DEGREE PROJECT S4J (Spend for joy): Your spending optimiser Self-sponsored
Volume : 1 of 1 STUDENT : OMKAR PRAMOD KHADAMKAR PROGRAMME : Masters of Design (M. Des)
GUIDE : NIJOO DUBEY
2018 INTERDISCIPLINARY DESIGN (DESIGN FOR RETAIL EXPERIENCE)
The Evaluation Jury recommends OMKAR PRAMOD KHADAMKAR for the Degree of the National Institute of Design IN INTERDISCIPLINARY DESIGN (DESIGN FOR RETAIL EXPERIENCE)
herewith, for the project titled ‘S4J (Spend for joy): Your spending optimiser’ on fulfilling the further requirements by*
Chairman Members :
Jury Grade : *Subsequent remarks regarding fulfilling the requirements : This Project has been completed in ________________ weeks.
Activity Chairperson, Education
ORIGINALITY STATEMENT I hereby declare that this submission is my own work and it contains no full or substantial copy of previously published material, or it does not even contain substantial proportions of material which have been accepted for the award of any other degree or final gradualtion of any other educational institute on, except where due acknowledgement is made in this graduation project. Moreover, I also declare that none of the concepts are borrowed or copied without due acknowledgement. I further declare that the intellectual content of this graduation project is the product of my own work, except to the extent that assistance from others in the project’s design and conception or in style, presentation and linguistic expression is acknowledged. This graduation project (or part of it) was not and will not be submitted as assessed work in any other academic course. Student Name in Full: OMKAR PRAMOD KHADAMKAR Signature: Date:
COPYRIGHT STATEMENT I hereby grant the National Institute of Design the right to archive and to make available my graduation project/thesis/dissertation in whole or in part in the Institute’s Knowledge Management Centre in all forms of media, now or hereafter known, subject to the provisions of the Copyright Act. I have either used no substantial portions of copyright material in my document or I have obtained permission to use copyright material. Student Name in Full: OMKAR PRAMOD KHADAMKAR Signature: Date:
Acknowledgment I would like to express my heartfelt gratitude to the National Institute of Design for providing me with the opportunity to undertake the project. I would also like to thank Nijoo Dubey (project guide), Bibhudatta Baral (center head) and Sushant C S (discipline lead) for their generous guidance during the course of the project. I am thankful to all the other faculties, friends from NID and kins from my home at Ahmednagar, without their responses in interviews and surveys, this project wouldn’t have materialized. My acknowledgment would be incomplete without mention of Shweta Yadav, Prabhakar Bind, Hemant Gupta, Arun Salhot, Sourabh Chopade, and Brian Dsouza for their resourcefulness and valuable time discussing the possible trajectory of the project. Last but not least, I would like to mention my parents, Vasudha and Pramod for being my superpowers as always.
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Index 1. Introduction 1.1 National Institute of Design/9 1.2 Bangalore campus/9 1.3 Design for Retail Experience/11
2. Motivation Impulse purchase/12 Mindfulness: microtrend/15 Personal background/17 Problem identification/19 3. Research and definition Context understanding/21 Circles of influence/23 Interviews and personas/25 Design brief/37
6. Wayforward/69 Next circles Launch Physical presence and more...
7. References/70 Appendices/72
4. Ideation Methodology/39 Ideas/41 Evaluation and selection/43
5. Prototype Objectives/47 Functional requirements/49 Wireframes/53 Style guides/57 Screens/62 Testing and takeaways/67
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Top: Main entrance at NID, Ahmedabad campus. Adjacent: Amphitheatre at NID, Bangalore campus.
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1. Introduction 1.1 National Institute of Design
1.2 Bangalore campus
The National Institute of Design (NID) is internationally acclaimed as one of the foremost multi-disciplinary institutions in the field of design education and research. The Business Week, USA has listed NID as one of the top 25 European & Asian institutes in the world. The institute functions as an autonomous body under the Department of Industrial Policy & Promotion, Ministry of Commerce & Industry, Government of India. NID has been declared ‘Institution of National Importance’ by the National Institute of Design Act 2014.
NID’s campus at Bengaluru was set up as a joint initiative of and funding from the Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion (DIPP), Ministry of Commerce and Industry and the Ministry of Information Technology, Government of India and was inaugurated in March 2006. R&D Campus commenced with two research-intensive PG Programs, namely Design for Retail Experience, and Design for Digital Experience, from the academic year 2007-2008.
