UX Thesis Project APP - GlasPoints

Project Overview:

Title: Gamifying Recycling – Improving engagement in the Deposit Return Scheme through a mobile app

Role: UX Designer & Researcher

Timeline: Feb – Aug 2025

Tools: Figma, Miro

Goal: Explore how gamification elements can encourage recycling behaviour in Ireland’s new Deposit Return Scheme through a mobile app.

Context & Background:

As part of my M.Sc. thesis, I designed a prototype recycling app to explore how gamification can motivate users to recycle more frequently. The app integrates Ireland’s Deposit Return Scheme with game elements such as badges, leaderboards, and progress tracking.

The challenge:

Could gamification boost intrinsic motivation for recycling while keeping the app easy and enjoyable to use?

Research & Discovery:

Design Thinking Process:

Source: IBM’s Renner Modafares

The project was structured around the Design Thinking process.

The design thinking process is an iterative user-centred framework with five stages:

Empathise: Initial surveys and follow-up interviews helped uncover user attitudes towards recycling, highlighting pain points such as broken machines, unclear instructions, and a lack of motivation.
Define: Insights were synthesised into personas (e.g., Emma O’Brien), capturing goals, frustrations, and recycling behaviours. These personas shaped the problem statement: How might we use gamification to encourage consistent recycling through the Deposit Return Scheme?
Ideate: Brainstorming sessions and sketching generated solutions, including a rewards system, leaderboards, and an RVM map. The Hexad Player Type framework was applied to ensure gamification elements met different motivational needs.
Prototype: Low- and high-fidelity wireframes were developed in Figma, supported by a custom design system to maintain consistency, accessibility, and usability.
Test: Usability testing with five participants identified strengths and areas for improvement (e.g., map clarity, streamlined sign-up, accessible typography), leading to design refinements.

By following this process, the app evolved from research insights into a tested, user-centred prototype, demonstrating the value of iterative design in tackling real-world sustainability challenges.

Competitor analysis:

myTOMRA:

Bower:

EchoHero:

Summary of Competitor analysis:

User Survey:

User Interviews:

Following the survey, I conducted user interviews to gain deeper insights into recycling habits and attitudes toward the Deposit Return Scheme. Participants highlighted the convenience of reverse vending machines but expressed frustration when machines were out of order or difficult to access. Many valued the idea of rewards and felt gamification could motivate more consistent recycling. Others noted that clearer instructions and educational content would help them engage with the process more confidently. A common theme was the desire for a mobile solution that combined practical tools (such as a map of machine locations) with motivational features (such as progress tracking and leaderboards). These interviews validated survey findings and informed the core features of the app prototype, ensuring the design addressed both motivational and practical user needs.

HEXAD: A Player Type Framework for Gamification Design:

To design meaningful gamification elements, I applied the Hexad Player Type Framework (Marczewski, 2015), which identifies six motivational user types: Achiever, Socialiser, Philanthropist, Free Spirit, Disruptor, and Player. This framework helped ensure the app catered to a wide range of motivations rather than relying on a single rewards system. For example, the progress dashboard and achievements targeted Achievers, while leaderboards and social comparisons appealed to Socialisers. Players were engaged through points and redeemable rewards, and Free Spirits were supported with flexible features such as exploring RVM locations on the map. Although not every element was fully implemented, incorporating the Hexad framework provided a clear design rationale and guided decisions to make the recycling app more inclusive, motivating, and engaging across different user types.

Personas:

I developed personas to represent key user groups for the recycling app. The primary persona, Emma O’Brien, is a 29-year-old Marketing Executive living in Dublin. She is tech-savvy, frequently uses mobile apps, and is motivated to recycle but becomes frustrated when reverse vending machines are broken or inconveniently located. Emma values speed, convenience, and rewards, and is attracted to gamified elements such as leaderboards and points systems.

A secondary persona represents less frequent recyclers, who are aware of the Deposit Return Scheme but lack motivation to engage consistently. For them, clearer instructions, educational content, and encouragement through small rewards are essential.

These personas helped guide design decisions, ensuring the app addressed both the needs of motivated recyclers seeking efficiency and engagement, and casual recyclers who required more clarity and incentive to build sustainable habits.

