After moving into a new home in Roxburgh Park, I faced an unexpected UX puzzle, bin day confusion. What should be a simple weekly routine turned into a decoding challenge involving color-coded maps and week numbers. This post explores how everyday systems like waste collection reveal deeper design flaws and how better UX could make suburban life just a little smarter.
Bin day dilemma: A suburban UX challenge in disguise
After recently moving from an apartment to a house in Roxburgh Park, I encountered a surprisingly complex ritual of suburban life: putting out the correct bin on the correct day.
You’d think it would be a straightforward task. After all, the council provides a calendar with all the information. And yet, what should be a simple routine quickly turned into a weekly logic puzzle.
The Confusion Begins
On Tuesday, May 6th 2025, I noticed something strange. My interpretation of the council’s waste collection calendar suggested that it was garden waste week. But as I glanced down the street, every neighbor had put out their recycling bin. Naturally, I followed suit. But the moment sparked a deeper thought.
Why was this system seemingly simple on the surface so difficult to use?
Here’s what makes it confusing:
- The calendar uses a “Week 1 / Week 2” format that doesn’t align with standard calendar weeks.
- Each area follows a different schedule, indicated by colors on a small, hard-to-read map.
- There’s no intuitive tool that lets you input your address and get a simple answer like, “Put out your recycling bin tomorrow.”
So far, my waste management strategy has mostly been to observe what the neighbors do and copy them. It works (kind of), but it’s far from ideal.
Where UX Can Step In
This is a classic case of poor user experience design in a real-world system. As a UX designer, I couldn’t help but imagine a better solution, one that doesn’t rely on decoding PDFs or squinting at color-coded maps.
What if, instead:
- You could enter your address on the council’s website and immediately know which bin to put out?
- You received a push notification the evening before bin day: “Tomorrow is bin day. Put out your recycling bin.”
We live in an age where apps can tell us which items go in which bin, but not when to put the bin out. There’s a UX gap here, and it’s costing people time, clarity, and confidence.
A Broader UX Question
This small suburban experience made me reflect on how many “everyday” systems are harder to use than they need to be. From booking medical appointments to navigating public transport to understanding local services there’s so much low-hanging fruit for thoughtful, human-centered design.
So I’ll leave you with this:
What everyday processes in your community feel unnecessarily complicated? What “simple” systems could benefit from a UX makeover?
et’s start identifying them and maybe, as designers, we can start solving them too.
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