NID is recognized by the Dept. of Scientific & Industrial Research (DSIR) under Ministry of Science & Technology, Government of India, as some scientific and industrial design research organization. NID is known for its pursuit of design excellence to make ‘Designed in India, Made for the World’ a reality. NID’s graduates have made a mark in key sectors of commerce, industry and social development by taking the role of catalysts and through thought leadership.
Currently, five Masters programs are offered from this campus namely Design for Retail Experience, Interaction Design, Information Design, Digital Game Design, and Universal Design. This campus addresses the immediate need for an exclusive Design Research center in the country.
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Top: Design for Retail Experience batch of 2016-18. Adjacent: Visitors observing academic projects done by DRE students during Dfrost (annual cultural event) in March 2017. /photographed by Sarun Ramchandran.
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1.3 Design for Retail Experience This program has been developed to build aesthetic sensibility and design competence as well as knowledge of the professional aspects of conception and presentation, managerial skills and provision of requisite skills to put various design ideas systematically into practice. Every project-based course follows a design process & methodology essential for the student to arrive at creative and informed design directions. Field visits to diverse retail markets, manufacturing facilities, and exposure to domain-specific national events, lectures, and interaction with Industry domain experts is an integral part of the curriculum.
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Motivation Impulse purchase In our society today, impulse purchasing (a profit-making tool for brands) is a growing issue plaguing both the consumer and industries alike as economies around the world start to grow. From the point of the consumer, impulse spending will lead to losses of income due to over expenditure such as spending too much money in a month for clothing or electronics just because they are new rather than because we need them. The problems can also come in the form of space utilization where the cumulation of past purchases such as clothes and furniture just start to take up a place in the house as we keep on getting newer clothes while the old ones fall out of style, favor and subsequently uses. In addition, the previously mentioned problems, impulse purchase itself can lead to addiction. As a person continuously overspends on each purchase, it becomes less of an occasional thing and more of a norm in one’s life. Thus, in such a situation, the sudden effort to not to impulse purchase may lead to a reduction of quality in living as perceived by the person as well as downright depression and anxiety. While it is true that over expenditure is beneficial in terms of the bottom-line to these industries, more often than not, the spending trend of consumers will often force industries to overproduce products to reach potential demand. This overproduction is a loss in terms of raw materials, operation cost, as well as human cost in the event, said products are not sold off as per predicted. In extension to that, the problem as previously mentioned with space utilization is repeated here where the occupancy of space (warehouses) also incurs a cost to the business as the products stay stagnant.
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Statistical data 1) Out of every 5 rupees spent by consumer 2 rupees are due to impulse buying decisions. 2) Younger consumers with higher incomes have a greater percentage of impulse purchases. 3) The most significant motivation for impulse buying, which accounts for 88% of the impulse purchases, is that the item is on sale. 4) 90% of people make occasional impulsive purchases and between 30% to 50% of all purchases were classified by the buyers themselves as impulse purchases. 5) 20% of what shoppers buy at the grocery store is bought on impulse. 6) 75% of consumers feel happy after impulse purchases. 7) 62% of impulse buys are ‘wanted, not needed’. 8) 71% of people leave things at home that: (a) were bought on a whim. (b) they have not used. (c) they will never use. (d) they are planning to throw out. Source: Reference section: 4 and 5.
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Industries, as well as individuals, aren’t the only parties affected by the ill effects of impulse purchasing either, the environment or the earth itself suffers as well. Impulse purchasing as mentioned previously would ultimately lead to the cumulation of past purchases by the consumer as well as overproduction by companies some of which may spoil (food produce), run out of favor (shirts and dresses running out of trend) or even run out of relevancy (electronic products that are outdated). In cases like this, while some items may be given away as charity or as part of a promotional event, more often than not, it would be thrown away into landfills. These landfills in turn would bring their own unique problems ranging from potential toxic material being released into the earth, leachate which is the liquid formed when waste breaks down in the landfill and water filters through that waste, production of greenhouse gases (methane) due to the compacted down waste material being broken down through anaerobic processes, as well as direct disruption of natural biodiversity and ecosystem from the presence of landfills. A graphic representing impulse purchase. Source: Reference section: 5.
