know your neighbors

An experience prototype for a collaborative consumption system for apartment buildings.

Presented at the Interaction '11 student design competition.

Transcript

1. know your neighbors tom haynes + jane leibrock
2. a story
3. Jose comes home one day and sees a flyer next to the elevator.
4. Itʼs signed by one of his neighbors and gives the address for a website that will let him get in touch with other people in the building.
5. That evening he visits the site and enters his address.
6. He sees a list of his neighbors and a way to contact them. This seems useful, so he adds his own information.
7. The site tells him that some of his neighbors have listed things theyʼre sharing, and asks if he has anything heʼs willing to share.
8. To try it out, he lists something he doesnʼt use very often: his power drill.
9. the next day... The next day...
10. Jose gets an email from the system with news about who has recently joined and the new things people are looking for and sharing.
11. One thing catches his eye: his neighbor Jim is giving away old issues of Esquire. Jose is interested, so he contacts Jim who says to come by after work.
12. After work, Jose knocks on Jimʼs door and picks up the magazines. The two chat for a minute — now they both know one more friendly face in the building.
13. a couple days later... A couple days later...
14. Jose gets a text from Jim about the drill he listed on the site when he signed up.
15. Jose is willing to lend the drill now that he knows Jim. This sharing thing seems OK!
16. a week later... A week later, Jose is planning a party and could use some extra chairs.
17. So he goes to the site and posts a request.
19. The site automatically generates a paper flyer for him to print out and post in the building, so he puts one in the elevator.
20. Lindsey sees Joseʼs flyer in the elevator.
21. Sheʼs never meet Jose, but she has had good experiences sharing with other people in the building, so she feels comfortable sharing with someone new.
22. She knocks on Joseʼs door and the two meet. Now Jose knows two new people in the building and feels comfortable sharing with them and with others.
23. know your neighbors tom-haynes.com + janeleibrock.com