A Design Solution for SCAD Students to Enhance The Utility of Their Lifestyle Items
Project Info： Personal Project @ Savannah College of Art and Design
My Role: UX Designer, Visual Designer, User Researcher
Date: March, 2017-June, 2017
Subject of Study: This study will examine and strive to create a strategic design solution to help SCAD students enhance the utility of their lifestyle items using design management methods in the context of circular and sharing economy.
PROBLEM STATEMENT
LITERATURE REVIEW
I collected and read 16 academic articles about college students who are facing a lot of problems each year, such as graduation, work and migration, which causes some items to be abandoned after the move. They spend a lot of time and energy dealing with those unwanted or hard to move daily items. This, in fact, leads to various problems, such as economic loss, time waste and psychological stress/anxiety.
PURPOSE OF STUDY
The focus of this project is to use design management methods to enhance the utility of college students’ lifestyle items. This project will build a solution to facilitate the target audience, which will create a better studying and living structure for them.
TARGET AUDIENCE
The target audiences for this project are SCAD students including undergraduates, graduates and recent graduates who are interested in enhancing the utility of their lifestyle items.
INDIRECT
CORE
DIRECT
Recent
Graduate
SCAD
Students
Friends
SCAD
Professors
SCAD
Faculty
Relatives
Sisters
Brothers
Vendors
Parents
Suppliers
Craigslist
Flea market
Used stores
free &
for sale
Facebook buy sell trade in Savannah and community
Salvation
Army
Goodwill
Yard sale
Figure 1: The map of target users.
How might we use Design Management Methods to create a design solution for SCAD students who are interested in enhancing the utility of their lifestyle items within a circular economy and a sharing economy?
As a student, living by yourself for one person is a big challenge. Moving alone, packing luggage, organize school supplyments, and enjoying a quality life - they have to plan ahead and make every penny count.
Alice Clinton
20 years old | United States
Needs:
She studied and worked in the field of business for a few years. One year later, she is going to graduate, so she needs to learn how to manage her studies and work at the same time and also deal with her personal relationships.
I learned how to work with all my organized tools and manage them after work as well.
I know why I should pay attention to my art supplies.
Gain:
People always want me to deliver the stuff they buy from me.
I am wasting some of my art supplies.
Pain:
James Taylor
28 years old | United States
Needs:
He needs someone to stay in Savannah for his stuff that he left after he graduated. Because he still wants to use it later but not right now, he has to store it somewhere where he believes it is safe. On the other hand, he also needs to balance his life in LA and part of it in Savannah.
Gain:
I earned money from my device rentals and also saved my place without those devices at home.
Pain:
I have to pay for my device saving service.
I can’t leave my stuff all by itself away without any cares.
Antonette Ayton
24 years old | United States
Needs:
She needs to sell her items that do not have value to her or give them to her friends. But, she needs to find out what she doesn’t want and manage her time during her final exam period and all the other things at the same time.
Gain:
I can really manage my personal life and study evenly. No matter how much time I have.
Pain:
I need to take a lot of time to deal with my lifestyle items when I move to another place.
I hate to discuss our space sharing issues with my roommates.
In order for this project be considered successful:
The basic information of the project will be delivered to SCAD students a platform that can help them enhance the utility of their lifestyle items under the sharing economy.
Influential SCAD students will be organized/manage their time, life and how they face everything around them based on their different backgrounds.
Bees Buzz is an application that helps SCAD students collect their lifestyle items they want to buy, sell, rent and swap. Moreover, under the customized category, users can automatically march with both yours and other requirements to deal with the lifestyle items.
MANAGEMENT
SCAD STUDENTS
CHANNEL
SELF-REPRESENTATION
LIFESTYLE ITEMS
Figure 2: Spider chart.
When you buy
All the information you need to make an order decision, in one place.
An overview of the items you want to buy with details and also give you a chance to discuss the price.
RESEARCH
There's Always One For You
Whatever you want to do, we’ve got you covered.
With beesbuzz, users can simply choose what you want and start to organize your lifestyle items, it saves your time and money, and also helps with life planning and reduce resource waste.
Friends Invitation
Sharing is always a good way.
Finding the items you want from someone you know makes the deal more reliable.
