Case Study

WasteFree

The Problem

Designing a Zero-Friction Repurchase Flow That Turns Waste Data Into Smarter Buying Decisions

WasteFree collects valet trash at apartment communities, and their trash trucks have the technology to sort, recycle, and scan every item disposed by the residents. WasteFree has the data - but residents have no way to see it, act on it, or benefit from it. There was no tool that gave users waste insights and also gave them the choice to make actionable interactions.

The challenge: design an app that shows residents what they threw away and gives them a frictionless path to buy it again — or buy a smarter alternative. The app had to work for residents of all tech levels, from digital natives to people who rarely use apps.

Research & Discovery

Dozens of Screens, One Core Question: What Does the Resident Actually Need?

WasteFree delivered a comprehensive specification outlining two full product experiences—one for residents and one for managers/owners—spanning dozens of screens along with an extensive list of future features. My first priority was to identify what was essential to the resident experience and define a clear path for what could be deferred to later phases.

Discovery: What I Learned from the Client

• The repurchase flow is 90% of expected app activity — WasteFree was explicit about this being the core
• Residents choose a preference during onboarding (Save Money / Be Healthier / Save the Planet) that shapes all product recommendations
• The app is free for residents — revenue comes from apartment management subscriptions and data monetization to CPG brands (~$35/unit/month)
• Leasing agents introduce the app during move-in, significantly reducing in-app onboarding burden
• The WasteFree Score is like a FICO score — formula hidden, criteria shared, format TBD
• Push notification is the primary entry point to the app

Flows WasteFree Described (Priority Order)

Competitive Analysis

Analyzed 13 apps across 4 categories (waste tracking, sustainability, smart repurchase, gamification) to identify UX patterns, gaps, and opportunities for WasteFree.

Key Finding: No existing app bridges "what you throw away" to "what you should buy instead." Most waste and sustainability apps either educate or inform without driving behavior change.

User Personas

Four Residents, one app - designed for them all

Each persona aligns to a core motivation—saving money, improving personal health, or reducing environmental impact—which directly informs their preferred journey through the app. These motivation paths serve as the foundation for the experience, shaping feature prioritization, content hierarchy, and overall interaction design.

• Outcome: 4 core resident personas representing key user segments
• Key Insight: Each persona is driven by a primary motivation: Save Money, Be Healthier, Help the Environment
• UX Strategy: These motivations define distinct user paths that guide feature prioritization, content hierarchy, and user flows across the app
• Impact: Ensures the experience is tailored, relevant, and scalable across different user types without overcomplicating the product

Information Architecture

Mapping the Structure Behind Every Tap

Wireframes

Low-Fidelity First — Validating Layout Before Pixels

Flows & Interactive Prototypes

Five Flows That Define the Entire Resident Experience

Click through each prototype to experience the flow. Flow diagrams show the user journey logic above each interactive wireframe.

Flow 1 — Onboarding

WasteFree onboarding happens before the user (resident) ever sees WasteFree — leasing agents explain why WasteFree matters during move-in and offer the WasteFree service to tenants as a complimentary service for being a resident at the property. The app collects resident info, a quick survey about their shopping habits (to power fulfillment options), and three motivations residents rank in order of importance. The #1 choice shapes every recommendation; #2 and #3 act as fallbacks. Per-category refinement (e.g., "Save Money on groceries, Be Healthier on cosmetics") is layered in-app later through progressive disclosure — keeping onboarding fast. Target: under 60 seconds from open to done.

Round 3 changes: tagline split onto two lines on the welcome screen ("See your Impact." / "Transform your Footprint."); grocery list expanded with Sam's, Costco, Aldi, and Trader Joe's; delivery membership list now includes GrubHub+, Favor, and GoPuff; preference defaults reordered to lead with Save the Planet, then Be Healthier, then Save Money; Done-screen copy updated from "Just put your bag out tonight" to "Just place your bag(s) out" so it doesn't promise service on a day a resident doesn't have it; "Your Primary Preference" label now matches the wording on the Profile page for consistency.

