Page 66 - Deirdre_OLoughlin_PRocess_Book

Reflection

I started this journey assuming that toy waste and disposal problems

for parents were leading to large amounts of toys ending up in landfill.

Parents had a real lack of sustainable options when disposing of toys,
and although trying their best to recycle them, the landfill option was

evidently winning. My aim was to understand why this was the case.

Throughout the research however, I learned that the barriers existing
for parents to reuse and circulate toys in our communities is a very real

problem preventing progress with toy sustainability efforts and goals.

The key findings from the research really helped to understand what
these barriers are and enabled me to focus on designing a solution for

parents core needs in this space. Providing awareness, assurance and

accessibility for parents to a secondhand toy market, through a
supportive campaign and pop-up toy shop, became the final design
solution that I wouldn’t have envisaged at the start of my research.

The research part of the process, and defining the user needs
and goals was invaluable to the design solution. I really enjoyed
interviewing participants, learning about their experiences, gaining

insights into their worlds and discovering their needs, in order to design

a solution that could help them to overcome barriers and achieve their
goals. I feel the final artefact had depth and substance because of this,
and thus resulted in a human centered design solution.

UX PROCESS | 07 REFLECTION 61