Redesign of the bulky waste collection service

Overview

Bulky waste collection in Skopje was a small, manual service with no statistics on what was collected. In 2019 SmartUp, through SkopjeLab, mapped the service with the public utility and redesigned it with the City, the utility, experts, citizens and creative industries. The work produced a service blueprint and an implementation package, and the public utility has since implemented many of the recommendations.

Bulky waste means furniture, bathroom fixtures and large household appliances, collected in Skopje by the public utility Komunalna Higiena. In 2018 requests came by phone, e-mail or in person, payment was made at the utility's office, and residents reported bulky items left next to street containers. The City asked SkopjeLab to look at how the service could work better for residents and for the utility, with one question: how can citizens be engaged to use it? From January to autumn 2019 SmartUp facilitated a human-centred design process: a kick-off workshop that mapped the current service, an online questionnaire, co-design workshops, and a public presentation of the proposals on social media. The outputs were a service blueprint, an online ordering design, a draft procedure with performance indicators, promotion materials and an implementation plan for the utility.

The challenge

A small, manual service with no data

The utility kept no statistics on collected bulky waste. Requests were recorded by hand and collection was planned in internal meetings.

A slow path from request to pick-up

Customers paid at the utility first, and the billing office then passed the request to operations, who phoned back to agree a date. There was one rate for all types of item and no way to hear from users afterwards.

Landfill capacity and little reuse

Bulky waste was collected together with construction debris. Bulky furniture was taken to the Drisla landfill (glass and e-waste went to partner companies), landfill capacity was limited and the service was little promoted.

Activities and methods

SkopjeLab, with SmartUp as facilitator, followed four steps: build empathy with users, define the problem, create solutions, then test.

Research, insight & strategy. Secondary research on regulation and processes, an online questionnaire, and a kick-off workshop on 14 January 2019 with 12 participants from the City, the utility, the SkopjeLab team and partner organisations, and a waste management consultant. Participants built user personas and mapped the journey before, during and after the service.
Co-creation & innovation processes. Co-design workshops on 24 June, 1 July and 9 July 2019 defined the problem and its causes, mapped stakeholders and generated ideas. Three proposals were selected on 9 July: a new delivery process, an education campaign and a furniture donation centre. The final solutions were presented on 21 August 2019. The project's case study counts 22 participants in the design workshops: 8 from the City, 5 from the utility, 3 citizens, 2 experts and 3 from creative industries.
Research, insight & strategy. A service blueprint comparing the current and the proposed service across eight stages (information, payment, scheduling, notice of the date, collection, confirmation, post-service and disposal), with indicators for the first six months and the resources needed.
Digital platforms & tools. A UX and UI design for an online ordering system: sign-in, a three-step order flow (service, time slot with photo upload, confirmation), order tracking with messages, and a staff-side order list. It is a design prototype, not built software.
Pilots, implementation & scaling. An implementation guideline and action plan for the utility (website, promotion, prices, additional services), a draft ISO-style procedure with performance criteria and risks, and promotion designs. Proposals were put to the public in six social media posts, among them home pick-up with an entry permission, door-step payment by cash or card, an online ordering system, reuse experiences and how residents want to be informed. A presentation of results was prepared for City leadership in September 2019.

Impact and learning

A design package, taken up by the utility. Delivered: service blueprint, ordering UX/UI design, draft procedure, promotion designs, implementation guideline and a presentation of results. The public enterprise Komunalna Higiena went on to implement many of the recommendations.

People involved. 12 people at the kick-off and 22 in the design workshops, in the case study's count. Separately, the case study counts 30 people (10 utility staff, 5 waste management experts and 15 citizens) who were introduced to an innovation framework for service improvement.

Proposals with implementation directions. Home pick-up with a signed entry permission; door-step payment by cash or card; a furniture donation centre; and a processing and reuse centre supporting craftspeople.

Targets set during the design. Participants set an ambition to cut bulky waste going to landfill by 50% by 2021 and to reduce illegal dumps. The six-month plan proposed indicators such as users per month, partner organisations and a satisfaction survey. These were targets, not measured results.

City follow-up. The City's local economic development department took up one idea, a public-private centre for processing bulky waste, to test its viability.

Learning. The utility had no figures and no feedback from users, so each proposed change was paired with an indicator and a feedback step. People who deliver and use a service should help design it: 5 of the 22 workshop participants came from the utility.