Trash Rush

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TIMELINE

September 30 - December 12, 2025

ROLE

UI/UX Designer

TOOLS


TOOLS
TOOLS

Figma

Nano Banana

TEAM

Linh Dinh

Yalu Ouyang

Brandon Hirano

Ryan Lee

Colin Sutedja

Regine Valdez

/ About the project

Trash Rush: A Narrative-Driven Educational Experience

Developed for the non-profit PlanetFlip, Trash Rush is a mobile-friendly game designed to bridge the environmental education gap for young adults. The game guides users through real-world sorting challenges, transforming a complex environmental issue into an engaging digital interaction

/ About the project

Trash Rush: A Narrative-Driven Educational Experience

Developed for the non-profit PlanetFlip, Trash Rush is a mobile-friendly game designed to bridge the environmental education gap for young adults. The game guides users through real-world sorting challenges, transforming a complex environmental issue into an engaging digital interaction

Identifying the San Diego Awareness Gap

Our research into existing San Diego tools, like the "Waste Wizard," revealed a significant gap: while they provide quick info, they fail to actually teach users how to categorize ambiguous waste. This lack of educational depth leads to increased contamination in local ecosystems.

Immersive Environment Illustration

To ground the learning in reality, I personally illustrated the Kitchen and Bedroom backgrounds and designed unique waste assets for the home scenario. We utilized a minimalist pastel color scheme and rounded elements to create a welcoming, "soft" aesthetic that encourages exploration rather than anxiety.

Trash Rush: A Narrative-Driven Educational Experience

Our testing with UCSD students proved the design’s success, achieving a 90% aesthetic approval rating. Most importantly, users demonstrated a 15% measurable increase in sorting accuracy for difficult waste items after just one gameplay session.
Developed for the non-profit PlanetFlip, Trash Rush is a mobile-friendly game designed to bridge the environmental education gap for young adults. The game guides users through real-world sorting challenges, transforming a complex environmental issue into an engaging digital interaction

Enhancing Engagement through Character & Dialogue

Trash Rush: A Narrative-Driven Educational Experience

To make the experience interactive rather than instructional, we introduced NPC characters like "Mom" and the "Janitor" who provide context-specific dialogue. This narrative hook, combined with a points system, provides the necessary motivation for users to return and master the content. The characters are drawn by hand using Figma (wow!) by Linh.
Developed for the non-profit PlanetFlip, Trash Rush is a mobile-friendly game designed to bridge the environmental education gap for young adults. The game guides users through real-world sorting challenges, transforming a complex environmental issue into an engaging digital interaction

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