Role

UX Researcher & Designer

Project Type

Research

Client

Mission Zero

Eco Smoker - Understanding and Addressing Cigarette Waste Disposal Problems at THUAS

Overview

Every day, hundreds of students smoke around The Hague University of Applied Sciences (THUAS), but most cigarette butts end up on the ground, even near disposal units. The challenge from Mission Zero was clear. Design an intervention that reduces cigarette litter while raising environmental awareness.

This project explored the behaviors, motivations, and barriers behind cigarette waste disposal and aimed to uncover design opportunities for a cleaner, more sustainable campus.

Problem

THUAS faces a major issue with cigarette waste littering its campus, especially around smoking areas. Despite available disposal units, many cigarette butts end up on the ground due to unclear smoking boundaries, poorly designed bins, social habits, convenience, and a lack of enforcement and awareness.

Research Goals

Understand smoker attitudes, habits, and awareness of cigarette waste.

Identify barriers to proper disposal and patterns in littering behavior.

Identify barriers to proper disposal and patterns in littering behavior.

Explore opportunities for behavioral and design-based interventions.

Research & Insights

Methods

• Site analysis

• Observation (Fly-on-the-Wall)

• Semi-Structured Interviews

Data Analysis Process

All findings were transformed into data cards and clustered using affinity mapping.

Triangulation across all three methods (site, observation, interview) validated patterns and ensured reliability.

Key Insights / Pain Points

Smoking areas lack clear boundaries and visibility.

Lack of enforcement

People imitate others’ behavior.

Little awareness of cigarette butts’ environmental harm.

No reward or feedback loop for correct disposal.

Dirty environments encourage more littering.

Wind and weather make proper disposal difficult.

Bins are small, low to the ground, and hard to see.

VISUAL SYNTHESIS

The affinity mapping led to three core design challenges:

Understand smoker attitudes, habits, and awareness of cigarette waste.

Identify barriers to proper disposal and patterns in littering behavior.

Identify barriers to proper disposal and patterns in littering behavior.

Explore opportunities for behavioral and design-based interventions.

DESIGN DIRECTION

How might we design a creative solution that not only makes cigarette butt disposal around the THUAS building convenient and accessible, but also effectively raises awareness about the environmental impact of cigarette butt littering?

DESIGN VISSION

A redesigned smoking environment that feels organized, visible, and interactive:

Clear boundaries define smoking zones.

Eye-level disposal units make bins impossible to miss.

Visual campaigns show the real impact of cigarette waste.

Sheltered areas counteract weather barriers.

IDEATION AND FINAL DESIGN

Ideation technique: Sketchstorming

CONCEPTS, PROTOTYPING AND TESTING

Takeaways

Throughout the process, I learned to translate cultural identity into digital form, experimenting with different visual patterns and interactions that capture the raw, expressive nature of hip-hop while remaining functional and intuitive. Testing and iteration taught me the importance of small usability details and how even subtle adjustments can make navigation feel more coherent.

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