At the outset of this project, I was tasked with identifying an ethical issue and creating an application, website, or tool to help users overcome this issue. Having identified the greenwashing used by many brands as my ethical issue, I designed the Rooted app to provide consumers with more in-depth information about the sustainability of brands and products available to them. Based on findings from Pew Research, the Global Business Review, and the Journal of Fair Trade, I identified Gen Z individuals as my core demographic (those most interested in an application like Rooted). Therefore, I worked to appeal to my audience: creating a minimalistic interface that was both evocative and bore in mind Gen Z familiarity with gestural navigation. I also developed three key tasks: Onboarding (when the user would be introduced to the app’s ethos and key information), Scanning (a barcode tool users could access to learn about products in-store), and Browsing the Map (an interactive tool to help users learn about local products).

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