The team decided to look into the rate at which people are currently recycling K-Cups as well as the motivations behind these trends. To drive the research being done and to be able to think of possible design constraints for future design opportunities, a Problem Statement was crafted:
“Create a system that enables K-Cup users to produce less physical waste.”
It was important to think function first and to avoid creating solutions before understanding the full context. What we wanted to look at was a way to limit the footprint caused by the use of K-Cups, not just any physical system that would allow us to do so.