Ethocal

Inspiration

Today, a combination of producer and user factors, including planned obsolescence and overconsumption, contribute to significant environmental pollution. In addition, those who want to purchase ethically often struggle to locate places to find goods aligned with their needs.

What it does

ethocal (ethics + local) is a mobile application designed to allow people to easily discover local yard sales, thrift stores, and ethical brands from a range of markets, from clothing to home decor.

How we built it

We designed the final prototype on Figma. Our process involved group brainstorming, research like competitive analysis, and many iterative designs.

Challenges we ran into

We initially found it difficult to identify a problem statement that revealed a true need, and was also a topic everyone was interested in. However, our brainstorming activities quickly resolved this issue.

Accomplishments that we're proud of

For some, it was the first experience with Figma. Seeing the final prototype now, we are quite proud of the skill development that happened in less than 24 hours. Furthermore, our group of four started off as strangers, and we are proud of the level of teamwork we were able to cultivate.

What we learned

No idea is a bad idea. Many of our one-offs inspired future designs. To practice empathy in designing user interfaces. Anything is possible if you put your mind to it. Reduce, reuse, recycle!