Final group project for my Research & Development class. We were asked to address a systemic problem in the city by selecting an urban infrastructure we hoped to change. Our issue: New York's litter problem. Our focus: The garbage can. The goal was to design a solution that would result in a desired positive behavioral change: the conscious decision to dispose waste and/or recyclables appropriately from all pedestrians. Important skills required therefore included effective project management (allocating budgets and schedules; defining weekly deliverables and assigning individual responsibilities; etc.); and ethnographic research (conducting observations and interviews; applying theory to the real world; etc.). Though its content is based on our work as a team throughout the semester, this presentation was made by me specifically for my personal portfolio.

1. A Clean & Vibrant City
Designing Public Spaces to Revitalize Urban
Life and Infrastructures
Anne Chen
Alex Holder
Angela Kote

2. PHASE I:
Select topic.
Source inspirations.
Define approach.

3. Select topic.
Choosing a systemic issue we’re interested in
solving by designing for behavioral change.

4. Urban Infrastructure of Interest
The Garbage Can

5. The Systemic Issue
• New Yorkers missing / ignoring cans.
• Results in accumulation of trash on streets.
• The spin-off of bad habits – litter begets litter...
An ugly blemish on
our urban landscape…

6. Source
inspirations.
Brainstorming early solutions by collecting existing
ones to spark ideas.

7. • ‘beautify’ cans’ surrounding area?
o Aesthetically pleasing (i.e. plant flowers) so people will be
reluctant to ‘dirty’ area by littering.
• redesign entire can?
o “Trash monsters” - drawing on people’s natural curiosities to
incentivize them to ‘get their trash in the can’.
• decorate cans?
o With visually appealing posters / flyers which educate people
about NYC’s litter problem.
• remove/cover cans completely?
o ‘Shock’ people to change their behavior by cans’ sudden
disappearance.
Early Solution Ideas

8. Inspirational Finds
Our army of “trash monsters.”

9. Possible Mappings
What we should base our design decisions on.
Geographical
Source: http://janeswalk.net/assets/uploads_docs/Walkability_Full_Report.pdf
Human/Cultural
How do people engage with their surroundings as
well as the objects (trash cans) within it?

10. Define approach.
Honing in on our project’s specifics by blueprinting
what will need to be done to achieve its goals.

11. Project Dimensions
• neighborhood
o Measured by: Demographics, geographical terrain.
• litter disposal patterns
o Measured by: Frequency that people “hit/miss” cans.
• litter accumulation
o Measured by: ‘Before & after’ tallies of trash which missed the can
(i.e. 2 pm observation start time’s litter amount vs. 7 pm observation
end time’s amount).
• time frame
o Measured by: When, how long, how often we observed area.

12. Methodologies
• surveys/interviews
o With doormen, postal workers, stoop sitters , etc. - people who know the area .
• observational research
o Witness our ‘population’ and behaviors to classify ‘norms’.
• time frame
o Longitudinal - in the sense that we are documenting accumulation of waste / disposal
patterns over ‘a period of time’.
o Do accumulation / patterns change within the hours of a day? within the days
of a week?
o Do accumulation / patterns change after we intervene?

13. Data Collection & Communication
• video cameras
• city reports
o NYPD: Surveillance
footage? Trends in litter
violations in their district?
o Garbage pickup schedules.
• infographics
o For inter-group reflection
and effective presentation
to future audience.

14. PHASE I:
Key Takeaways
Community Engagement: New Yorkers
Multi-Discipline Approach: Researchers / Designers
Working with the Existing System: Government / City Councils
This project will require community participation, especially during the initial
testing phase when our “trash monsters” are first introduced to the streets we’ve
determined to have the heaviest pedestrian footfall.
We acknowledge that some of our maps will be geographically-based, but just as
important are those which capture the dynamics between a street's living and
nonliving 'actors' (trash cans, streets, New Yorkers, etc.) We therefore open
the floor for an ongoing dialogue between designers and experts from other
disciplines (i.e. psychology).
Our project stems also from the idea that we can utilize both existing
materials (i.e. old trash cans) and existing tendencies (of the human
psychology, i.e. their natural inclination to be curious).

15. PHASE II:
Establish logistics.
Collect raw data.
Analyze findings.

16. Establish
logistics.
Setting a calendar for the semester, a work
breakdown structure, an inventory of necessary
resources, modes of communication, etc.

17. Tentative Semester Plan
Essential to project management: Getting organized and planning for the future.
Creating a detailed schedule (i.e. deadlines for weekly deliverables); assigning
individual responsibilities; listing materials we’d need, etc. – before doing
anything else.

