are interested to work on.
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She accesses the website and finds Andy, a local cafe owner who is interested in volunteering in her area, she contacts Andy and gets him on board.
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User Evaluation Two users were invited to test and go through the concepts and key features of the design solution with the low-fidelity wireframes and their feedback was recorded. This testing phase and the instinctive reactions and responses of the users provided me with a lot of useful information to further develop the design during the Final Iteration of the design solution. On testing the Low-fidelity prototypes with the users through Think-Aloud Protocol a number of responses and suggestions helped devising the final concept. (Appendix 5) ●
Users liked the idea of having all the information available at a touch of a button for each concept.
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Users appreciated the amount of information and updates that were made available to them.
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It was noted that the interface of the mobile websites was simple and that helped in the navigation to desired parts without causing a lot of distraction.
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Users felt that having everything available on different channels or mediums was not convenient and can discourage people from exploring further. Having everything accessible through a single medium would help in keeping the users more engaged to the proposed solution.
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It was pointed out that it’d be difficult for a common business or person to know about the mobile website and collateral on their own, perhaps having a physical channel or intervention can inform them better about the new Surfrider strategies and interventions.
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DESIGN ITERATIONS FINAL ITERATION AND CONCEPT
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For the final concept, the suggestions of improvements by the users were considered and incorporated in the design solution to create the final solution. The refined iterations would then be used to make final Mockups and Prototypes to give the solution a more robust and finished look and feel. It was then tested by the users using a usability testing method of rating various aspects of the solution on different parameters. A Clickable Prototype was created to depict the flow of the proposed website which can be found at -
https://marvelapp.com/protot ype/64jf7e2
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What is the Final Concept? What - Surfrider Foundation Australia - Ocean Friendly (Mobile Optimized Website) Where - Physical Campaign Posters and Online When - Whenever users and businesses want to learn, find alternate materials, learn and certify with the Ocean Friendly Program and go through up to date information about Ocean Friendly events and activities. How - Users scans the QR code provided on Ocean Friendly campaign posters and collateral at certified businesses and public places to reach the landing page of the Ocean Friendly website from there they can learn all about what the program is about, which businesses are certified, how to volunteer, how to get certification, what are the latest alternative materials, Surfrider merchandise, donate to the organisation etc. Who - Common people, certified businesses, non-certified businesses, Surfrider Volunteers, anyone who is interested in learning more about the program, wants to be a part of it or even just wants to donate to the cause. Why - The new website brings about value and credibility to the work that Surfrider Foundation is doing currently as compared to the current website, it acknowledges certified businesses, their own team members, provides volunteers a platform to join in on the cause, helps new businesses to learn and get certified and suggests alternative materials that can be used instead of plastic tableware and packing.
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The high-fidelity prototypes and mockups showcase the working and interface of the mobile optimized website of ‘Surfrider Foundation - Ocean Friendly’. From the suggestions and feedbacks obtained through user testing of the low fidelity wireframes, the 4 separate concepts which had their own standalone mediums were combined to form a complete website which would consist of most of the functionalities and ideas of each concept but will be made available through a single channel to ease the user navigation, instead of having separate channels. The website would consist of different tabs which on further exploration would elaborate more on the selected topic. A physical touchpoint for the website was devised in the form of campaign posters and brochures, which can be handed out and placed at Ocean Friendly Certified businesses as well as public places like libraries, shopping centres, community centres, train stations, bus stations etc.
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The poster would consist of a QR code, which on scanning by an interested user will redirect them to the new Ocean Friendly website from there the user can access all kinds of information that they want to explore and learn more about the campaign and the program. The final interface was kept simple and minimalist without too many distracting elements as the users preferred an easy to navigate channel where they don’t get confused by too many elements. The mockups and prototypes depict the flow of different tabs and functions of the website, which the users can explore and learn more about all the activities and events Surfrider is planning for their Ocean Friendly Program and also find updates on recently certified businesses and learn about different practices that they are implementing in their day to day operations.
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User Tasks and Responses
Think-aloud verbal protocol
The Users were given specific tasks to complete so that they are able to navigate the website without any hassle and provide a complete and detailed evaluation. The tasks included 1.
Scan the QR code provided on the poster.
2.
Have a go through the main landing page and explore further
3.
Have a look at the Introductory video tab about the program
4.
Explore the Steps to becoming Ocean Friendly Certified Business
5.
Check the updates about Ocean Friendly Activities New Certifications, total certified businesses uptil now, Special mentions of Businesses and Volunteers for exemplary performance.
6.
Read about on-ground volunteer efforts and efforts made by businesses to promote sustainability operation of business.
7.
Check the Surfrider Foundation’s events calendar
8.
Check the Guide books and Brochures provided on the website
9.
Check alternate materials lists and their suppliers
10.
