A3

Commercial Competitive Analysis
 * tnxs ryan..also guys watever i have edited so far is under A3 Final, look it over n let me know if u want to make any changes...i will also send u the final version once i have put everything together**

County of Fairfax, Virginia Clothing Drop Boxes These are drop boxes that are placed in public places for any citizen to come by and drop off used clothing. The strengths of these boxes are that they emphasize the fact that they need to be structurally sound, clean, and well maintained. Another important point is that they stress that they are emptied regularly to prevent overflow of materials. Visually, the boxes look clean and appealing. A limitation to these donation boxes is that they don’t incorporate any interactive elements so a person cannot learn any more information regarding the social issue. Any information available is on a small posted note outside the box. Our interactive UTM drop box will incorporate the visual appealing appearance of these boxes. They will also look strong, sturdy and well-maintained. The lack of interactive features will be considered so we take advantage of an interactive design which allows the user to input and receive information specific to their donation. []

Introduction - if you feel like like i'm missing something or would like to add on, feel free!

The main focus of our design is to raise awareness about poverty and encourage people to take action. Although many people are aware that poverty exists they don’t take extra measures to learn about, participate, or help in raising awareness. Our main focus will be at the University of Toronto Mississauga where students, faculty, and staff will be encouraged to donate clothing, non-perishable food items, school supplies, as well as furniture – such as lamps, and even bulkier items like computer desks. In our previous assignment, we included various sketches as to how our design will play out once implemented. Each building of focus will have a designated drop-off box that corresponds to the items being donated. For example, the Gym will have a drop-off box specific for athletic clothing and equipment. In addition to donating, those participating are able to collect points every time they donate. Those points are redeemable anywhere around campus. Two fields of study have been planned out in detail which will aid in the possible feedback we would receive from our design. First, a 1 to 2 hour observatory session will be conducted at the Student Center in which the number of students, faculty, and staff dropping off non-perishable food at the Food Bank will be recorded. The same will be done at the CCIT Building at designated areas where students, faculty, and staff can drop off pop can tabs. By doing so, we get a clear idea of how many people take the time to help out people in need, as well as being a part of maintaining a greener environment.


 * Academic Competitive Analysis **

**The DONA Robot**

The rate of donation in Korea in comparison to other developed countries is fairly low. To solve this problem, a donation robot prototype was designed to roam around and solicit donations from people passing. This prototype is implemented in outdoor space while the end-users in this context are passers-by.

The inspiration behind this design is the idea of people tossing coins in water fountains or ponds is engaging. The DONA robot roams around amongst passers-by approaching them through a “pet-like interaction” (Kim, p.159). The DONA robot has a built in sensor that detects people, moving objects, and works its way around obstacles. “It stops for a while and starts to bow its head appealing for people to make a donation” (Kim, p.159).

A limitation that this design entails is its inability to distinguish between a person and a moving object. In comparison to our own, both designs are interactive to end-users in different ways. The DONA robot is more interactive in terms of approaching its end-users directly rather than have them notice the donation drop-off box and make the effort to donate. Our design builds on by adding an incentive system to encourage people to participate. By having a reward system, donators are encouraged to continue the process of donating items to get something in return. Our design also has an interactive trivia and game that recognizes the donations and shows appreciation to the participant.

**IT-Enabled Donation Boxes to Promote Donation** This design almost directly related to our own in terms of the designers believing that electronics and information are great ways and strategies to attract attention. This design was implemented at a winter festival held in Kobe, Japan. It executed 4 donation boxes, included “a colourfully illuminated box and a sensor-enabled interactive box” (Tanaka, p.1). The end-users in this context would be people passing by. In addition to those people, those volunteering to participate in the questionnaire given were referred to as ‘donation collectors’. How this particular design is similar to our own is they apply similar concepts to enhance the traditional process of donating through drop-off boxes. It is evident that the incorporation of information technology to a basic design can enhance its efficiency and effectiveness – in this case, the potential to increase donations. In terms of similarities and differences between our own design and the IT-enabled Donation Boxes, both designs implement the same interactivity levels by including a game that donators are able to engage in. For example, the IT-enabled donation box made in 2007, users are able to participate in a game as a part of donating. Although this design is based on the same concept, it differs in terms of appealing visibility to users. The IT-enabled Donation Boxes include flashing arcade lights that attract the attention of passers-by.

**Donation Dashboard** Donation Dashboard is a “system that recommends non-profit organizations to users in the form of a portfolio of donation amounts” (Nathanson, p.253). How this design works is it keeps track of all the people donating and monitors donations. Based on their donation, Donation Dashboard assesses the non-profit organization that best suits the item being donated.

A limitation with this particular design is the fact that it is a web-based software - lacking interactivity with its end-users. The Donation Dashboard’s end-users are those that have access to computers as well as internet, and are willing to donate. Although our design differs from the Donation Dashboard in terms of physical visibility as well as end-users interactivity, it does have one feature that relates to a major segment of our design - the reward system. Both designs take into account the importance of creating an inceptive to its users and how adding that potentially increases donations.

here are the references for the designs/articles that i used. i'm not sure how she wants us to reference things from ACM but i included 2 links for each design. the first one is the actual article, the second link is the ACM page of the article.

