EcoGenie - Your AI Sustainability Coach
An AI- powered mobile app that helps users adopt eco-friendly habits tailored to their liefstyle.
My Role : UX Designer, UX Researcher
Timeline : Nov 2024 - Apr 2025
Team : 1 AI Engineer, 1 Data Scientist
Tools : Figma, Google Material Design 3, WCAG 2.1 Guidliness
Methods : User Interviews, Journey Mapping, Information Architecture, Human Psychology principles influencing design, Prototyping, Usability Testing.
Summary
EcoGenie is a mobile app that helps users adopt sustainable habits by delivering AI personalised recommendations, tracking their environemntal impact and gamifies eco-frriendly actions.
The Challenge
Problem Statement
People are willing to live sustainably but they often feel overwhelmed, demotivated, and unsure if their actions really matter.
Key Insights from Research
Sustiainable lifestyle advice is often too generic
Users want visible progress tracking to stay motivated
“I try to be eco-friendly, but without seeing results, it feels pointless.”
- Quote from User Interview
Research and Insights
5 User Interviews to uncover habits, frustrations, and motivations.
25 Survey responses to validate pain points and priortise features.
Personas created to guide design decisions (Lily, Andrea, Luc).
Journey Mapping to identify emotional highs and lows in daily sustainable routines.
Journey Map showing emotional highs and lows of Lily’s sustainable day.
Design Goals
Personalisation - Tailor tips to the user’s behavior and context.
Impact Visibility - Show carbon footprint reduction clearly.
Simplicity - Minimalist, distraction-free UI.
Accessibility - WCAG 2.1 AAA compliance for inclusivity.
Ideation and Information Architecture
Reduced main navigation from 5 tabs to 3 for simplicity.
Grouped features into Weekly graph, Impact Tracker, Levels
Applied Material Design 3 for Android compatibility.
Interaction Design and Prototyping
Built low-fidelity wireframes to validate structure.
Created hi-fi Figma prototypes with micro-interactions.
Ensured accessibility compliance.
Usability testing
Round 1 Findings:
Navigation was unclear -> Simplified IA.
Users wanted quicker onboarding -> Reduced steps from 5 to 3.
Round 2 Results:
Task success rate: Increased from 70% -> 90%.
Navigation time: Reduced by 40%.
Motivation score: +35% in post-test survey.
Final Solution
EcoGenie provides:
AI-curated daily tips based on preferences.
Impact Tracker with gamified progress.
Minimalist, accessible interface for stress-free navigation.
How it works?
Homepage
2. Add Activity
3. Update data
4. Level Up
5. Get Tips
Impact
Impact Metrics:
90% task success rate in final testing.
40% faster navigation time.
AAA accessibility compliance.
Closing thoughts
This project was part of my academic degree but I still exploring it. EcoGenie helped me explore how design can drive real-world impact. I learned the value of empathy, simplicity, and user-centered thinking. This project strengthened my skills in research, ideation, and prototyping.
I'm excited to keep designing solutions that make life more sustainable.
Endorsement
Excellent project and outcome that explored an applied UX best practices. Artefacts are well documented and multiple rounds of user testing took place. A rare example of a project fully grounded in CS literature and best practices.
~ Lisa Haskel (Project Supervisor)
Thanks for reading!
Feedback and suggestions are welcome!