A survey of the literature and subject expert interviews will be done for secondary research. Primary research methods will include ethnographic research and culture probes. Through primary and secondary research findings, I will define how SCAD students trade their lifestyle items based on the diversity of their ages, genders, behaviors, cultural identities, personalities, and backgrounds.
Primary research will involve interviews, surveys, questionnaires, and shadowing, both online and face to face. This covers large numbers of people for collecting data, using stakeholders such as SCAD students (undergraduate/graduate/recent graduate) and their relatives/peers. The goal is first to understand how SCAD students think and what they do in their daily life with their lifestyle items under the sharing economy and then identify the diverse factors to create the design solution strategy.
RESEARCH SPACE MAP
STUDENTS
LIFESTYLE
ITEMSE
ECONOMIES
STUDENTS
LIFESTYLE
LIFESTYLE
ITEM
MANAGEMENT
PERSONAL
STUDENTS
NEEDS
Figure 3: The map of the search space.
How might we use Design Management Methods to create a design solution for SCAD students who are want to enhance the utility of their lifestyle items within a sharing economy?
RESEARCH QUESTIONS
1. How might we use design management and design management methods?
a. How might we describe design management?
b. How might we describe design management methods?
c. How might we use design management methods in this study?
2. How might we define the economy?
a. How might we describe a circular economy?
b. How might we describe a sharing economy?
c. How might we define a design solution?
3. How might we describe SCAD students who are interested in enhancing the utility of their personal items?
a. What is the lifestyle of SCAD students?
b. How many types of lifestyles are represented by SCAD students and what are they?
c. What are the key factors that form those different lifestyles?
d. What kinds of characteristics do SCAD students have?
4. How might SCAD students define their personal lifestyle items?
a. What are the gender-specific lifestyle items they have?
b. How might SCAD students handle their lifestyle items?
c. How do SCAD students make their decisions regarding their lifestyle items?
RESEARCH MATRIX 1
COMPETITOR ANALYSIS
According to the different periods of research, which include primary and secondary research, and the target user’s comprehensive discovery, for the target user, there are two ways to deal with their lifestyle items: online websites/platforms and local stores in Savannah.
The online websites are Craigslist, Facebook, eBay, Amazon, LETGO, Valorebooks, Swappa，apps Xianyu, and Zhuanzhuan.
The local stores are Two Women and A Warehouse, Goodwill, Civvies and the Salvation Army.
2x2 MATRIX
The matrices were helpful during synthesis because the discussion of determining where to place each of the competitors often leads to new insights and clarity between local and online and interactive and non-interactive.
From the 2x2 matrix, we found that most competitors are approaching to the top right corner, so the result shows we should create an online and more interactive platform that helps users to get easier and more effective to use.
SWOT
The SWOT analysis helped with identify successful innovation opportunities and turn ideas into a successful social network.
BLUE OCEAN STRATEGY
Online Platforms
This map shows the online platform characteristics from ten different attributes and the most frequent web pages online.
The attributes include interactive, resourceful, diversity, user-friendly, price, aesthetics, convenience, customer services, specialized and reputation.
The online pages include Facebook, eBay, Amazon, Craigslist, Swappa, Valorebooks, LETGO, Xianyu and Zhuan Zhuan.
Local Stores
This map shows the local stores in Savannah’s characteristics from ten different attributes and the most popular place people it.
The attributes include interactive, resourceful, diversity, user-friendly, price, aesthetics, convenience, customer services, specialized and reputation.
The local stores include the Salvation Army, Civvies, Goodwill and The Two Women and A Warehouse.
Maps Overlapping
After combining these two maps, the results show that online platforms are different than local stores. There is a gap between them in the map which shows interactive, resourceful, diversity and user-friendly are the main things the user wants and how it convenience, specialization, reputation and customer services are important for owners.
Results and Analysis
So for this project, we should follow the main features of customers' needs and also be concerned with timing and trends.
So, considering the trends development and customer’s desires, full consideration appears that long and short term development
are
PRIMARY RESEARCH ACTIVITIES
SURVEY
An online survey was created using to reach a widerspread audience with varied backgrounds. This survey was targeted at SCAD students among undergraduate students, graduate students on campus and current graduate students.
Using Google Forms, an 11 questions survey was created. After the survey was shared on Facebook and other social media, 115 responses were recorded and analyzed in order to receive quantitative data.