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Mindfulness: micro-trend Mindfulness is the alternative medicine for a performance-driven society and it borrows from Buddhist traditions to offer people tools for a more aware lifestyle and greater spirituality. Living mindfully means acquiring mental strategies for everyday life to break up negative thought patterns or to learn how to deal with demanding situations. The aim is to create a positive, authentic feeling for life. Whichever path each individual follows is a question of personal configuration. For some people, it’s daily meditation with the smartphone app, while for others it’s regular digital detox holidays. And other people choose to change their lives radically and live according to their own rhythm. The mind-body connection of today’s consumer is influencing the marketplace to become — and let its consumers know it is becoming — more conscious and aware of the environment. A recent Forbes article describes the mindfulness of 2018 as being more conscious and aware of the world around us. A graphic representing mindfulness. Source: Reference section: 6.
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“So, what do you do?” “Now I am in the final semester, doing my masters in Design for Retail Experience.” “Oh! I haven’t heard that before, sounds interesting though. What is it about?” “Basically we study ways to create an appropriate experience for customers to shop in retail environments.” “I see, so you are the ones behind making people do impulse purchase?”
My conversation with a stranger which triggered the motivation for the project.
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Personal background As of such, there appears to be a need/demand for a method to curb or control the spending of people in general and this, in turn, is a topic very dear to me. I, as a person who was behind the scene with the task of designing experiences to enhance the sales, marketing to survive in competition as well encouraging customers for impulse purchase due to my experience in working at Future Retail Ltd, Shankara, Frolic, as well as Layers of Existence. Knowing what I know, continuing a similar approach for my graduation project would have been disappointing not only for myself intellectually but also spiritually. Thus, I’ve worked on devising a method to curb or control the spending of people, in general, would help immensely to not only the people directly affected by over expenditure it but also to companies and the environment via reduction of waste. And thus this becomes the motivation for this project.
Image showing the chronological order of brands I had worked with in recent past.
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Anxiety
Brands
Human needs
Impulse purchase/ overspend
Impact on consumer
Planet degradation
Brand’s
Environment
suppy
CSR
Investment
Overproduce
Figure 1: Figure showing the list of sub-functions which are taken into consideration when mapping out the effect of over-spending.
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Problem identification From my previously mentioned motivations, I have identified 2 problems which may prove a challenge toward achieving the intended goal. The 1st problem is simply an identification of the key sub-function of overspending which I can manipulate or control in order to solve the problem of over expenditure. This is an interesting task due to the interconnectedness of each and every sub-function as a thoughtless removal of one sub-function can result in a domino effect of repercussions that may outweigh whatever benefit that we have highlighted previously. The 2nd challenge to proposing a method to curb over expenditure would be the contingencies towards the affected party. As mentioned previously, the interconnectedness of each and every sub-function would mean that a thoughtless removal of one sub-function can result in a domino effect of repercussions that may outweigh whatever benefit that I have highlighted previously. However, even if careful considerations were put into place to reduce as many accidental issues that may arise, there would still be a few unavoidable issues that would remain. This issue is such as the loss of jobs due to increase efficiency in the production sector resulting in the reduction of demand in manpower for the production division. As the project finds a delicate balance between pros and con in the effort to develop a method to curb over expenditure, it is also important to solve the cons that cannot be phased out in the earlier stages.
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Figure 2: Figure showing the potential pros and cons when overspending is curb/controlled hence converted to moderate spending
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RESEARCH AND DEFINITION Context understanding In order to properly identify the pros and cons of my developed method, we first mapped out all possible effects and their interconnectedness when overspending is in play into a graph as seen in Figure 1. As mentioned in the motivation, I mapped out the effects of overspending in terms of its origin (Peoples need to buy newer branded goods) and its subsequent effects to the person itself (anxiety), company (company profits, overproduction) and last but not least the environment (planet degradation). Based on Figure 1, I predicted that as we curb overspending and bring it into moderation, it would affect the factors that I’ve already identified. First and foremost, the most direct effect the change will have would be the customers saving money as they no longer need to spend money on unnecessary and expensive goods consistently. This eliminates the possibility of addiction and reduction of quality of life as mentioned previously as well as the potential threat to the environment via waste in terms of garbage and waste in terms of resources. However, doing so would, in turn, result in the loss of company profits as people are buying less and less and this, in turn, would result in the reduced demand for human resource required by the company. The updated map of all possibilities can be seen in Figure 2.
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Figure 3: Figure showing the reialigned list of sub functions which are taken into consideration when mapping out the effect of over-spending
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Formulating the objective As mentioned previously, the change in overspending while bringing positive change would also result in some negative feedback which in this case comes in the form of loss of jobs due to the reduction of company production habits. The newer proposal is to align saved money and HR to satisfy the tapping needs of human. E.g.: when the invention of ATM took place, jobs of bank tellers were in danger. Eventually, the invention has led to boost of banking business in such way, currently there are more number of tellers in the world than it was at the time of ATM launch. So the newly proposed model talks about realigning HR in meaningful ways as seen in Figure 3. Hence, the objective of the research and experiment was decided to transform overspending behavior of people to moderate spending habit.
