As part of MIT’s 2.00 (Introduction to Design) project class, I worked on a design team to create and pitch Tim’s Boba Bounce, a gamified greenbox (MIT dining takeout containers) return station designed for Maseeh Dining. Our goal was to tackle the real problem of greenboxes getting forgotten for weeks, falling out of circulation, and sometimes becoming unusable.

We developed a pinball-inspired interaction in which a student taps their MIT ID, a ball is released, and it drops into a “boba cup,” while an on-screen Tim the Beaver reacts and becomes happier as more returns occur. The concept intentionally shifts the system from “punishment” (end-of-term fines) to positive reinforcement, including a small randomized reward (dining dollars) to make returning boxes feel worth it in the moment.