While doing design research I try to listen to myself as much as I do everything else.
How do I feel about this situation? Anxious, awkward, excited, satisfied?
This week Scott and I did some quick and dirty testing by giving away McDonald’s gift cards to people panhandling along the road with signs. We then tracked their balance online to see if the cards were redeemed.
It was satisfying to give something away that you knew could not be misused. We were excited to constantly check to see if the cards had been used yet. A couple of times there was traffic behind us so we just had to hand out the card without any conversation, which felt very transactional and inhumane.
How can our final design incorporate those positive emotions and avoid the others?
Cool! Yes, Our Creator has made us with the desperate need of human contact and companionship – EVERYTHING else is secondary!!! And if it’s not given in genuine sincerity it may do more damage than good. This is the heigth of satisfaction and fulfillment: To love and to be loved! Nothing else comes close!!!
The cards could be wrapped and presented in a cute, tiny, happy mealish box, stating a meassage of what you would have liked to have said if you had a moment to talk. I’m lovin it.
Great post. I always love the way you seek to explore the world around you. This ‘design research’ activity has a couple subtle topics that I’d like to point out and get your take on.
1. How does purchasing homeless people fast food help them. As the the U.S. continues with it’s struggle around food & nutrition (green, local, organic) there is plenty of options for those that can afford it. Where does nutrition intersect with homelessness?
2. What was your goal in tracking the use of the cards? There’s an interesting right to privacy discussion in there. Homeless people enter a lot of government programs in which their ‘progress’ is tracked. I’ve never tracked the use of a gift card I have given a friend. I can’t find the reasons you would care if a card was redeemed or not especially since you say that the card cannot be misused. I know from experience that people will trade food cards for drugs or less cash than the card is worth. thoughts?