How it works

We defined locker as the channel to communicate this information and facilitate interactions between people. Messages that are displayed on the exterior of the locker invite everyone to look at while what’s inside are only accessible to the owner. We identify the locker as a personal/private space within this public open studio setting and want to use it as a new channel of communicating things that are more intimate in a slower, more ambient and physical way.

If it is someone’s birthday, their locker will light up throughout the day. People who notice the signal can use their phones to create digital written blessings and send them to the birthday person’s locker via thermal receipt printer inside the locker. When the birthday person opens the locker, SURPRISE! They will receive a pile of printed blessings. TADA!

Design Process

1. Conceptualization

To explore possible connected device solutions for our studio, we used the forced brainstorming techniques to generate ideas. After setting context and brainstorming, we came up with about ten concepts and then mapped them to a matrix to evaluate their value in data and device. We voted and discussed each idea, and finally decided to use lockers as the channel to communicate intimate messages among people in a shared workspace. 

2. Designing Interactions

3. Evaluating Meaningful Connections

When thinking about how our device can be connected with other devices in the studio, we were thinking about the meaningfulness rather than possibilities. We believed that the key idea about our concept was to create a way to facilitate private, intimate, and emotional communications in a shared space rather than just a physical “Whatsapp” or “Email inbox”. Therefore we decided to connect with the Silver Lining because they were seeking a way to show support to each other and it was aligned with the goal of our service.

4. Working Prototype

For our initial working prototype, we didn’t have the thermal printer at hand yet so instead used a LED to indicate the status of whether the message data has been sent to the device. In this step, we successfully connected with the Silver Lining group and received data from their devices.

5. Designing the Messages

6. Assembling the Components

An organized board to attach all the components:

Neopixel on locker door to indicate the status of birthday:

Preparing samples of different types of messages to demonstrate the idea:

Outcome