Check the the Volunteer search and registration page
“Very easy to access the website” “Simple interface, I like that” “Easy to navigate” “The Introductory video can be useful for people who are not aware” “Certification steps are clearly mentioned and easy to follow” “ So much on-ground work is being done by the people, i had no idea” “There are so many alternatives to plastic cups?” “Maybe i should become a volunteer as well” “I should visit this restaurant sometime”
“The interface looks a little monotonous” “I wish it was working like a proper website” “The video tab kind of hides the rest of the website” “I have more questions about the program” “No FAQ or chat feature?” 34
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User Evaluation and Testing 3 Participants were invited to take part in the user evaluation tests. (Appendix 6) The aim was to test the usability of the website and its interface. Since the website is meant for a number of stakeholders including Organisation leadership, branch leaders, certified businesses, non-certified businesses, volunteers and general public it was important to incorporate a number of functions and services. The testing users were part of these stakeholders that helped in finding further problems and checking the user flow and consistency of the website. Methods like think-aloud protocol and usability testing were applied to conduct user testing. Through the user evaluation it was found out that most users were satisfied and enjoyed the QR Scan function of the initial physical touchpoint, they liked the simple and minimal interface of the website and were able to navigate through it without much issues. Since the users were cafe owners and volunteers they were motivated to learn more about what Surfrider was doing on-ground and what the Ocean Friendly Program was all about. They appreciated the idea of having an introductory video on the Homepage which talked about the Ocean Friendly Program and the steps involved to be eligible to get the certification done. They appreciated that all the features and service tabs were easily visible on the main home page which enabled them to navigate freely through them. The users liked the updates page for Ocean Friendly Program which included the current number of Ocean Friendly businesses, along with mentions of new and excelling businesses. Though the users appreciated the simplicity of the website, they felt that it was a little too simple, which is something that can be rectified and addressed in the further iterations of the design solution.
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User Evaluation - Usability Testing
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Usability Testing Results
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Design Precedence There were a number of ways to tackle the initial brief of “How could we redesign the Ocean Friendly program so that more businesses can adopt Ocean Friendly practices?“ After researching the organisation, the program, the users the brief was redefined to cater to the actual underlying issue of non-engagement. The problem space called for changes at different levels of operation of the Ocean Friendly Program ranging from organisational structure to providing value to the certified businesses to encouraging more businesses to join in on the program. The current solution was selected keeping in mind that Surfrider Foundation is a not-for-profit organisation and suggesting solutions which would require a lot of effort and investment would not be a viable option in terms of its execution and desired outcome. Hence an overhaul for the current website of the Surfrider Foundation Australia website was selected as the optimal solution for the problem at hand. Given the current situation and way of life, reevaluating and reinforcement of the organisations online presence is of the utmost importance. Users when acquainted with a new concept generally favor to go online and search further about it and facilitating that as a starting point would help in springboarding the goals and actions of the Surfrider Foundation to new highs.
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Discussion and the Way Forward
The main aim of the solution since its early stages has been to bring about value and more awareness amongst the masses especially businesses who are certified and encouraging non-certified businesses to get certified. The feeling of being acknowledged and appreciated was evident through the research conducted, for certified businesses and Surfrider Volunteers, so putting them on the map was an important step. Another way of adding value to the current efforts of businesses was to provide them with more information on the alternate materials available in the market which was incorporated into the final website design. From the initial ideas the concepts went through changes with each iteration, it was important to suggest the organisation a solution which tackles a number of problems instead of having multiple solutions doing the same. Initially there was no physical intervention for the concept but from user feedback and evaluation, a physical touchpoint was introduced to facilitate engagement before the user reaches the final proposed solution.
The final design is a mix of physical campaign and a digital solution with appealing features, easy to understand and navigate interface and acts as hub of all the necessary information and value an individual or a business would require to learn and adopt Ocean Friendly Practises. It is reasonable to assume through user research and feedback that people and businesses are interested in practicing sustainable practices but are not aware how to do that but when introduced to a program like Ocean Friendly and Surfrider Foundation as a whole they are motivated to learn more about it and them and want to do better to conserve our environment. Given the limited time, resources and technical gaps there are many avenues to improve the future iterations of the design solution. The website overhaul can prove to be a stepping stone to bring about more organisational and operational change and motivate the Foundation to consider different options in the way they function currently. Having a strong base and online presence would help increase Ocean Friendly Program’s credibility amongst the people and businesses and motivate them to learn more about sustainable practices and help the environment by doing their bit towards it.
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Conclusion
Given the nature of the topic and the problem space, the solution needed to address a number of issues, user needs and wants, technological advancement and availability, the solution to cater to a number of underlying problems etc. This required extensive brainstorming and ideas to solve all the issues at hand, and given more time the current solution could have been even more refined and robust. Not having the technical know-how of how to make a working and more interactive website, hampered the exact flow of the website, given more time, I would have preferred having a working digital prototype to test out with the users instead of using high-fidelity mockups. Creating ideation sketches and then subsequent wireframes and mockups helped my research and depiction of the final solution a lot. All of them were used for user testing and informal feedback from the participants and the users enjoyed engaging with them, having a working prototype would have helped further but maybe in the near future I am able to apply those and test the solution in more detail and with a larger sample size of participants.
