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:

1. The space is also used as an events space & art gallery, so M&P pursues a look of a stylish, aesthetic mess.
2. To keep the warehouse aesthetically pleasing, messes are swept under the rug, leading to pileup.
3. No clear assignment of one employee to one task.
4. Employees doing the same task in different ways leads to more chaos.
5. Bags are emptied in large, infrequent batches.

These insights guided the brainstorming of narrower HCW statements such as:

1. HCW reduce the time commitment required for the intake process?
2. HCW make the task of taking the materials out of bags a less undesirable (“less soul-sucking”) chore?
3. HCW facilitate communication between employees, interns, and volunteers, that leads to a standardized and efficient process of donation intake? 
4. HCW encourage M&P employees to empty bags sooner?
5. HCW keep the donation space aesthetically pleasing without hiding?

We decided to move forward with the second HCW statement, HCW make the task of taking the materials out of bags a less undesirable (“less soul-sucking”) chore?

We chose this because of its potential for high impact, as well as its feasibility.

 

Design Goals

With our key insights and our new HCW statement in mind, we decided we needed to prioritize:

1. Self-sustainability given the small workforce at M&P
2. Incentives for people to participate in the sorting process
3. Minimal disruption of the aesthetics of the space considering its use as an arts gallery/events space

 

Measures of Success

Lastly, for our to measure our success we set short-term, mid-term, and long-term goals that our solution would aim to meet:

1. Short-term – bags are emptied within 2 days and fully sorted within 1 week of being received
2. Mid-term – less unsorted donations in the back, walkable space
3. Long-term – nothing is hidden and the space is easily searchable

 

In the next stages of the process, we will be using the narrower problem space established during Reframe to ideate and eventually build a prototype.