About the Project

Berlin Recycling approached N3XTCODER with a challenge: how to collect customer data across the recycling industry in order to create new business opportunities and gain competitive insights.

We partnered with them to explore, prototype, and validate a new digital platform concept through our Product Lab and Design Sprint methodologies, delivering actionable insights at a fraction of the cost of building a full platform.

Our Services

• Product Lab & Discovery
• Design Sprint
• User Research & Interviews
• Value Proposition Design
• MVP Prototype Development
• Marketing Funnel Testing

The Challenge

Understanding customer experience across the recycling industry is valuable but difficult to obtain. Berlin Recycling wanted to compare their customer experience with competitors to identify advantages and opportunities.

We developed a problem statement: How might we collect customer data across the industry in order to create new business opportunities?

The Approach

We immersed ourselves in the recycling industry through hands-on research:

• Rode along on recycling trucks to observe operations firsthand
• Interviewed customer service representatives to understand common concerns
• Spoke with business customers including contract owners and employees
• Conducted guerrilla testing with a value proposition prototype

Based on our research, we developed TonnenHeld: a concept for a comparison platform allowing small business owners to compare recycling providers on price, service, and reviews.

The Solution

We built a landing page MVP and marketing funnel to test if B2B customers would engage with the platform concept. This allowed us to validate hypotheses about user behavior and messaging preferences without investing in full platform development.

The Outcome

The project delivered significant business value:

• Validated concept cheaply - Disproved platform viability at a fraction of the cost of building it
• Customer insights - Discovered that service and price matter equally to customers
• Marketing learnings - Proved users prefer informal communication tone
• Innovation pipeline - Generated insights for future internal digital innovation

By invalidating the concept early, we saved Berlin Recycling significant investment while providing valuable customer research that informed future business decisions.