Avalex

Project Shared Spaces -
Tune Tap and Toss

Client

Avalex

platform

Miro, Figma, user testing protocols

role

UX Design team leader, Researcher

The Project

Project Overview:
The Avalex Recycling Center project explored how user-centered design can improve interactions in a shared physical environment. Focusing on the Delft site, we investigated how users and workers experience recycling bulky waste and identified ways to make the process more intuitive, motivating, and meaningful.

Challenge


Redesign the on-site recycling experience so that users feel guided and engaged, workers feel supported, and both groups gain a stronger sense of purpose in contributing to a circular economy - all within the constraints of the existing space.

Approach

1. Research & Methods used for Understanding the User:

  • Desk Research: Avalex’s website, campaigns, waste policies.
  • Stakeholder Interview: Conversation with Head of Projects & Innovation
  • On-Site Observation (Fly on the Wall): Visiting as undercover users to observe behavior and navigation.
  • Semi-Structured Interviews: With users and staff on-site.
  • Community Interviews: Conversations with Delft residents to understand broader recycling behavior.
  • Experience Prototyping & Roleplay: Acting out user journeys to uncover pain points.
  • Affinity Diagram & Synthesis Wall: Clustering insights to reveal main themes.
  • Empathy Maps: Visualizing frustrations, goals, and motivations of users and workers.
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2. Design Direction:
We want to create an on-site experience that makes both users and workers feel their actions matter - building trust, purpose, and motivation in recycling.

  • Interactive Entry Screen + Receipt: 
    -     Users scan their Avalex pass.
    - Screen generates a personalized receipt with a color-coded map and container directions.
  • Color-Coded Containers
    -     Linked visually to the receipt to improve clarity.
  • Playful Motivation (Plinko Game)
    -     At the end, users toss their receipt into a Plinko board for a chance at small rewards.
    - Turns waiting and leaving into a positive, playful moment.
  • Avalex FM (Site Radio)
    -     A light, ambient audio channel played on-site or through car radios.
    - Keeps waiting users engaged with recycling facts, tips, and playful motivation.
    - Adds a human, community-like layer to the recycling experience.

3. Prototyping and Testing:

  • Low-fidelity prototypes tested with students and mock-up signage.
  • Confirmed: users preferred visual, step-by-step navigation over verbal intercom instructions.
  • Playful gamification sparked excitement and discussion about recycling.

Outcome


The result was a set of user-centered interventions that transform the recycling center into a clearer and more motivating experience. By combining a scan-and-route kiosk with color-coded receipts, Avalex FM radio for on-site guidance and engagement, and a playful toss-to-win Plinko game, the design addressed both user confusion and worker frustration. Early feedback showed that users valued the clarity of navigation, felt more engaged while waiting, and left with a stronger sense of contribution - turning a frustrating, functional task into an intuitive and rewarding shared space.

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