Designing a Workplace Reuse System
Overview
​This case study documents the strategic pivot from Return Ware’s B2C takeaway service to a workplace lunch model after early testing revealed that relying on individual consumer behaviour limited user adoption.
Through user research and design, I repositioned​ the service around sustainability in the workplace and employee well-being, addressing business needs while improving operational efficiency. The pilot achieved 572 container reuse cycles in 52 days, reduced logistics time by 50% and supported 7 new workplace sign-ups.
Client
My Role​
Tools
Little Jasmine Spa
Nostos Restaurant (Partner)
UX Designer
Research Facilitator
Product Designer
Google Workspace, Figma, Adobe CS, Zoom, Typeform
Challenge
Create a reuse service that fit seamlessly into existing business workflows
The outcome needed to deliver clear values to drive adoption and retention, while increasing container reuse cycles and reducing operational time across cleaning and delivery.
Research
Research
Define
Ideate
Prototype
To inform the pivot, I investigated why adoption was low in the B2C model. Feedback revealed that my borrow/return process introduced multiple friction points, relied heavily on individual user effort and lacked sufficient reach to scale.
I also analysed the reuse market using a combination of research methods and interviewed founders of similar initiatives. Their shared challenges and insights helped to accelerate the development of my service model.
Competitive Analysis
Product Benchmarking
Cost Benefit Analysis
Life Cycle Assessment (LCA)
Direct
Emerging
Indirect
Legacy
The container system required multiple users within the user eco system, so I conducted qualitative research across each stakeholder group through field studies and interviews to ensure a holistic experience.​
Caterer
Return Ware
Purpose led businesses
Return Ware
Workplace
Workplace
End User Employee
Key Questions
What type of food packaging
do you currently use?
How much do you currently spend on waste disposal each month?
What would an ideal reuse service look like for you?
This outreach also validated key hypotheses around demand for a reuse service, confirming that businesses, caterers and employees were open to adopting a workplace reuse model.
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“I’ve been waiting for a reuse service like Return Ware”
Reuse systems succeed at scale when they are convenient, affordable and incentivised. By reframing existing spend on single-use and disposal as an opportunity, businesses could redirect costs toward measurable environmental impact.
Define
I focused on purpose-led businesses as the primary user group, as they were best positioned to drive adoption and sustain the service. Based on interviews with 15 stakeholders, the persona captures shared goals, frustrations, and behavioural patterns.
"I want to be part of this movement, we can do much more together.”
Wants and needs
Convenience
Networking
Affordability
Eco-conscious
Touch points
Persona
Clara Hart
Director
Age 50
Bio
Brighton, Sussex
Clara has been running a small business for over 15 years. She collaborates with sustainable brands and seeks opportunities to innovate within her community. Relationship-driven, proactive and motivated by social impact.
Ambitious
Organised
Curious
Practical
Goals
-
Boost employee well-being and productivity.
-
Achieve low-effort wins that supports Net Zero goals.
-
Position as purpose-led to attract clients and partners.
Frustrations
-
High waste management costs.​
-
Limited infrastructure for sustainability initiatives.
-
Limited overhead to adopting new workflows.
Key Insights
My user research reinforced the macro drivers identified in broader research, which I categorised into 3 themes.
Show me
measurable impact​
Make it easy
to use​
Need clear benefits
to justify change
I applied circular principles, cultural insight, and product design to develop a new product service. The Return Ware brand conveyed my goals, addressing key user pain points while operating within my resources.
My Goals
My Pain Points
-
Grow client partnerships.
-
Develop low effort user implementation frameworks.
-
Increase container usage.
-
High operational overhead.​
-
Requires capital investment.
-
Limited influence may delay ROI.
During stakeholder research, I pitched my B2B service and turned early participants into my first clients.
Ideate
I created a user flow to map touchpoints, motives, and opportunities, from onboarding to completing a food order. This highlighted friction points and revealed opportunities for improvement.
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Problems
Opportunities
1. Multiple user touchpoints in the journey.
Introduce a one-time payment or subscription model.
​Enable meal selection via a one tap WhatsApp poll.​​​
Design a delivery system with sharable content.
2. Unreliable container usage within current system.
Leverage poll data to generate client impact reports.
3. No clear individual incentives for participation.
Leverage well being and social drivers to productivity.
By integrating logistics, data and motivation into one cohesive system, the service reduced friction, improved accountability, and transformed sustainability from a compliance task into a shared, visible experience.
Prototype
I facilitated a weekly well-being lunch by partnering with Nostos restaurant and 3 workplace locations at Little Jasmine Spa, funded by the Council. Iterations were driven by observations, feedback and surveys.
Designed to support large workplace orders. Pilot data later showed an average of 12 meals per order per business, informing the need for smaller, more flexible delivery bag solutions.
Initial deliveries used a trolley over a 10 minute walking route. Although low-cost, this method proved labour-intensive and time-sensitive, reinforcing the need for e-bike delivery to meet client expectations.
Clear, leak-proof lids streamlined labelling and improved deliveries, while bag dividers enabled compact, organised storage by workplace.
Designed to support large workplace orders. Pilot data later showed an average of 12 meals per order per business, informing the need for smaller, more flexible delivery bag solutions.
The pilot test generated actionable insights across service efficiency, operational costs, delivery speed, labour requirements, and product usability.
Measuring Impact
By pivoting to a B2B model and closely aligning the service with user goals, adoption and retention rates improved.
80%
Increase in social media followers
50%
Reduction in logistics time from 1 hour to 30 mins
96%
Positive Net Promoter Score
7
months client retention
572
Reusable containers used
7
New workplace sign-ups
"It ticks so many of our personal and company values! A great way to care for our staff and the environment. We love collaborating with Return Ware and Oanh Brophy!"
Nostos Restaurant