A2+Final

The social problem that we would like to engage in is poverty in our local communities; our main focus area will be Mississauga. Poverty exists everywhere, weather it is thousands of miles away in third world countries, or at a house down the street from you. The main goal of this project is not only to make sure that people are aware that poverty exists, but to also inform them of ways through which they can help those in need. As part of this initiative our group would like to get students and staff at University of Toronto Mississauga to become involved in the community. The main plan of our project is to increase and introduce new locations where students, facility and staff can drop off used goods such as clothing, school supplies such as books and food.
 * __Introduction__**
 * __ Preliminary design __**

The plan for dealing with this social problem involves spreading awareness in a small geographic community such as UTM, and then after looking at the success of this initiative we would also like to introduce this idea to other University of Toronto Campuses. Being a part of the Mississauga campus provides us with the opportunity to have a better chance at applying our ideas considering the institution has a high student ratio compared to the size of the area that the institution covers. Having roughly ten thousand students walking from one building to another in between classes creates huge traffic, and the prospect of grabbing a significant amount of individuals and their attention to make them aware of the issue at hand. (**cite)** The first step in the design process will involve spreading the word about issues pertaining to poverty through the use of digital screens, considering that there are many areas in the school (library, meeting place), which already use digital screens to make students and staff aware of current events. Our goal is to get individuals to donate because most people are aware that poverty exists. We would also like to integrate these screens into the actual donation box. These screens are similar to the ATM screens that one sees at banks. These screens will also feature as a device, which will allow the students to swipe their student card and receive points for donating. These points, once accumulated enough, can be used to purchase effects such as food, books, school supplies...etc, around campus. In addition, the donation boxes will be strategically placed throughout the campus to make it convenient for students, facility and staff to donate. For example, we plan on having a donation box outside the residents building. This box will be to hold objects such as desks, chairs, bed frames couches...etc, making it easier for students to donate these objects instead of throwing them away. This way individuals in need could use these items. Hence, the plan revolves around a three-step process where we first remind the students of the different issues surrounding poverty. Second, we will provide donation boxes, which will be strategically placed throughout the campus to meet the students’ convenience. This will spare the student lots of time and aggravation searching for the donation offices around campus, which are hard to find, and ultimately de-motivate the students from ever donating again. Lastly, gaining points for donating would encourage students to make further donations throughout the year. The creative process that our group undertook consisted of a series of integrated designs solutions that varied upon specific settings or “drop-off zones.” For the main idea on how we proposed to attack the issue of poverty, we decided to develop a basic design where students could drop-off used goods (Fig.1.0). These goods will range from food, books, clothing, to furniture – the necessities of everyday life. Figure 1.0 From here, we developed our idea and took into consideration the design and how drop-off boxes should be tailored around the specific items of donation. With this in mind, we realized that items, such as non-perishable food and canned goods need to be accommodated with different designed boxes, see Fig 1.1. (for the box). Fig 1.1 Furthermore, the book drop-off zone needed to be adequately large enough to fit a range of books but at the same time, not too large to promote theft (Fig 1.2). This lead to another development in our design prototype, such as including a security feature that would enable students access to disposal bins through a swipe card system (with a student card) that would register who is accessing the bin, how much they have donated, and how many credits they have earned, which could be used for various campus-related expenses; photocopying, vending machine, bus ticket stubs, and so forth. We believe that with the development of a rewards system via student cards, would encourage and initiate future donations on campus. Fig 1.2 The other key drop-off zone would include the heavier items, such as furniture and stationary-related supplies, such as desks and chairs. This drop-off zone would be located at the main residence hall on campus, Roy Ivor because it is the main area where students make payments for residence as well as it being an optimal accessibility point for where students can drop off large items at the end of the year (Fig.1.3). Fig 1.3 In addition, to further develop this idea of “taking-action,” and creating awareness, we proposed digital signage to be used in key, high-traffic areas around campus, such as within an elevator or at the bus stop (Fig.1.4-1.5). The notion here was to display statistics on poverty and how students’ contributions have aided in addressing this social issue. From a fleeting moment in the elevator, to a lengthy wait at the bus stop, the message about poverty would be disseminated and awareness, ultimately, would be created. Fig 1.4
 * __Sketches__**

The digital sketch that we developed demonstrates how the implementation of the charity drop boxes and digital displays around campus will work to create awareness and educate regarding issues surrounding poverty, as well as providing locations and incentives for those on campus to donate. This particular example involves a simulation of a student using a drop box at the library. From digital displays around UTM, this student learned of the social issue regarding poverty and the need for books. He then decided to donate books at this drop box. Moreover, the displays also informed him of the location of charity drop boxes. The one in the film is located at the UTM library. After donating, he then swipes his T-Card in the scanner located nearby. He earns points for the items that he just gave. The visual display screen accompanied with an audio shows a “Thank You” message to thank the individual and to generate attention among other students. Other information monitors located throughout the library will also display a message informing everyone that a donation has been made. This will be followed by a ‘Did You Know’ fact about the social issue. This will let everyone in the library learn about the items they could give for families-in-need as well as where the UTM Charity Boxes are located. **__Proposed Field Work__** In order to ensure that our design solution will be as effective and innovative as we intend, we will conduct a number of observations to gain insight on existing drop-off stations at the UTM campus that are similar to our design solution. There are two areas in which our observation will take place. The first location will be at the Student Centre where a Food Bank box is available for students to drop off non-perishable items. The second location will be targeted towards the pop can tabs placed around specific areas around campus. Observation #1 Who: Students, Faculty Members, Staff What: Donating non-perishable food at the Food Bank. Where: Student Centre When: 1-3 hours a day at different times Why: To see how often people use the drop-off box and take the time to donate How: Record the number of people that drop off food and what time of the day during which most people participate Observation #2 Who: Students, Faculty Members, Staff What: Dropping off pop can tabs Where: Designated recycling areas around campus – CCT Building Exit, South Building Entrance When: 1-3 hours a day at different times Why: To observe how many people take the time to remove pop can tabs – it indicates how much they care for recycling and being part of making a change  Through analyzing the number of people that not only acknowledge the existence of charity work around campus, but also take the time to participate, will provide us with an insight to the possible feedback to our design solution. In addition, these observations, will also analyze high traffic areas around campus. This aids in the process of where our design solution will be targeted and will us with most effective results. We expect to gain most insight from tracking high traffic areas around the Library, South Building, Bus area, and Student Centre.
 * __Digital Sketch__**