KOMPOT - Phase 3- Designing and Developing the Interview Protocol

Interview Protocol

Designing and developing the interview protocol

The interview questions were based on literature covering food waste, composting challenges, environmental factors like temperature and humidity, traditional at-home methods, and smart bin technologies.

Pretesting

Feedback from my supervisor and a business student helped refine and reorder the questionnaire, prioritizing key questions and moving less critical ones to the end to avoid distractions.

Pilot phase

Pilot testing with a long-time composter showed that allotment users weren’t the right target audience. This insight helped redirect the interviews toward daily food-waste managers, i.e., householders who have access to electricity for the Kompot bin.

Persona Development

The study sample included eco-conscious individuals familiar with composting, focusing on London’s Zones 1–5 (Wikipedia, 2024). These densely populated urban areas with limited green space pose challenges for traditional composting. The research aimed to understand how residents manage waste in such constrained environments.