In Linda Groat’s class “GameOn! Participatory Process,” we explored the digital gaming technology for public participation in urban planning. Inspired by the bottom-up participatory case studies described in “Games in Architecture and Urban Planning,” we designed the “E-Recycle” game to promote the public engagement of residents in Huron Tower. With the assistance of the “E-Recycle” platform, residents not only built a closer relationship with the leasing office and other community members, but also learned related knowledge to solve recycling issues more effectively.

Recycling in Huron Tower

The recycling system in Huron Tower is located in the basement of Building A and B. Plenty of garbage bins are placed together for residents to drop the recyclable waste. Although there is guidance about recyclable and non-recyclable garbage, there are several problems in this area.

Firstly, instructions about how to deal with different types of recyclable materials are lacking. As a result, according to the reflections from Huron Tower residents through our research, people are confused about the rules of garbage recycling and might mistakenly handle their waste before putting it into the garbage bin. For instance, we see many cardboard boxes are directly dropped into the bins without flattening them, which takes up more space in the bin and negatively affects the efficiency of recycling circles. Secondly, some corners of the basement are messy since residents just randomly drop their garbage, which might increase the difficulty for recycling staff. Finally, though people roughly realize the importance of recycling and reuse, few of them truly understand the process of recycling – how the waste would go and how it could be recycled to be something new.

Aimed at these phenomena, our group puts forward the online platform to make a change in the real environment in Huron Tower. With the assistance of participatory gaming procedures, we hope residents’ awareness of recycling and reuse could be awakened and they could actively participate in the recycling process because they would be inspired to take actions to conserve and enhance places once they are attached to the recycling places in the Huron Tower community.

*Figure 1. Game environment of Huron Tower.*

Research question

How can garbage classification recycling be improved in the student residence Huron Tower Apartments?

How to apply serious games in daily life and cultivate public habits?
How to enhance the student’s awareness of garbage collection?
How to popularize garbage collection knowledge?
How to get multiple parties, such as students and administrative staff, involved in the game process?

Games in architecture and planning

Because games accommodate heterogeneous audiences, allowing people to play based on interests and motivations, they suggest a potential way to bridge the energy-efficiency gap and reduce energy use. Games can accommodate heterogeneity through design flexibility, allowing game players to act based on abilities, make decisions based on needs, and play meaningfully and enjoyably. “Serious Energy Games” are aimed at improving energy efficiency. Players can learn about energy use, impacts, and production, and try to mitigate these impacts by using game knowledge.

We gained several lessons and inspiration from the serious game “Efargo,” which was applied in K-12 schools and received remarkable results in energy reduction. First, as a game beyond entertainment, we should design the game with interest and increase participants’ stickiness. Game rules must address players’ heterogeneous needs, allowing them the flexibility to voluntarily engage with the game based on resources and abilities. Small-interval data collection and feedback is critical to engagement and continued player activity. The prizes according to their participation can be applied in the game to motivate the students. Second, endorsement of and active participation by stakeholders, such as administrators, facilities staff are also important. Their attitude and enthusiasm are important for the iteration to continue. Third, the students should have sufficient time to learn about garbage collection, and classify and tag the garbage. The longer duration of the iteration, the better the students will develop and maintain their daily garbage sorting habits and have greater impacts. We can also find a core group who find the garbage collection easy to understand to influence and motivate other students. Fourth, the visible, audible, and perceptible presence of the game increases engagement. When the stickers, energy announcements, energy patrols, reduced lighting, etc., pervaded and created game space, engagement numbers increased.

Research design and results of primary research

Inspired by Sanoff’s diagram regarding the game design (Figure 2), we conducted design research, design participation, and design development in the whole process. We initially researched the recycling system in Huron Tower and decided to launch the weekly checklist and E-Recycle online platform as our strategy to solve the problem area. As for the Community Resources, the leasing office of Huron Tower is involved to play the management role since they act as the bond between residents and recycling staff and thus can respond swiftly and efficiently to residents’ feedback. We later took photos of recycling facilities in the Huron Tower community to reflect the recycling problem it currently faces. Based on the information we gathered from the research, we set our goal as educating residents about recycling knowledge and inviting them to build a better living recycling environment in Huron Tower. We expect the E-Recycle Game can gather residents together by a common interest towards recycling and reuse, which in turn can both benefit the residents themselves and the recycling industry. Moreover, we envision the pattern of our game could be applied to other circumstances all over the world.

In the “E-Recycle” game, residents would work collaboratively with the leasing office of Huron Tower to improve the recycling conditions in their shared community. The game itself is about accumulating points by participating in recycling tasks for awards.