Flow 2 — Repurchase

This is 90% of the app's expected activity. A resident gets a push notification confirming their trash was collected, taps it, and lands directly on their item list. Tonight's items are the lead, but the list scrolls continuously through This Week, This Month, and Year-to-Date — each section announced by a sticky banner, and the date pill at top stays in sync with whichever section is currently in view. Each item offers two actions: Buy it Again (re-order the same product) or Buy it WasteFree (open a preference-driven alternative). The Suggested Replacements screen leads with one recommendation and adds a horizontally-scrollable strip of additional brands underneath so residents can compare logos, packaging, and options at a glance.

Round 4 decision: Smart Default fulfillment (the original Approach A) was removed entirely. V1 ships Per-Item Fulfillment only — at checkout each cart item gets its own retailer/shipper so residents can mix Amazon Prime, Instacart, in-store pickup, and parcel carriers in a single order. Future versions will collapse multi-retailer orders onto a Community Delivery Day.

Flow 3 — Impact & Score

The WasteFree Score works like a FICO score for waste. A sticky date toggle at the top (Last Pickup / This Week / This Month / YTD) controls all sections at once. Community ranking includes a 3-way toggle (My community / My zip code / All communities) so residents can see how they compare at different scales. The waste-stream breakdown uses three stacked donut charts, each progressively more detailed: Chart 1 shows the basic split (Recycled / Composted / Landfilled), Chart 2 breaks down recyclable materials by type (PET, HDPE, OCC, Mixed Paper, Ferrous, Non-Ferrous, Glass), and Chart 3 shows how waste was processed (Closed-Loop, Downcycled, Remelted, Composted, Waste-to-Energy, Landfilled). All three charts are visible by scrolling — no hidden tabs or drill-down interactions. The impact section personalizes with the resident's name ("This month, Ashley has: Diverted 23 lbs of waste") and includes tangible equivalencies. Tapping "Share Ashley's Impact" opens a native iOS share sheet with contacts, social media apps, and utility actions.

Flow 4 — Collection & Service Data

Originally scoped as low priority, WasteFree requested this flow be added after reviewing the Phase 2 wireframes. This is the raw data transparency layer — while Flow 2 (Repurchase) only shows identified products the resident can rebuy, Flow 4 shows everything WasteFree collected, including unidentified trash with photos. The lead screen combines collection history with the item summary: residents first see bag-level metadata (number of bags, collection time, collector employee ID, violation status) before scrolling into individual items. The date tabs (This Service / This Week / This Month) are fully interactive — switching between them updates the bag count, item count, weight, date range, and item list to reflect the selected time period. Each item displays its waste-stream designation (PET, OCC, Organic, etc.). Unidentified items get a photo badge — tapping reveals the sorting photo and a simplified 3-field identification form (brand, product category, recycling category) so residents can crowdsource item recognition.

Round 3 changes: dropped the "Landfilled" / "Closed-Loop" processing-method designations everywhere (list, detail, and recycling-journey) — we don't yet have downstream processing data, so claiming it would be dishonest. Material classifications stay (PET, OCC, etc.). Detail-page copy now uses forward-looking language: "We anticipate this material will be recycled back into…" The Identified detail page leads with a Buy It WasteFree Next Time CTA; the Unidentified detail page leads with a See Items that may be Similar CTA that filters by whatever metadata the resident provides (brand, material, classification). The green diversion-rate trend line under the Vio Assessed row was removed for the same data-honesty reason.

Flow 5 — Notifications

The notification inbox gives WasteFree a persistent communication channel with residents beyond push notifications. Round 3 update: rather than splitting messages across separate Training, Community, and Offers tabs, everything lives in one unified chronological inbox per Ben's request. Classification chips sit above the list so residents can filter the feed by category when they want to — but the default view is everything in one place. Each notification carries its own classification badge inline so the category context never gets lost. Unread notifications are visually distinct with a green dot and light background. "Mark all read" clears everything at once.

Lessons Learned

What I'd Do Differently and What Worked