Impulse purchase/ overspend
Moderate purchase/ spending on necessities
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India & beyond
Regional environments
Improvisation
Final product
Acquaintance & city Beta prototype
Friends and family
Me
Alpha prototype
Mental model prototype
Figure 4: Picture depiction of the approached used in designed solution early on in the development phase. Reference: Circle of Influence, The 7 habits of highly effective people, by Stephen Covey.
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Circles of influence The proposed method was devised firstly via mental model prototyping. This is where I have used the circle of influence as well as SCAMPER technique to solve the problem of impulse purchase for myself first before extrapolating the solution outward towards friends and family, acquaintance and city, regional environment and finally India and beyond. This approach of first developing a solution for self before extrapolating out was based on the work of Stephen Covey in his book The 7 habits of highly effective people. The circle of influence method on the other hand is a tool to get people to look at all the things that concern them and help them realize that they have more power than they think over things that feel out of their control. This method is first done via drawing a large circle in which we fill in with things that we associate concern with as seen in Figure 5. This circle that was drawn represents the things in which we feel that is out of control within our lives. Following this, we draw a smaller circle within the large circle which is to represent the things that we can actively control. Subsequently, among the items which was already previously listed, I considered whenever I was ready to moderate my spending on those specific items and thus if I was ready, said items would be moved to the inner circle while if I wasn’t then said items would remain at the outer circle. In my case, I was not quite ready to moderate my spending on these areas and thus why the inner circle remains empty as seen in Figure 5.
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FB, Insta, Whatsapp
Online food ordering Online food ordering
E-learning
E-learning Meditation
Meditation
Circle of control Guitar
Deodrants
Clothes
Deodrants
Electronic gadgets WiFi, Internet data
WiFi, data
Clothes
Guitar
Electronic gadgets
Circle of concern
Figure 5: Step 2 of utilizing the circle of concern method which is drawing a smaller inner circle in which is coined the circle of control and subsequently start sorting items in the outer circle into the inner circle depending on if we are ready to control/regulate said spending.
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FB, Insta, Whatsapp
Figure 6: Results of Using Circle of Influence method along with SCAMPER to plot out the various issues affecting our life.
Next, I drew another circle in between the circle of control and circle of concern which we will dub the circle of influence. This circle represents items in which we can influence its usage or frequency by doing something else. An example of this happening would be that because I always play the guitar instead of over consuming social media or perhaps teaching myself a skill via YouTube or self-discovery methods rather than paying an expensive teacher as well as the logistics to reach said teacher on a daily basis. To standardize the process of identifying the problem, thinking of how each of them influences the other and considers whenever each item can be controlled or not, I used a creative brainstorming technique known as Substitute, Combine, Adapt, Modify, Put to another use, Eliminate, Reverse or SCAMPER. Using each subsection individually or collectively, SCAMPER should be able to condense multiple considerations into a single issue via Combine, Modify and Put to another use strategy or removed altogether from consideration by using the Adapt and Substitute methods. The overall result should look as in Figure 6. By plotting this out, it enabled me to have a top-down view on my current overall expenditures as well as enable me to plan out my priorities properly. Doing so made me realize that there were spaces for me to save money on in which I can then use to invest things that are really important. In addition to that, by having a clear outline of priorities, it makes it hard for us to relapse into buying unnecessary goods and products thus avoiding past mistakes.
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Making responders aware of the problem associated with overspending
Understanding the responders feelings and motivations with respect to the outcome of card sorting
Discovering the intended or unnoticed solutions
Knowing responder’s POV on spending. (method of inquiry: card sorting with limited responce time.)
Figure 7: This figure illustrates my rendition to ‘Early-user characteristics model’.
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Discovering the intended or unnoticed solutions
Concluding the personal insights and experiences
Asking responder to rank the existing and newly derived solutions on the basis
Interviews and personas Having completed the 1st phase which is to successfully solve the problem of an impulse purchase for me, the next phase is to extrapolate said solution to the next tier which is friends and family. For this, I proposed a method which is based on the Early User characteristic model which was proposed by Steve Blank and Eric Ries. The Early User Characteristic model comprises of 5 sections which are the Problem Context: Understanding the responder’s perception, making responders aware of the problem, knowledge of existing methods, assembling a solution out of parts and lastly the preferred solution. Our method, however, is a modification of said model where each section relates directly to our approach instead. The difference between the original and our proposed is as seen in Figure 7 and 8.