There are various ways for residents to join the “E-Recycle” gaming process as a member of the Huron Tower Community. As reflected in the Game Process Diagram (Figure 4), residents would complete the weekly checklist, label stickers on the problematic items, classify recyclable and non-recyclable items, report the issue to the leasing office, and watch the recycling video on the E-Recycle website and attend virtual meetings. All these activities would enrich their recycling knowledge and boost their relationship with the community.

*Figure 4. Game Process of “E-Recycle.”*

After logging into their accounts, residents can click the “Bonus Collection” to participate in different recycling tasks. For instance, residents would get 5 points after they finished the weekly checking list (Figure 5).

Another way to earn the bonus is to give advice to the leasing office (Figure 6). If residents see forbidden items and report to the leasing office, they can get 1 point. There is also a bonus system for residents to follow the Efargo Energy Challenge’s rule of “Find, Tag and Report.” Residents can get points for labeling messy places with red stickers, incorrect recycled ways with blue stickers, and unknown items with pick stickers. Residents can choose to upload the label pictures as proof on the advice page to gain the related points. They can also either chat or have virtual meetings with the leasing office to efficiently reflect on and solve recycling problems.

Furthermore, an online learning platform is set on the E-Recycle platform for residents to learn more about recycling and reuse (Figure 7). It provides articles and videos about the recycling system in Huron Tower and ways to do correct recycling in daily life. Through these materials, residents can have a better understanding of the recycling environment and realize the importance of recycling. By watching videos and reading articles to answer questions, residents can also get points.

Instead of winning or losing, residents would anonymously be ranked on the ranking list. Therefore, they could know their credits per week and the level they are at. On their personal information page (Figure 8), they could know their weekly activities in the Huron Tower Community. This action aims to increase the fun value of the game on the virtual platform.

*Figure 8. Ranking List and Personal Information Page.*

Engagement results

We invited three residents from Huron Tower with different personal backgrounds to participate in the “E-Recycle” game. Participant A was a man aged 25, and a student from Taubman College. Participant A had a negative initial impression towards the game, and believed that the problem that “E-Recycle” wants to solve has been handled well in daily life. However, after he actually participated in the game, he realized that the status quo is not as simple as he thought: “At first, I felt the game design was very tedious and boring, but after I really got into it I found out there are so many problems there. And I’m not doing as well as I thought. Thank you for letting me know. By the way, I love the design of the website!” Participant A helped demonstrate that game settings with strong reality interaction can enable participants to discover their own deficiencies and reflect on them, and they can also be fed back into real life, thereby changing the inherent views of participants.

Participant B, a 23 year old student, lived in Huron Tower for 2 years. Participant B showed a huge interest in the theme of the “E-Recycle” game as an environmentalist. After participating in the game for a week, she expressed her gratitude for the platform: “I’m very thankful you guys brought up this topic. I hope people have more awareness on daily recycling and reuse, but always found it difficult to share my opinion. I really appreciate the way you guys build the game and the virtual interaction to enhance the connection between residents and the apartment office. I hope someday the game can come true!” Games can become a medium for residents to express their opinions, so that they have more opportunities to provide their own ideas and promote community communication and development.

Participant C maintained a relatively neutral attitude towards community recycling work, but was willing to cooperate with our game process. The game seemed to evoke a greater enthusiasm for the community recycling process: “I am a person with weak environmental awareness, and I have never consciously attached the importance of recycling in my daily life. This game made me realize my shortcomings and awakened my awareness of environmental protection. The game is also very easy to take part in, I think it is worth promoting it.”

*Figure 9. Evaluation Data From “E-Recycle” Website.*

From the participant feedback we gained from three players, we saw opportunities for enhancing the connection between residents and community offices as well as developing residents’ own habit of recycling. The data is visible and transparent to all participants and based on an online platform, which saves costs. Residents can post the problems they find online anytime and anywhere, and apartment staff can also view these dynamics in time, without having to solve them face-to-face with residents. A small interview with the Huron Tower leasing office staff showed their interest in and agreement on the game process and virtual platform. We hope we can encourage more people to build a better living environment by promoting the game via the community.

Implications for designers

It’s quite new for us to use games as communication tools in the design phase and after design research, but from our “E-Recycle” game design process and experiment with participants, the format of games seems really helpful for gaining more information and data through user feedback. Without the need of professional knowledge, the participants can still engage in the design process and help designers better understand the needs of clients.

At the same time, games can also become an education tool for the designer. Not limited to communication between designers and clients, designers can also learn from each other through participating in the game. The mode of the game is not only more lively, but it also reduces the barriers to communication between people. We believe the “E-Recycle” game will be a strong connection for people to shape a better built environment in the future.

Xingyue Sun, Mingrui Jiang, and Zhiyu Liu are M. Arch II graduate students at the Taubman College of Architecture and Urban Planning at the University of Michigan.

“E-Recycle” Participatory Community Game