Convergence Exercise
- Pick a favorite product. Add sustainability (a) as a capability, or (b) as a characteristic.
- Observe. Define. Ideate. Sketch. Concept Story (narrative). Human-centered.
- Intended to stretch & strain (aka wedging, coning & centering). Manage uncertainties. Do your best. Use design thinking.
What to Do
- Discuss (using our Slack discussion groups)
- Document (post your work-in-progress thinking below on this Notion page)
- Mini-Essay Report (create your mini-essay report and post it on Canvas).
BRAINSTORMING
- sharing marketplace for musicians (like the idea, not sure bcs not a physical product rather than a “digital product”?/service)
- portable charging platforms for music gear (avoid the great amount of power batteries wasted to use all the wireless gear - nobody uses the rechargeable ones as they’re slightly larger and they hardly fit in the bodypacks)
OBSERVE: Experienced musicians are often addicted to constantly buy new gear, ending up with houses full of stuff they don’t even remember to have or they use very rarely. Though, they refuse to sell most of their stuff: mostly because they get attached to it, secondly because they think it might turn out useful sooner or later. Newbies, on the other hand, often face economic barriers because musical gear is expensive: kids have to ask their parents money, grown ups have to evaluate if and how much invest in something they might not like. This often ends in purchasing crappy entry level stuff that the user hardly enjoys, so they quit and the gear is left beside taking dust
DEFINE: there are two type of personas involved in the process. Experienced users that accumulate an unnecessary amount of musical equiment, and potential new users that would happily try their way into the musical world but often don’t have too much money to spend for good gear or are prevented to invest big amounts of money into something they could potentially don’t like
IDEATE: what if we create a new “gear-sharing” marketplace where musicians can rent at very affordable rates their unused gear? Upcoming new musicians could search for renters in their area and start their musical journey with quality items that could boost their passion, eventually buying things when they are more aware of what they want. At the same time, renters could save space and avoid having lot of unnecessary stuff in their homes or studios, without having the feel of “losing” something they want to possess, and knowing that if they really need something again they can retire the object from the marketplace.
CONCEPT HUMAN CENTERED
Imagine a young girl: Hailey wants to start play guitar, but her parents are unsure. What if we spend money on something she gets bored of after a few months?
Somewhere in the same city, Tom is a middle aged musician who’s buying his third expensive Stratocaster, that joins a couple Gibsons, two basses and a keyboard. His wife yells at him because their house looks like a music museum and there’s so much gear taking dust, but he refuses to sell anything because… well, because every single piece reminds him of good memories, and also because you never know what might turn useful again! Now, imagine a sharing online platform where this musician could upload all the gear is not currently using, to rent them at very affordable prices. He could get some good money out of it, making his wife happy. He could free space from his house, making her even happier. He would not feel the sense of losing something because he could always retrieve the stuff back if he feels he needs it. Most of all, the little girl could start her musical journey with her dream guitar, and her parents would have nothing to worry about: if she gets bored, we just give the guitar back! And if she likes it, they might even ask Tom about buying it at a discounted price (they already paid for the renting), or look around for that model.
This sharing platform blends circular economy with social empowering, removing barriers for people that wants to pursue their artistical journey.