Has/ acquired budget Assembling a solution out of parts Been actively looking for a solution
Is aware of this problem
Is facing a problem
Figure 8: ‘Early-user characteristics model’. Reference section: 9.
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Images showing one of the scene from interview phase, and how the respondent arranged the cards according to the two classifications. Time limit to clssify each card was 5 seconds.
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My proposed method first starts with understanding the responder’s perception. This is a data collection phase where the goal is to learn the responder’s feelings, motivations as well as their perception of their own spending habits. This was carried out using a deck of card as well as a timer system where the deck of card is filled with products and services which satisfies human needs and the responder is required to classify said products or services into either item which they are aware they are overspending on and items which they are aware that they are not overspending on. This process was done within a 5 second timer limit for each card as a form of response latency control which ensures that the classification done is purely due to the implicit association of the responder with little to no external influence of conscious thought. Next, the method continues via making the responders aware of the problems and follow up by knowledge of existing methods. This can be done by creating a 1 on 1 connection with the responder which allows them to open up and honestly discuss their experiences with overspending, their past attempts as well as results to curb said overspending as well. In addition to that, doing this also allows us to interject and share our personal experiences with the responder in order to collaborate with their experiences. Learning whenever the responder is aware or not of their situation and in the case of not, enlightening them of their problem, while if yes, learning the results of said efforts to see whenever or not standard methodologies would work for said responder later down the line.
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Another set of Images showing a scene from interview phase, and how the respondent arranged the cards according and later ranked the features on the basis of their efficiency.
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Once the responder’s insights or methods have been identified and listed in the previous section, this thus marks the end of the data collection phase and the start of the analysis phase with the start of the assembling a solution out of parts. In this section, we group together responder insights and categorize them based on known methodologies or create new ones in the case of new methodologies. Currently, there is 7 solutions/features that have already been identified which were: Spick & Span Bringing clarity on your needs, quantifying your needs in terms of money spent. Focusing on the needs that spark joy helps to keep impulse purchases under control. Past Positive Who can teach you better than yourself? Discover tips from your own past. Knowing where you had overspent helps to save for things that matter the most to you. Fair to share Share not only unused goods and services with people who could use it on an exchange or at a fair rate but also your targets; maybe you can participate in challenges to achieve the set targets. Share your ideas on how you achieved them.
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Mind map sketch illustrating the keywords of SCAMPER technique. Source: Reference section: 8.
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DIY-SCAMPER Make your own things to fulfill your needs by substituting, modifying, reusing and repairing the unused resources. Rush on your hobbies Directing your spending on your special pursuits help you to notice and nurture your positive side. Eliminating excessive spending on unwanted things. Bon Voyage Plan a trip to experience splendor of nature. The more you spend on experiencing scenic beauty, more you encourage the industry to protect it. Not Carrying Excessive Hard Cash Tends to spend it on go.
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Defining personas
Socially Adequate Spends to receive appreciation from people.
Curious Seeks constant updates and variety. Gets bored easily.
Imitator Influenced by social circles, peer pressure and media.
“I choose uber cab over the public transport while going to meet the client. I think that is one way to create a good impression.”
“I buy new smartphone each year to experience the updated features.”
“I shop handmade soaps because friends often use and talk about them.”
Graphical representations to illustrate metaphors of personas which unify certain characteristics of similar responders.
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Design brief Next, for the preferred solution phase, once each insight has been successfully categorized, each category is then ranked based on responder input. Subsequently, the cumulative top 3 highest ranked methodologies were chosen to form an outline for the developed solution. We found that the top 3 highest ranked solutions/features were Spick and Span, Past Positive and Fair to share and thus from there the solution that is to be formulated has to answer the following generated question which was: How can I design a better way for people (1) to learn from the past spendings (2) to bring clarity on the next purchases and also on current shareable possessions?
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Images showing a few samples of the submitted photos for the ‘day in life characterization’ method which was utilized.
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IDEATION Methodology In order to solve this question, I utilize the ‘day in life characterization’ method which is where responders were asked to take a picture of their surroundings every hour throughout the day. In total, I have received 84 pictures in total and these were used to help me to discover the key touchpoints. In the user’s context, touch points were taken as triggers to build ideas as the ideas would then fit in the appropriate context of users. The triggers were further developed to form numerous ideas. These ideas were evaluated using idea evaluation matrix.