INTERVIEWS
14 In-person and phone/facetime interviews were conducted to obtain qualitative insights from SCAD students, students' families, SCAD faculty and experts. Consent forms were utilized to obtain permission for conducting the interviews and record them.
SCAD STUDENTS
Some of my lifestyle items like my post boards and my markers I am not using. Because I don’t have to use them right now. but just in case I need them later, I am keeping them. And the bad thing I think the markers they are drying out, so I don’t know even I can use them later.
I have used craigslist and Facebook. I don’t like using Facebook because people don’t want to pay you anything on Facebook. They wanna everything for free.
My advice would be don’t buy it unless you really think it is over.
I think that people go through seasons or they are interested in something and then next season they are not interested in it anymore.
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STUDENTS' FAMILY
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Yeah, it happens a lot. oh like his professor to say, you need these particular items or you will need this book, or you will need these pencils and this kind of paper. And they just don’t un-abusing it.
So one thing that I think it’s especially about Lu, he is really values everything, and he tries to take advantage of every opportunity and tools he has. I think he just comes from a different background has a lot to appreciate.
I think he learned a lot of it from his parents. I think he taught him at a very early age to value everything that he has to use it up. He doesn’t like to waste it.
And being American, I think as American we always get what we want. We feel like we deserved it, if we don’t, we will do whatever we will take out. Well and credit cards, because our minds it’s important, if we want it, we should have it. And Lu came from a background where it’s like if you don’t need it, then you should just say about for something you want and then make sure you get thinks are most important and valuable.
STUDENTS' FAMILY
Well, I would suggest just, every on a regular basis and go through and see the things you don’t need anymore or either sell it and make some money. You know or take them back to your home.
A lot of my work stuff is up there, but there’s also boxes or images from work an I.B.M. personal things.
I guess it depends on a lot of circumstances. I mean there are apparent differences where they come from cultural differences things like that.
You know I wonder if it’s the same because I guess depending on your budget you still have roommates, so you have your own little room in which you share the rest of the house so you don’t really get to choose what those areas maybe, I don’t know.
I think there’s an increasing sensitivity to wastefulness and green thinking and so on.
Well, if you think about things that people buy for themselves, I can answer that context. I think we have arrived currently; our current economy has arrived at a global Equalizing.
I think that the political and economic climate in a macro-level effect are consuming behaviors.
I think there are probably other variables in motion already about sensitivity to the world and consuming of objects we don’t really need like we talked about before. But I think this was a major inflection point. And I don’t think we ever went back. Who may ask consumption that we might have seen before that. I think we’re more careful about making choices.
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AFFINITY MAPPING
To better understand how scad students dealing with their lifestyle items under sharing economy and circular economy, data were clustered into groups, which formed categories, and presented the target audience for how they deal with their lifestyle items.
The approach allowed for an objective view of the gathered research and presented target users’ words with subjects' views from their insights.
INSIGHTS AND OPPORTUNITY
After the affinity mapping, there are 7 groups was clustered which are lifestyle items, demands, management, channel, SCAD student, self-representation and buy or not to buy.
Lifestyle
items
SCAD
students
Demands
Self
Representation
Manage-
ment
To buy or not to buy
Channel
DESIGN OPPORTUNITIES
According to all the data collected, there are five attributes, such as SCAD students that are prominent, self-representation, lifestyle items, channel, and management. They are shown in the cycle systems which are under the sharing economy. So, the opportunities must interact with these five elements and also be related to each other.
INITIAL CONCEPT
DID is a tool help SCAD students manage themselves and cultivate their daily habits. The tool will mainly be a platform that can make students handle their personal lifestyle items and study life.
SCAD Trunk is a warehouse that offers different services to handle lifestyle items, such as buying, selling, renting and swapping. In this trunk, a supervisor helps to manage all the items in it and make a business deal with SCAD students.
Bees Buzz is an application that helps SCAD students collect their lifestyle items they want to buy, sell, rent and swap. Moreover, under the customized category, users can automatically march with both yours and other requirements to deal with the lifestyle items.
USER FLOW AND WIREFRAME
After the concept confirmed, I started to develop the user flow and wireframes.
TO BE CONTINUE...