Empathy maps:

Customer Journey Map:

User flow Diagrams:

I created user flow diagrams to map out key interactions within the recycling app, focusing on the most important tasks. These included logging in or signing up, locating a reverse vending machine through the map feature, scanning receipts to collect points, and tracking progress on the dashboard. The flows highlighted decision points, such as what happens if a machine is unavailable or if a user skips sign-up. By visualising these paths, I was able to identify potential friction points, such as unclear navigation to the map or extra steps in the sign-up process. The user flows ensured that each core feature connected smoothly, supporting an intuitive experience and aligning with the app’s gamification strategy.

Progress Tracking:

Machine Locator:

Design:

The design phase focused on translating research insights into a functional, engaging app. I developed personas, user flows, and wireframes before building high-fidelity prototypes guided by a custom design system. Gamification elements such as rewards, leaderboards, and progress tracking were incorporated, while usability testing informed refinements to navigation, copy, and accessibility. The result was a cohesive prototype that balanced motivation with ease of use, encouraging sustainable recycling habits.

Moodboard:

Design System:

I created a design system to ensure consistency and accessibility across the app.

Badges:

Prototypes:

Usability testing sessions:

I conducted usability testing with five participants to evaluate the app’s design and flow. Overall, users described the interface as clean and intuitive, with the progress tracking dashboard and rewards system viewed as motivating features that encouraged recycling. The map of reverse vending machines was considered useful, though some participants noted that clearer icons and more intuitive navigation would improve usability. The login and sign-up process was generally straightforward, but a few users felt it could be streamlined.

These sessions highlighted both strengths and areas for improvement, directly informing design refinements in the next prototype iteration.

Updated GlasPoints app design:

Based on insights from usability testing, several refinements were made to the app’s design. The map feature was updated with clearer icons and improved navigation to help users more easily locate reverse vending machines. The sign-up process was streamlined to reduce the number of steps and improve speed. Instructional copy was revised for clarity, particularly around scanning receipts and redeeming rewards. Accessibility improvements included increasing font sizes and colour contrast to support readability. These changes directly addressed participant pain points while enhancing the overall usability and inclusivity of the app, ensuring the final prototype better aligned with user needs and expectations.

Usability testing round two:

I conducted usability testing with 10 participants using a mixed-method approach:

Pre-test survey: Baseline motivation, frustrations, Hexad user types.
Prototype test: Key task flows (logging in, scanning receipts, tracking progress).
Post-test survey: Intrinsic Motivation Inventory (IMI), feature engagement, usability feedback.
Transcripts & observation: Qualitative insights into behaviours and reactions.

Goal: Measure motivation shifts and identify which gamification elements were most effective.

Pre-Test Survey Results:

Post-Test Survey Results:

Key Findings:

Quantitative Highlights:

- Baseline motivation: Average 3.4/5 → mostly moderate recyclers.
- Post-test: 90% reported increased motivation.
- Ease of use: 100% agreed the app was easy, 0% found it complex.
- IMI results (1–5 Likert):
  - Interest/Enjoyment → 4.6
  - Competence → 4.9
  - Value/Usefulness → 4.6
  - Effort/Importance → 4.5
  - Pressure/Tension (reversed) → 4.7

Qualitative Insights:

Themes that emerged from transcripts and surveys:

Patterns & Motivational Insights:

Using the Hexad framework and Self-Determination Theory (SDT), it was found that:

Intrinsic motivation dominated. Only 2/10 users suggested vouchers, while most wanted impact stats, progress tracking, or social features.

Impact & Recommendations:

From this study, I identified design improvements:

Add additional environmental impact metrics.
Improve map functionality (machine availability, Eircode search, Google Maps).
Refine leaderboard mechanics (reset cycles, expanded stats).
Enhance feedback loops with clearer badge progression and pop-ups.

These insights informed the next iteration of my prototype, making gamification more meaningful and aligned with users’ motivations.

Reflection:

This project demonstrated how gamification can be applied to encourage sustainable behaviours through recycling initiatives. By grounding the design in user research, personas, and the Hexad Player Type framework, the app combined motivation with usability to create an engaging experience. Usability testing provided valuable insights, leading to improvements in navigation, accessibility, and clarity of instructions. The final prototype showcased key features including a rewards system, progress dashboard, and RVM map, all designed to make recycling more convenient and rewarding.

What’s Next:

I would like to test a refined version of the prototype with a larger sample to validate how environmental stats and improved map features affect sustained recycling behaviour.

Figma Prototype:

Google Sites

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