Project Brief

Ripcurl was founded in 1969 and outlined a set of three values:

• Preserve & Protect our Oceans
• Environmental products
• Act Sustainably

This company works to make sure they are making products that are sustainable so the oceans remain preserved. They want to make their footprint as small as possible but at the same time create products that are high quality, not just environmentally friendly. Their focus is on the maintenance of the coastal environment, so the goal of this project is to create a product that encourages the larger community to be aware of and contribute to that same goal of maintaining the coast.

The challenge of this project is to create a third-party app that encourages coastal communities everywhere to support and contribute to the status of their coastal environments. The function of this app is to motivate people to participate in preservation efforts, show news, companies, organizations, and individuals focused on this progress. This app would also function as a form of social media but with a focus on preservation (similar to Twitter but everything is about preserving the coastal environment). 

We tried to keep the interview questions broad enough for every interviewee, but specific enough for our purposes which was to get a sense of who our target users are and the pollution issues general beach goers face.

Interviews:

1) Where do you live? Is it near the beach? What do you do for a living?

• John (65): Manhattan Beach; Yes it's on the coast; Art Director
• Karen (62): Manhattan Beach; Yes it's on the coast; retired
• Max (21): Unemployed; Pacifica, CA. It is a coastal town near the ocean.
• Stephanie (19): Student; San Jose, no
• Keith (19): Lancaster CA, it's maybe an hour drive to the beach; Starting at Starbucks soon, but I part-time at my mom's daycare whenever I'm at home
• Collin (20): Los Gatos, CA. Yes it is near the coast; VFX Artist
• Ariana (25): Los Gatos, CA. Close to Santa Cruz; full-time student and worker at a winery.
• Marcela (19): downtown SJ we r close to the Bay; working college student trying to figure out life

2) Are you active on social media? How often and which apps?

• John: Facebook Instagram
• Karen: No
• Max: Yes, I use Instagram and Snapchat. I use Instagram the most.
• Stephanie: Yes Snapchat Instagram TikTok
• Keith: Relatively, Instagram and Tiktok to pass the time
• Collin: Yes; TikTok, Facebook
• Ariana: No
• Marcela: Instagram- the most youtube - I like watching commentary stuff - snap chat - Not often

3) Do you go to the beach often?

• John: Sometimes
• Karen: Sometimes
• Max: Yes - to surf (I live by the coast)
• Stephanie: No I live far from the ocean
• Keith: Yes even though I live an hour away
• Collin: Yes - to surf
• Ariana: No
• Marcela: Sometimes

4) Are you aware of any major pollution issues near the coast? Explain.

• John: Yes. Beach trash, sewage runoff, storm runoff
• Karen: Yes
• Max: Yes. Lots of litter in the ocean and on the beach.
• Stephanie: No
• Keith: Trash and dirty runoff are the only ones I can think of off the top of my head. The trash from beachgoers and dirty runoff water brings more trash and pollutants down from the higher elevated cities.
• Collin: Yes, lots of trash on the beach as well as in the water.
• Ariana: Garbage on beaches and in the ocean. Mostly plastic waste.
• Marcela: trash, waste dumping, oil.

5) Have you ever had to cancel a trip to the beach due to a major pollution issue? What was the cause?

• John: No
• Karen: No
• Max: Yes I had to avoid the ocean because of Red Tides caused by algae in the water.
• Stephanie: No
• Keith: I've never canceled a beach trip, we always ended up relocated to Malibu. The issue was overcrowded beaches suck.
• Collin: No
• Ariana: No. I don’t go to the beach often or ever.
• Marcela: nope but the beaches around LA were always a bit dirty

6) Are you aware of where it came from?

• John: Yes
• Karen: No
• Max: Plastic such as water bottles, food wrappers, and other harmful pollutants make their way from storm drains, pollution, and ocean dumping.
• Stephanie: No
• Keith: Yes. The pollution results from the people of LA county littering everywhere. Oftentimes, because of the wildfires, the rainy season became much stronger and fill the areas I would go to with the runoff water filled with the pollutants of LA's trash.
• Collin: Yes
• Ariana: Humans. For some reason, we don’t know how to clean up after ourselves and we are extremely lazy so if there isn’t a trash can that is 10ft from us, we tend to just leave it on the beach. Tide gets high and pulls it all into the ocean creating more issues.
• Marcela: unfortunately not

7) Would you be interested in ways to help your local beaches?

• John: No
• Karen: Maybe
• Max: Yes
• Stephanie: no
• Keith: Yes
• Collin: Yes
• Ariana: Yes
• Marcela: Yes

8) What is keeping you from learning more about the coastal environment?

• John: Interest
• Karen: I didn't know (knowledge)
• Max: I would love to learn more about the coastal environment, it can be difficult to find credible sources about the coast.
• Stephanie: Since I never lived near it, I never knew this was happening which kept me from researching about it.
• Keith: I love and care about the coast, but my interests
• Collin: Work and school, but I’m willing to learn more.
• Ariana: I have a lot of other priorities to focus on at the moment. However, I wouldn’t be against learning about the coastal environment. If I have free time and if there were cool activities to keep me engaged in learning I would totally do it. I tend to lose focus easily if I just have to read.
• Marcela: I'm busy learning about my major but I try my best to educate myself on ocean preservation

Key Takeaways

• Most users aren't very well informed on ocean pollution, but are willing to learn.
• Distance from coastal regions don't necessarily correlate to being more knowledgeable about pollution issues. Pollution is generally a topic not often covered and given much attention.
• Social media apps with high levels of interaction and communication, like Instagram and TikTok, is more engaging to users.

Problem Framing

Problem Tree Analysis

Concept Ideation

We want to create an app that helps users get an easy look into the current status of a beaches pollution. We feel this would be helpful for frequent beach goers who have hobbies such as fishing, surfing, or just relaxing and infrequent beach goers who want a uninhibited experience. The app would provide a snapshot look at coastal conditions, information on ocean pollution for those who want to educate themselves, and also connect them with a wider community to get more involved in ocean conservation.

In-class work

Problem statement: Busy people need an easier way to find out ways to help their local coastal environments like educating themselves or participating in preservation efforts in person or online. Everyone is so busy and prefers not to go out of their way to help to maintain the oceans so there needs to be a straightforward solution.

Thumbnail Sketches

Creative Matrix

User Journey

Alternative Worlds

• most popular form of social media, and is good for forming groups of people interested in the same topic.
• Facebook groups have the power to create large events for anyone interested

• A non-profit group dedicated to save the ocean and any pollution damage done by humans.
• a great source for getting reliable information for people looking to do any research on how to help or just to educate themselves.
• they also have the option for people to donate to their cause and save the ocean.

• Very popular news outlet with a variety of major news topics.
• CNN Digital is the world leader in online news and information and seeks to inform, engage and empower the world.
• one of the most reliable sources for information and widely used as a reliable source for major news information related to the coastal environment.

• Owned by facebook but more popular among young individuals eager to learn more about ways to help the ocean
• Many major reliable companies like Oceana or CNN have verified Instagram accounts that inform the youth of today that might not pay attention to websites of any nonprofits or other companies working to prevent pollution.