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Another set of images showing a few samples of the submitted photos for the ‘day in life characterization’ method which was utilized.
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Ideas Following key touch points were observed from images received: Indoors, colleagues, tables, chairs, handbag, laptop/PC, smartphone, mouse, cupboard, Whatsapp, emails, walk, cab, metro. These elements were then treated as triggers, methots, and models to generate new ideas. This process included looking at touchpoints from a different perspective. In the end, the following ideas were derived: Indoors Windows of revelation to enlighten people about the stories of spendings in relation to the planet and self-health...
Table Things on tables are a good metaphor for possessions the more organized it’s the decluttered the table will look.
Cupboard Virtual cupboard with compartments of wellused, unused and shareable possessions.
Chairs Assign chairs to expenses on the scale of their importance for you. Eg. Superior, subordinate.
Mouse A mouse is operated on dual axes quadrants. Can user’s expenses and their relation with joy be plotted on quadrants to communicate clearly?
Laptop/PC Linking virtual cupboard with the link to donate, rental, selling and exchange sites.
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Figure 9: The different ideas that were formulated to tackle the generated research question being tabulated and evaluated in an idea evaluation matrix. Reference section: 13.
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Evaluation and selection Using an evaluation matrix, the derived ideas were evaluated and high scoring ideas were further elaborated. Following were the criteria to evaluate the derived ideas: 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7.
Newness Ability to solve the problem Practical Profitable Achievable using my skills The potential for early users Passion factor (I really love it!)
This allowed me to come up with our solution which was formed via combining two ideas which were ‘virtual cupboard’ which Linked the donations, rental, selling and exchange sites to our inventory. The next section of the developed solution was ‘spend4joy’ which try to plot the user’s expenses and their relationship with joy on a quadrant for clear communication/feedback. The result was a graph as seen in Figure 9.
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Well-used
Underspend
Overspend
Unused Donate
Exchange Rent
DIY
Sell
Figure 10: Personalized interactive data visualization which shows the individual purchase of items and their perceived enjoyment that was brought to the user against how much the person spent for said item.
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The graph in figure 10 explains 3 things. First of which is the Y-axis which indicates the level of user satisfaction over said purchase in each insight category. Next, the X-axis indicates the perceive spending of each insight category. Being able to see items bounded by both of these axes gives us an insight to our past spending and how worth it is it to spend on said category. Lastly, the graph also enables us to set target goals for the items which fall under the category of unused in order to derive more value from said purchases via renting, selling or exchanging. This idea was refined and taken forward for prototyping.
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Image showing a responder discussing his objectives after the interview was concluded. Many such conversations lead to formulating the most tapping objective the solution should look into.
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PROTOTYPE Objectives While the research phase, the following user journey was evident. 1. Shops due to varied impulses (based on personas of social adequacy, curiosity, and imitation). 2. Becomes aware of the clutter of the possessions and unused items. 3. Looks for donating/sharing options in surrounding and online. An ideal way to introduce the launchable product would be in the third phase using marketing funnel from awareness to purchase. (mediums would include: webinars, social media, events, search, free trials, Media mentions, free trials, purchase, referrals) The selected idea is targeted to achieve the following objectives: Product objectives 1. Bringing clarity about past spendings of users. 2. Making users aware of unused, shareable possessions/expenses. 3. Put users’ possessions and monetary resources to better use and value.
Human objectives 1. Save more money to invest in things which really matter. 2. Know easy ways to learn from the past spending mistakes. 3. Become aware of possessions and experiences that spark joy.
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Figure 11: Website architecture diagram, to achieve cross-device usage. The mentioned functionalities can be experienced through the website as well.
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Functional requirements From objectives, the important functional requirements were derived. 1. Set S4J matrix An interactive card sorting game to create the Spend4joy matrix. It includes following subtasks and screens: 1) Game onboarding 2) Cards 3) Classifications 4) Timer 5) Progress bar 6) Pause 7) Quit 8) Resume 9) Completion
2. Select a card to set usage level Modify and update the matrix as per the newer lifestyle changes to receive the updated tips. This would need following functionalities: 1) Retake the game to update the S4J matrix 2) Search a card 3) Cards dashboard onboarding information 4) Card browsing 5) Ability to check card details
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Figure 12: App architecture diagram
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3. Refer tips to set usage / DIY targets Easy tips recommendation based on the specific resulted matrix would help the user to set meaningful targets. This feature would need following functionalities and screens: 1) Search a tip 2) Possible tips 3) Tip Detail 4) Target input 5) Suggest new tip 6) Tip not found 7) Tip submitted
4. Targets list to track Once the user has set the targets this feature would allow to track the progress and deadline of the active and failed targets. Following are the sub-functions to curate the meaningful journey of this feature: 1) Target list 2) Target modification 3) Target status update 4) Completion 5) Share achievements
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Figure 13: Website wireframes for ‘home’ and ‘log-in’ pages with the mentions of the required functionalities and their locations on the page.