The DONA Robot __[]__

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IT-enabled Donation Boxes

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Donation Dashboard

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http://portal.acm.org/citation.cfm?id=1639714.1639761&coll=portal&dl=ACM&CFID=110872392&CFTOKEN=98415251

Time: 60 mins Observations: · Pop-can tabs located on top of garbage cans. · Recycling bin does not have a pop-can tab directly above it. · Contact information is not posted on pop-can tab. · Majority of people threw out there garbage without contributing to the pop-can tab. · In an hour we had three out of 15 people with a soft drink contribute to the pop-can tab. Inferences: · Location targeting for the pop-can tabs was implemented correctly. No other location would grab the attention of the student body and motivate them to contribute as much as that (Convenience). · Visually unappealing. Not many will be motivated to donate in a box (pop-can tabs) that looks like it is just going to get thrown out at the end of the day. · If someone decided to collect tabs at home and came to school with a large quantity, he/she would not be able to donate them at the designated box areas due to its small size. In addition the lack of information on the pop-can tabs would leave an individual at a loss. The challenges that come with the contribution will hinder the individual making further donations.

Hey, I added some detail for this part - Ryan

** Design Iteration

Bottle Arcade/Japanese IT-Enabled Donation Boxes/The Dona Robot The ‘bottle arcade’ idea from Sweden influenced the idea to incorporate fun into the aspect of donating and our design. Here, the recycling container was made visually appealing. From its look, the people could approach it actually wanting to put something inside knowing that an enjoyable experience will come out of it. Also, those passing by will draw their attention towards this. The UTM drop box should not just be an ordinary container, but also incorporate some aspect of fun. It is important, however, to make any inclusion of a game be educational and informative. Self-Check out systems These devices have lead us to modify our design to incorporate the weight sensor system. Where customers at grocery and retail stores use the self check out system, our design will, similarly, allow the donator to independently donate an item, have it’s weight calculated, and interact with the system using a touch screen. The weight sensor will, now, actually calculated the weight of the items donated and will also be the determinant factor in the amount of points that is awarded to the student. Donation Dashboard This impacted our design to keep a database. This will keep track of their ‘UTM points’ was well as their history of donations. It will enable custom messages every time this student’s profile is brought up when their card is scanned. Our design has been modified to include a specific message regarding their point balance as well as a trivia question that is generated to inform that student about a topic that relates to items that are in need as well as items that the student may have not donated yet. For example, if the database records that a student has yet to donate non-perishable food, the system will generate trivia about that subject the next time he/she swipes their card. Observation From the observation of the Salvation Army clothing bin, food bank room and pop-tab donations, it has inspired us to take visual appearance into greater consideration. The interactive UTM drop boxes must look clean and, importantly, maintained. The garbage left in the Salvation Army bin as well as the bags of food left on the ground along with the unappealing look of the pop tab containers made it look as if nobody actually cared about them. Our design will incorporate a clean look, in both the outer appearance as well as how the interactive screens appear.

Design iteration The prototyping activities taken to enhance our prototype revolved around research. The research done helped stimulate various ideas of how our prototype can be more fun while at the same time educational. In addition experimenting on the existent design allow a more personal experience and assists in determining what is needed and what could be taken out of the prototype. Through the competitive analysis and field research obtained we have come to a few conclusions. Our design is interactive in a manner that is fun for the donators, which is accomplished through the questionnaire and additional points for participating. The DONA robot that moves around the mall to gain donations illustrates not just how important interactivity is but the convenience and fun process during the donation process. Convenience was also an issue inferred through our observation process when looking at the “Pop-Can Tabs” and “Food Bank”. The points system was influenced from the “Donation Dashboard” article. In addition we will also incorporate a banner that will enhance on the attractiveness and amusement of the donation box. Needs the videos still to be incorporated

As for the 'sketches' for this - I'm thinking I'll draw them on a separate page and bring it on Mon.

Researcher: Ryan Location: Student Centre Overview: Food bank observation

Observation

12:50 pm – 1:10 pm

The food bank is inside a room that is inside a small hallway behind a door. 3 people have walked past this area, however, nobody has went inside this hallway.

Inferences

The food bank seems hidden. It doesn’t grab attention. Unless a person already knows about this room, there is no way to tell that it is even there. Those passing by would not know that the food bank is right there beside them.

Observation

1:10 pm – 1:35 pm

There is an information desk downstairs. One staff member is there.

One person asks guy at the student centre desk for the key card to access the food bank room. They have a bag of food with them. The employee tells her that the card is being used by someone else so she needs to wait.

Inference:

There is a slight inconvenience. Donations cannot be simply placed instantly. If the set of key cards were being used by a lot of different people for different things, a person could be waiting for while.

Observation

The girl asks the employee if the key card has been brought back. He says 'yes'. He accompanies her to the food bank room.

He leads her into the wrong hall. They go to the next hall. It's a little small and narrow. It seems he is having trouble getting inside the room. There are bags of food left in the hall on the ground. She leaves her bag of food on the ground and they leave.

Inference: This employee must not go up to the food bank often since he couldn’t remember where it was. Again, there is an inconvenience of not being able to get inside the actual room to drop off the food. It is visually very unappealing since there are bags of food left on the ground in the hallway. It comes across as an unmaintained area.

Observation

4:45 pm – 5:45 pm

The upstairs area by the hallway leading to the food bank room is empty. At one point, a group of about 9 students walked up the stairs and turned to go inside a meeting room. They didn’t acknowledge the food bank.

Inferences This is not really a high traffic area. Unless there is a scheduled club meeting, nobody is really going to go upstairs. Therefore, the area often quiet and empty.