TEST & ITERATE: Team Magpies & Peacocks

Based on the feedback we received from our previous test, we added a receptacle box by the front desk, and waited another week to see the results. Since we only made a change that would affect time taken to sort donations into boxes, that was the only metric we asked employees to pay attention to in this iteration. We received feedback that it took less than a day for employees to take donations from the front box and sort them into the categories at the station. Employees also expressed that the boxes under the table would need to be bigger. … Continue reading TEST & ITERATE: Team Magpies & Peacocks

TEST: Team Magpies & Peacocks

We tested our idea of an immediate sorting station at the Magpies & Peacocks warehouse. For our medium fidelity prototype, we brought four cardboard boxes representing different categories of donations, and set up our sorting station. We placed a large table Magpies & Peacocks already had away from the front desk, and asked the employees to first empty out donation bags onto the table, sort them into piles on the table, place the piles into their corresponding boxes, and later take the items in the boxes to their assigned locations within the warehouse. We left the prototype for a week … Continue reading TEST: Team Magpies & Peacocks

BUILD: Team Magpies & Peacocks

This week, we built a low fidelity prototype based on our different assumptions. Because our problem was very specific to Magpies & Peacocks, their space, and their needs, it was not really possible for us to come up with a low fidelity prototype that would really reflect the problem space, but we tried our best. After the Mid-Semester Review, we had identified two possible solutions: a space oriented solution, which was an intermediate sorting station to break up the organization process, and a people oriented solution which involved weekly volunteer sessions to deal with the existing mess. After weighing both … Continue reading BUILD: Team Magpies & Peacocks

IDEATE: Team Magpies & Peacocks

This week, we brainstormed ideas for our narrowed-down How Can We statement, focusing on how we can make the task of emptying donation bags less of an undesirable chore for Magpies & Peacocks employees. We started by individually writing our thoughts on sticky notes during Open Studio. After getting all of our ideas out, we organized them into clusters as a team. We realized that our ideas had two main approaches: people oriented and space oriented solutions. People oriented solutions aimed to make the process more enjoyable and seem more feasible for the employees, while space oriented solutions were focused … Continue reading IDEATE: Team Magpies & Peacocks

REFRAME: Magpies & Peacocks

In Reframe, we took a hard look at our insights and our initial problem space and put them into perspective by creating design goals, a more focused “How Can We” statement, and measures of success. We then decided the specific problem within the problem space that we will be focusing on.   How Can We We identified 5 key insights from Immerse: The space is also used as an events space & art gallery, so M&P pursues a look of a stylish, aesthetic mess. To keep the warehouse aesthetically pleasing, messes are swept under the rug, leading to pileup. No … Continue reading REFRAME: Magpies & Peacocks

IMMERSE: Team Magpies & Peacocks

In the process of Immerse, we decided to forego the traditional user persona. Instead, we’ve generated a user journey map to highlight key moments throughout M&P’s standing donation intake system. Because this intake system is highly specific to the two users (our community partners at M&P), this user journey map provides perspective into the tendencies and decision-making processes of these two individuals, as opposed to those of a more generalized audience or demographic.   An example user scenario: Ahshia, one of the employees, has just returned to the warehouse after overseeing a pop-up event at an art gallery in Los … Continue reading IMMERSE: Team Magpies & Peacocks