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Wireframes I created wireframes of required screens from the architecture diagrams bothe for wesite and app.
Figure 14: Website wireframes for ‘member’s home’ and ‘tip details’ pages with the mentions of the required functionalities and their locations on the page.
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Figure 15: App wireframes for ‘log-in’ and ‘member’s home’ screens with the mentions of the required functionalities and their locations on the page.
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Figure 16: App wireframes for ‘Targets’, ‘Tips’ and ‘Me’ screes with the mentions of the required functionalities and their locations on the page.
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Figure 17: Result of the comparative responses of one of the ratings asked in the form.
Adjacent: Polarity mapping form used in the survey to get a direction of desired conceptual associations and emotional reactions towards the selected solution.
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Style guides To arrive at style guides, I took a survey to get a direction of desired conceptual associations and emotional reactions towards the selected solution. This question was asked with the polarity mapping form. If there is an assistant to help you in making meaningful spending decisions: Assisting you to spend more on things that really matter to you and less on the things that don’t. Helping you to be aware of your past spending mistakes so you won’t repeat them. and empower you with a few other smart tools. According to you, what this assistant should feel like? Sample size: 54 Following were the most preferred attributes derived from the reactions of the survey. Sensory experience should be energetic (showing a great amount of activity) and sophisticated (involving a great deal of worldly experience). The service methods should be reliable (consistently good in quality and able to be trusted)and innovative (featuring new methods and experiences). Tips and target setting should have rational decision making.
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Color pallete
Figure 18: Selection of colors for the first prototype on the basis of high rated attributes derived from the survey.
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Gridsystem
Figure 19: The style guide for grid systems were referred from the material design guides. The intention being quick prototype development and feedback analysis than spending unintended time on sensory surface development.
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Typography standards
Figure 20: Typography standards were referred from the material design guides. Considering similar intentions of grid system guides.
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App tile design
App tile creates the first impression. A quick iteration was made to communicate the core theme of an app taking inspiration a currency note and initials of the idea i.e. Spend 4 Joy. Adjacent images depict the evelopment of tile graphic and its representation on phone screen.
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Screens from the first prototype
Login
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Onboarding
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...Screens from the first prototype
Drag and drop interactions
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Completion of matrix
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...Screens from the first prototype
Tips scroll and navigation
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Usability testing The prototype was tested to receive a perspective on the progress from users. Feedback included the following points. which could be implemented in the next iteration of the prototype.
Takeaways 1. Iteration on colors and iconography to enhance conceptual perception. 2. Better engagement and visual communication in onboarding. 3. Easy and pleasurable drag and drop micro-interactions. 4. Concise textual communication in axis description and instructions 5. Conversational onboarding with an engaging copy. 6. Independent quantification of cards.
Sample size: 4
Image showing user interacting with the card sorting game in prototype.
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India & beyond
Regional environments
Improvisation
Final product
Acquaintance & city Beta prototype
Friends and family
Me
Alpha prototype
Mental model prototype
Figure 21: Re-referring to the figure of the ‘Circles of influence’ and their relativity with the prototype development.