18. A Project “Guidebook”
In case we got overwhelmed: Having a reference we
could always turn to. As NYC’s waste issue is a
systemic problem with numerous causes and
stakeholders involved, it was important to remember
to keep focused on our specific strategy on how to
address it.
OUR FINAL DESIGN SPACE
OUR PROJECT PROPOSAL

19. Staying in Constant Touch
How we ensured collaboration: Meeting physically and virtually. As student schedules always differ, one of the
biggest challenges we face when working in teams is making sure everyone contributes and that we can
combine our individual work together well in the end. Throughout the semester, we’d regularly share what we’d
each covered over Google Drive – this was pivotal to our project’s success.

20. Collect data.
Taking on the role of ethnographer – observing
and interviewing people, documenting everything via
photos, videos, and field notes.

21. Observations: Photos
Snaps of trash cans from
around the city show just how
real the problem is.

22. Observations: Raw Data
Logging individual observations during
different times of the day, days of the
week, city cross sections, etc. Then
using bar charts to flesh out patterns
and correlations.

23. Surveys
Questionnaires were handed out to pedestrians, asking them to rank bin design
elements by level of importance in order for us to discern which features most strongly
impact waste disposal behaviors.

24. Analyze findings.
Curating the information amassed to separate the
useful from the impertinent. What insights can we
actually take action upon and harness in our
solution’s design?

25. What Could Be Influencing Their Behavior?
How people perceive and interact with trash cans – what we defined their
four main considerations to be based on observations, interviews, and survey results.

26. A MAKE-SHIFT LID TO FIT
OVER CITY BIN.
CONCEPT & NOTES
• Made from malleable recycled plastic materials.
Painted green to suit color of existing bin.
• Will take proper sourcing and tactical skill to
create.
ELEMENTS & GOALS
• Side slot to force conscious disposal.
• Litter-containing cover to prevent spill-over.
• Enclosure to limit unwanted contact with old
trash.
PLANTS TO ATTRACT ATTENTION +
ADD AESTHETIC VALUE.
CONCEPT & NOTES
• Three potted baby fir trees placed near the can
with signage that motivates proper waste
disposal..
• Will require sourcing / maintenance - increasing
costs.
• Possible confiscation by city or theft by
pedestrian.
ELEMENTS & GOALS
• Signage to at least engage pedestrian (i.e.
pausing to read it).
• Adding some green brings environmentalism to
pedestrian’s mind.
A LARGE, VIBRANT RECYCLING BIN.
CONCEPT & NOTES
• Placed near or combined in one “system” with
trash bin.
• Risk of trash being mixed with recyclables.
• Will require different pickup process and duties.
ELEMENTS & GOALS
• Signage and recognizable color to signify
separate purpose.
• Shared size, lid, design, etc. with trash bin.
Translating insights into
strategy…
Bin Design Elements
Based on data analysis, how we defined the
three most important changes our design
should include.

27. PHASE III:
Prototype solution.
Apply & critique.
Present our work.

28. Prototype
solution.
Making sure we thought things through before
bringing our concept to life.

29. A Digital Mock-Up
Visualizing the outcome we’re going for first – especially important in planning out
what materials we’d need to purchase in order to effectively allocate our limited
budget among the team.

30. Apply & critique.
Introducing our design to the world and
seeing what happens.

31. Excuse the Roughness
Our results reveal our obvious constraints.
There were three main reasons behind our design’s
raw appearance: (1) We did not want our
strategy to require the city to spend a lot of money
(i.e. producing entirely new cans); (2) we could
not remove existing cans to modify ourselves
(hence, any change had to be able to be done
quickly, on the spot, and easily removed); and
(3) our limited budget.
The three design elements – (1) the bin’s
opening; (2) its surrounding area; and (3) a
recycling option – were thus presented in what’s
probably their roughest form.

32. Whether they were too busy on the phone, in a rush to
get somewhere, or in the midst of conversation…
Unfortunately, most people barely seemed to notice any
change at all (or simply didn’t care!)
The
Reactions

33. But our design at least got
some people’s attention…
Left: A mother and her curious son seem
more fascinated by our Christmas tree;
Top: An old woman pauses briefly to
look at our modified can, but does not
otherwise interact with it.

34. And we even did
achieve some
…But would they have
stopped and behaved the
way we’d hoped if we
hadn’t introduced our
changes?
SUCCESS!

35. This made
us all
wonder…

36. Present our work.
Communicating not just our results, but our process
and reflections to the class.

37. 37
Explaining the Project

38. Summarizing
Conclusions
…So what do all of
our findings mean?

40. Overarching Goal:
Get people to make the right choice.
Throw trash in bin,
not on street.
Pick trash vs. recycling
bin appropriately.
First step is to GET THEIR ATTENTION.
Some CHANGE to
the bin.
But it can’t just be any change – it needs to be…
SUSTAINABLE
MOTIVATING
Cost-effective, mass produced. Capable of being
implemented and maintained throughout NYC.
Results in “right choice” all the time. Enough for busy
pedestrians to stop, think, decide, act.

41. PUTTING IT ALL TOGETHER:
THE KEY PROJECT TAKEAWAY
MAKE IT ALL ABOUT GIVING
A RECYCLING OPTION.