Nomo
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Project Summary
Fast moving consumer goods and their packaging are designed to be wasteful. Consumers purchase these products, use them, and throw them away. The waste from these products is often dumped in landfills, and rarely reused or recycled. This problem starts at the manufacturer; whose goals are to sell products without regard for future environmental consequences. Our solution to this problem is Nomo, a convenient in-home dispenser system that reduces the environmental impact of shower toiletry products. Nomo consists of a dispenser, shower product refills with biodegradable packaging, and a subscription system managed through a mobile application. Users can purchase the dispenser and subscribe to refills delivered by mail. These refills can be scheduled or ordered automatically using IoT technology. If the dispenser fails or breaks, it can be returned, refurbished and resold. Nomo’s customers are large corporations who sell shower toiletry products. They would own the system and sell it to users. Users are young and large families who regularly (at least once a month) purchase shower toiletry products. Nomo is a convenient, environmentally friendly solution that incorporates principles of the circular economy. Nomo was a submission to the “Circular Futures” project brief as a part of the Student Design Awards Competition run by the Royal Society of Arts (RSA). The challenge was to create a product, system or business model for fast moving consumer goods (FMCGs) that incorporated principles of the circular economy. The project was sponsored by Unilever, a large corporation that owns many recognized brands.
Project Contribution
Project Manager: I was responsible for keeping track of group deadlines, led many group meetings and kept in regular communication with everyone on Slack. This contribution ensured that our group was organized and on-track to complete each assignment.
Researcher: There were two instances where I conducted research: First, I conducted secondary research on wasted products and wasteful package designs. This research helped my group narrow down the problem we wanted to solve. Second, I conducted primary research by creating and distributing a survey about toiletry product purchasing habits, use habits and environmentally friendly habits such as recycling and composting. This research helped us broadly understand our target audience and their habits at home.
User Experience Designer (Dispenser User Test): I created, prototyped, wrote the script and conducted three user tests for the dispenser. The goal of the user test was to determine which dispenser designs were easy to use and most liked. I created the prototypes out of foam core (based on of Galen’s sketches) and used previous knowledge from GBDA 401 to determine which tests would help us achieve our goal. For a description of our user test and the results, click here:
https://www.dropbox.com/s/xd9u273tabwxe2j/TeamFlamingo-UTReport.pdf?dl=0
Flow Analysis Designer: After discussing the flow of our system with my team, I created the flow analysis diagram on LucidChart and the final RSA system board on Adobe Illustrator and Figma. These two diagrams outlined each part of the Nomo system, from the manufacturer to the end user. These diagrams explain how the system works to new customers and users. They also helped my team outline everything we needed to consider in the Nomo system before we could present it.
Video Writer, Designer, Animator and Editor: I created a video to describe the Nomo system to our target customer and user. I designed the assets using Adobe Illustrator, animated it in Adobe After Effects, and exported it with sound in Adobe Premiere. I was responsible for the entire creation of this video, including writing, designing assets, animating and editing. The goal of this video was to give the customer and user a 2-minute summary of the entire Nomo system, including the dispenser, refills in biodegradable packaging, mobile application, and how all of these parts worked together. To see the full video, click here: https://www.dropbox.com/sh/j062ydg0p5c77na/AACLDuaz1_4Rr3PxeMy-56fya?dl=0
The Team
Abbie Goulet brings ideas to life through digital media and excites users by surpassing expectations. She is a user experience designer with a diversified skill set in video production, UI design, graphic design and project management. She has been a valuable member on many cross-functional teams that have created videos, video games, websites, mobile applications, and even an IoT connected bookshelf. In every new project, Abbie creates an engaging user experience. She was recognized as a top performing Canadian Tire intern for her work as a User Experience Designer, where she redesigned Canadian Tire Innovation’s brand language, edited a corporate video and designed multiple mobile application prototypes. Currently, Abbie is in her fourth year of Global Business and Digital Arts at the University of Waterloo, where she was awarded Dean’s Honours from 2014-2016 and the Jack Adams Memorial Scholarship for highest marks in 2016. She is also a research assistant and video editor for Q-Collaborative, a research project examining theatre audience engagement.
Filip Jadczak
Filip Jadczak creates meaningful interactions with technology through his work as a User Experience Designer. His foundation lies in digital design for the web and apps as well as print media. Through his research work with the University of Waterloo REAP lab, he has gained interest in applying UX principles to emerging technologies such as augmented reality headsets. His prior experience includes working as a UX Design Intern at Infusion Development, and being Head Designer at Imprint, the official student newspaper of the University of Waterloo. He is currently in his final year of the Global Business and Digital Arts program at the University of Waterloo and has also studied in the School of Design at the University of Leeds in the UK. Beyond his design work, Filip has a passion for photography and travel. His portfolio is available online at www.fjadczak.ca and he can be found on Twitter at @FilipJad.
Galen Mok
Galen Mok designs with the problem in mind by thinking about the clients and users first. As a graduate from the Honours Global Business and Digital Arts program from the University of Waterloo, he is a strategic product designer who incorporates market analytics in his design. He excels at market research and product design which are two important tools to have in the work force. With a client driven mind, he is able to adapt quickly to changes when necessary. He designs his product while constantly thinking about the goal of satisfying the client and user. These skills were developed through his summer work term at Gunggo Online advertising. Learning about SEO marketing analytics changed his mind set to create what the users and clients are looking for. Designing the overall look and feel of Gunggo’s social media platforms improved his visual design skills used in product design. He is determined to further these skills in future personal or client based projects.
Sylvie Le
Sylvie Le is a passionate multimedia designer who enjoys transforming complex matters into appealing, holistic, and intuitive interface designs. As a kid, she knew right away that creativity will always be part of my life. Since 2013, she has been actively involved in creative works of various industries such as, dance, business, social clubs, etc. As a designer, Sylvie has developed a strong understanding of branding, advertisement, and social marketing. She is proficient in graphic designs, user research, prototyping, and still/motion photography.
She is currently a candidate for a Bachelor’s of Global Business and Digital Arts at the University of Waterloo. View her works at http://lesylvie95.wixsite.com/sylviele
Mariel Tanedo
Mariel Tanedo is a passionate strategist with the unique ability to analyze from a creative standpoint. Graduating in June 2017 from the University of Waterloo, with an Honors Global Business and Digital Arts (GBDA) Undergraduate Degree, Mariel is an expert across business, design, and technology. She is the point where these three (3) pillars meet to succeed in today’s emerging markets. Her focused skillset of marketing, data analysis, and communications allows her to deliver creative solutions for complex problems. She has spent two (2) terms working for the Ministry of Education with the Strategic Planning and Business Relationship Management (SPBRM) Branch consulting clients on modernizing IT platforms. She also led several creative aspects for internal projects. Mariel proves her mindset to keep businesses ahead of the digital curve with innovative ideas and technologies as channels of strategic movements.