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WAY FORWARD Referring to the earlier mentioned circles of influence, way forward is to iterate the prototype considering the feedback received from the last usability testing. To make it ready for the next circle of influence,i.e. acquaintance and communal places in the city. In this direction, I would be considering the following high-level issues to justify the efficiency of the solution. 1. Development of engaging content and precise copy 2. Programming to generate specific data visualization. 3. An algorithm to recommend the relevant tips. 3. Launchable app 4. Pitch for investment/crowdfunding 5. Possible revenue streams 6. Extension through the physical reach 7. Hub and spokes model stores 8. Personal counseling service
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REFERENCES 1. IANS (2014-07-12). “NID becomes 41st institute of national importance”. Business Standard India. 2018-04-22. Print. 2. National Institute of Design. “50 Years of the National Institute of Design, 1961-2011” National Institute of Design, 2013. Print. 3. Interview with Anuj Prasad. “Change in consumer behaviour has given impetus to design for differentiation”. Domain B. 2018-10-22. Internet resource. 4. Brandon, Gaille. “19 Dramatic Impulse Buying Statistics”. Brandon Gaille, 2017-05-22. 5. Any Junk, UK. “71% of Brits Throw Out Impulse Purchases”. Any Junk,2018. Internet resource. 6. Lempert, Phil. “10 Food Trends That Will Shape 2018” Forbes, Dec 13, 2017 Internet resource. 7. Covey, Stephen R. “The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People: Restoring the Character Ethic”. New York: Simon and Schuster, 1989. Print. 8. Eberle, Bob. “Scamper on: Games for Imagination Development” Prufrock Press Inc., 1996. 9. Blank, Steven G, and Bob Dorf. “The Startup Owner’s Manual: The Step-by-Step Guide for Building a Great Company”. Pescadero, Calif: K & S Ranch, Inc, 2012. Print. 10. Zaltman, Gerald. “How Customers Think: Essential Insights into the Mind of the Market.” Boston, Mass: Harvard Business School Press, 2003. Print. 11. Maslow, A. H. “A theory of human motivation”. Psychological Review, 50(4), 370-396. (1943). 12. Stephanie K. Meador, K. Mark Derby, T. F. McLaughlin, Anjali Barretto and Kim Weber. “Using Response Latency within a Preference Assessment” The Behavior Analyst Today. Volume 8, Issue 1, 2007. Print.
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13. Cresswell, Lesley. “Product Design Graphics with Materials Technology”. Heinemann, 2002. Print. 14. Pruitt, John, and Tamara Adlin. “The Persona Lifecycle: Keeping People in Mind Throughout Product Design”. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 2006. Print. 15. Garrett, Jesse J. “The Elements of User Experience: User-centered Design for the Web and Beyond”. Berkeley, CA: New Riders, 2011. Print. 16. Mew, Kyle. “Learning Material Design”. PACKT open source, 2015-12-29. Print.
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APPENDICES 1. Mindmap of deriving cards from Maslow’s law of hierarchy of needs
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Figure 22: Maslow’s pyramid of needs. Reference section: 11.
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2. Iterative method to customer discovery (the Lean Startup methodology)
Source: Reference section: 9.
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3. Initial project proposal (Working) Title of Graduation Project Experimentation of the techniques of mindfulness on consumption behavior of customers to test whether it leads to reducing their waste. Context 91% of plastic waste is not recycled. Most of the retail packaging is single-use plastic. The current customer behavior towards consumption has a major opportunity to make conscious decisions. If customers demand eco-friendly lifestyle the brands would act accordingly to suffice the mindful demands. Individuals who have a passion to live eco-friendly low waste lifestyle also get frustrated due to lack of knowledge about easier ways are often expensive and not easily available. When such customers seek for guidance in taking small initial steps to practice such lifestyle they find it difficult.
Due to following reasons: 1) Overwhelming and preachy advice on the web and social media. 2) Lack of social support and motivation to be consistent in this journey. 3) Improper habits and out of comfort extra effort in mindful segregation of waste. Objective My project would be an attempt to encourage customers to consume mindfully to reduce the wastage (mostly created due to impulse purchases and single-use plastic). Outcome A platform (physical /digital/ phygital) to practice mindful consumption which would lead to the desired objective.
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Probable benefits of outcome: 1) Save money by reducing impulse buying by enhancing mindfulness in making conscious buying decisions. 2) Know simple tricks and tips to live a low waste lifestyle. 3) Ease the job of waste management by knowing and practicing ‘art of wasting’. 4) Begin appreciating your own belongings and possessions to carry and experience these things gracefully. 5) Stay motivated to live low waste, sustainable and environmentally cool lifestyle.
Step 3. Creating Low fidelity prototype: Creating the minimum viable product of highly potential solution idea Step 4. Validating solution: Conducting qualitative research to understand the effect of a solution and its underlying problems faced by the users. Step 5. Iterating /pivoting the solution: As per the results of the first test of solution hypothesis, iterating the features of the solution to match the responder’s needs aligning with the desired impact.
Methodology Step 1. Validation of the problem: Conducting a quantitative research to know the magnitude of the problem in the reachable area. Step 2. Understanding the customers: Observing the potential customers to understand a day in their life + Creating the persona of evangelist customers who are more willing to solve the problem.
Time-frame Aug. 2018: Validation of the problem and understanding the customer Sept. 2018: Creating the first MVP and validating the solution Oct. 2018: Iterating and pivoting as per the feedback from the first test of the solution Nov. 2018: Creating high fidelity MVP and documenting