User testing methods like think-aloud protocol and usability testing made the most impact on the discovery of various aspects of the design that needed to be addressed and improved and various suggestions to add different features, helped make the solution more holistic. Being the designer we usually have a bias towards our own designs and we are too familiar with concepts to figure out what’s really working and what’s not and we miss the tiny details but the users with an open mind can point them out in a neutral and objective way. Other user testing methods that I would have liked to apply for the user evaluation would have been pre-experience and post-experience interview to leverage more in depth knowledge about what the users were thinking about before and after using the digital solution but given the current situation of the pandemic it was not possible to have users physically present to have a more informal talk and discussions.
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10. REFERENCES
Image Reference List
Figure 2 - Ocean Friendly Logo. Retrieved from https://d3n8a8pro7vhmx.cloudfront.net/surfrider/ pages/366/attachments/original/1533452199/SFA _Ocean_Friendly_Brochure_2018.pdf?1533452199
Figure 1 - Ocean Friendly Australia Brochure. Retrieved from https://d3n8a8pro7vhmx.cloudfront.net/surfrider/ pages/67/attachments/original/1531892646/ocea n-friendly-logo.jpg?1531892646
Figure 3 - Ocean Friendly Promotional Message Retrieved from https://www.instagram.com/p/B3yZKm6AV-h/
11. APPENDIX
Appendix 1: Ideation Process
Appendix 2: Design Matrix
Appendix 3: Personas - Business
Appendix 4: Persona - Branch
Appendix 5: Think Aloud Comments
User 1 “Simple interface, I like that” “Easy to navigate” “The Introductory video can be useful for people who are not aware” “Certification steps are clearly mentioned and easy to follow” “How long have they been doing this?” “Is it only for cafes or can other commercial places get certification as well?”
“The interface looks a little monotonous” “I wish it was working like a proper website”
User 2 “I should visit this restaurant sometime” “ So much on-ground work is being done by the people, i had no idea” “There are so many alternatives to plastic cups?” “Maybe i should become a volunteer as well”
“The video tab kind of hides the rest of the website” “I have more questions about the program” “No FAQ or chat feature?”
Appendix 6: Usability Testing Participant 1
User Task
Success 0-Not Completed 1-Completed with difficulty or help 2-Easily Completed
Time to Complete
Number of Errors
Scan the QR code provided on the poster.
2
15 secs
0
Have a go through the main landing page and explore further
2
30 secs
0
Have a look at the Introductory video tab about the program
2
2 mins
0
Explore the Steps to becoming Ocean Friendly Certified Business
0
3 mins
0
Check the updates about Ocean Friendly Activities - New Certifications, total certified businesses uptil now, Special mentions of Businesses and Volunteers for exemplary performance.
2
2 mins
0
Read about on-ground volunteer efforts and efforts made by businesses to promote sustainability operation of business.
2
3 mins
0
Check the Surfrider Foundation’s events calendar
2
2 mins
0
Check the Guide books and Brochures provided on the website
2
5 mins
0
Check alternate materials lists and their suppliers
2
1 min
0
Check the the Volunteer search and registration page
2
2 mins
0
Sarthak Sahni
Appendix 6: Usability Testing Participant 2
User Task
Success 0-Not Completed 1-Completed with difficulty or help 2-Easily Completed
Time to Complete
Number of Errors
Scan the QR code provided on the poster.
1
4 mins
0
Have a go through the main landing page and explore further
2
2 mins
0
Have a look at the Introductory video tab about the program
1
2 mins
0
Explore the Steps to becoming Ocean Friendly Certified Business
2
3 mins
0
Check the updates about Ocean Friendly Activities - New Certifications, total certified businesses uptil now, Special mentions of Businesses and Volunteers for exemplary performance.
1
2 mins
0
Read about on-ground volunteer efforts and efforts made by businesses to promote sustainability operation of business.
2
3 mins
0
Check the Surfrider Foundation’s events calendar
2
2 mins
0
Check the Guide books and Brochures provided on the website
2
2 mins
0
Check alternate materials lists and their suppliers
2
1 min
0
Check the the Volunteer search and registration page
2
2 mins
0
Appendix 6: Usability Testing Participant 3
User Task
Success 0-Not Completed 1-Completed with difficulty or help 2-Easily Completed
Time to Complete
Number of Errors
Scan the QR code provided on the poster.
2
50 secs
0
Have a go through the main landing page and explore further
2
5 mins
0
Have a look at the Introductory video tab about the program
2
3 mins
0
Explore the Steps to becoming Ocean Friendly Certified Business
2
5 mins
0
Check the updates about Ocean Friendly Activities - New Certifications, total certified businesses uptil now, Special mentions of Businesses and Volunteers for exemplary performance.
2
4 mins
0
Read about on-ground volunteer efforts and efforts made by businesses to promote sustainability operation of business.
2
2 mins
0
Check the Surfrider Foundation’s events calendar
2
1 min
0
Check the Guide books and Brochures provided on the website
2
3 mins
0
Check alternate materials lists and their suppliers
2
4 mins
0
Check the the Volunteer search and registration page
2
2 mins
0