WAY-A
Duration
3 months
Role
Research, UX, 3D
Location
Toronto
Team
Karen Bernal, Omar Vazquez
Laura Gema Dimas
Tools
Illustrator, Maya, XD
Walk to illuminate. WAY-A is a renewable energy system based on the idea of installing smart tiles that collect kinetic energy in crowded public spaces, such as Toronto's PATH. Through a mobile application, the user can see how much energy generates. Part of the energy collected goes for the common good, and a percentage is for the user, who, through a point system, can exchange or donate that energy. In this way, clean energy production is becoming part of the population's daily activities.
UX/UI
Initial Thoughts
Every day we consume large amounts of energy that continue to affect our planet. Can we contribute to generating clean energy individually? WAY-A aims to explore the possibility of collecting energy from human activity and educate the population on responsible consumption.
The short-term benefit will be the generation of social awareness since the user can see the impact, contribution and personal gain in a single day. The long-term benefits could include harvesting a more significant
amount of energy. The system could be implemented in spaces with higher human activity, including roads, or with personal devices that could also be used anywhere.
Research
2050 is the year designated worldwide to achieve carbon-neutral on the planet. It requires a significant change in the activities we carry out daily. The search for renewable energy has already led to investigating the possibility of collecting the energy we produce with movement.
Currently, companies such as Pavegen are the global leader in converting footfall into off-grid power and data. They supply permanent installations and experiential activations and can power off-grid applications such as lighting, data capture and transmission, and environmental monitoring.
Target Users
Through surveys and interviews, we were able to find our potential users who could benefit from this initiative. For each case, the application could represent a different benefit that would go from increasing physical activity to different forms of compensation for energy production.
Emma
Age: 29
Work: Legal Assistant
Family: Married
Income: $60,000
Location: Toronto
Bio
Since Emma graduated from college as a legal assistant in 2013, she has worked in commercial law at a major law firm in Toronto. The hours spent working sitting drive her to look for alternatives to have more significant physical activity.
Goals
•Increase professional knowledge
and training
•Find new experiences in Toronto
•Increase earnings
Mike
Age: 50
Work: Courier
Family: Married
Income: $50,000
Location: Toronto
Bio
Mike has been working in UPS operations for the past
fifteen years, and he loves it. Daily, he works in the downtown area. Because of traffic, using the truck is sometimes not the most convenient method to deliver packages.
Goals
•To reduce pollution
•To help others
•To transition toward packages/customer service
Samantha
Age: 27
Work: English teacher
Family: Single
Income: $45,000
Location: Toronto
Bio
Samantha was born in Manchester, grew up in Wales and ended up in London. He has been teaching English for three years in the UK and Spain and currently teaches a range of classes at British Study Centres. There is only one thing she is passionate about more than teaching: travelling to become a global citizen.
Goals
•Visit each country in the world
•Be a Blogger
•Be self-employed
•Collaborate with an NGO for children
Users Journey Maps
User Flow
As part of the project, we created a 3d model of the building that would collect and distribute the energy. At first, we thought of a building that, in addition to collecting energy from the tiles, could offer bicycles for public use that will also collect energy.
3D Design
