sharps disposal service design
End to end service design to improve ease, safety, and environmental impact of personal sharps disposal
This speculative service design project critically examines the self-administered medical sharps problem space and outlines a possible solution.
Many individuals use self-administered medical sharps for injecting life-affirming or necessary medication (ie: hormones, insulin, epipens). Users of medical sharps often encounter stigma and difficulties in disposal. Improper disposal of sharps waste causes risk for environmental contamination, physical injury, and spread of infectious diseases.
My Role
Service Designer
Team
Service Designer (2), Project Manager (1), UX Researcher (`1)
Timeline
Sep 2023 - Dec 2023
Project Type
Graduate Studies
problems when disposing sharps
Problem 1: Drop-off sites are inconvenient, uncomfortable and reinforce stigma
“On my way to work, walking with a bag or box of capped sharps, to an unmarked drop-off box under an overpass in Freeway park, sometimes in the dark, frequently surrounded by unhoused folk.” (Interview Participant 1)
“Few locations, unmarked boxes make it feel like littering or improper disposal. The only locations being outdoors also feels both vulnerable and taboo.” (Interview Participant 3)
Local public drop-off sites - University District, Othello Park, and Bellevue
Problem 2: Disposal frequency is situational to each user
Problem 3: Disposal information can be difficult to find and confusing
8 out of 14 survey participants reported using internet searches to find how to dispose of sharps. Healthcare providers and pharmacies tended to lack information or accessible drop off methods.
Participants noted a lack of resources and knowledge on how to properly dispose of their sharps.
“I actually don’t know where to take the bins.” (Survey Participant 2)
“I have full sharps containers and don’t know what to do with them.” (Survey Participant 8)
to make sharps disposal painless
we used these Design requirements
Clear guidance on disposal process
Discreet for privacy
Compliant with regulatory requirements
Provide visuals and language translations
Convenient for regular usage
Low cost to end-users
Help address stigma
and came up with some sharp ideas
(pun intended)
Interactive talking sharps container
Informational email and pamphlet subscription
Mail-in disposal service
Final Solution: A mail-in sharps disposal service
Our final design was a combination of the informational subscription and mail-in disposal service concepts.
What I did:
drew the storyboards to visualize use cases
after the conclusion of the group project, I took it a step further by designing the UI kit, branding style, mockups of the website, and instructional brochure
Storyboards
A friendly branding and design system
Core values of friendliness, painlessness, and reducing stigma
Teal blue brand color >> emanate calmness
Rounded corner aesthetic >> softness, painlessness
Shark mascot >> friendliness, reducing stigma
A kit that provides all the necessary parts
Users will receive a kit in the mail or can pick it up at a pharmacy.
A kit contains:
a shipping box
a sharps container
a pre-paid shipping label
tape to seal the box
an instructional brochure
Simplified instructions with visuals
Painless online registration and subscription
Users can dispose of sharps obscurely without going to public drop-off sites.
Custom size and frequency options
Users can customize frequency of kit shipments and size of kits to fit their diverse personal needs.
Other Considerations
Users without a mailing address
Pharmacy pick up is to include people who may not have a mailing address. The houseless population was considered as potential users, however we lacked time and access to resources for adequate research.
Accessibility & language barriers
A QR code on the instructional brochure will lead users to our web page with additional language options and videos.
This was a graduate studies group project that I continued to design out (design assets in 'designing nicer needles' section) after the conclusion of the project because I wanted to visualize the potential of the concept. This speculative design process helped me learn to push my creativity and think deeply when approaching human-centered problem spaces.
