Lender

The adoption of a circular economy through a mobile application

Concept

In a nutshell, my practical thesis project is a concept that tries to address the problem of mass production and mass consumption, giving rise to the practice of a circular economy rather than a linear one.

Lender is a mobile application that promotes the reduction of mass consumption by allowing people (especially students living in big cities and on a low budget) to lend, exchange, or give away objects that other people need momentarily or permanently. Thus instilling a circular economy with everyday objects.

Goals:

Reduce mass consumption, and subsequently mass production.
Change consumer behavior.
Raise awareness of the harm that mass consumption and production cause to the environment.
Build a community based on trust, awareness and encouragement.
User engagement and retention.

Deadline

3 months

Intro

Problem to solve

The problem we want to solve with Lender is that of consumerism. We are damaging our ecosystem by our unconscious consumerism. We aim to raise people's awareness by making them part of the solution in a fun way that will also benefit us as a society. What lender aims is to embrace an up-cycle mobile app where people can lend, give or trade any goods instantly.

Target audience

The target audience is mainly intended for people living in Berlin between 18 and 35 years old, as there are many students and people who come from other countries to look for better living conditions. It becomes difficult to buy good quality or eco-friendly materials, and that is why we want to reduce consumerism. We have to reduce the purchase of cheap production, as this is what pollutes the most, and embrace the secondhand and upcycling lifestyle.

Design Process

Double Diamond Model

With the help of the The Double Diamon Model (1) by the British Design Counsil and the Five W’s, One H Model (2), I was able to pinpoint the problems I wanted to solve through my product. Likewise, they made me see what could be done in terms of constraints, such as budget, time, available material, and competition.

1. Framework of Innovation: Using the Double Diamon Method

2. Five W´s and One H.

Engaging Personas

Corporate Identity Design

Information Architecture

Mid-fidelity Wireframes

App Design

Aside from making a visually and functionally simple product, I wanted to make it considerate of the basic psychological needs that tend to motivate us, such as autonomy, relatedness, and competence. By this, I mean giving all the control to the user so that he/she can have a more extensive and satisfying experience when using the product.

Media Design - Branding

Web-development CSS / HTML

As part of my documentation, I designed and coded from scratch a website with all the processes I followed in the design of Lender. Feel free to make a sneak peek at the Lender application website.

For my advertising campaigns I designed how my publications would be in social networks, for example Facebook, Instagram and Linkedin, as well as the printed media.