Outcome

What did you create and why? Provide a brief statement of the final bespoke device

Our user, during the interview, indicated that he was struggling with keeping up with the mails in the mailbox. He didn't want to check it every day since it was unnecessary, but he also wanted to be notified when a mail eventually arrived. 

We conceptualized a smart mailbox that would detect if there is mail in the mailbox and also indicate the number of mails in the mailbox. These indications were represented in an everyday object in the house - in this project, our user frequented the coat hanger - which would light and change color to show how long mail has been unread and also change color saturation to indicate the number of mails in the mailbox. 

LED color status - 

- Breathing Blue: mail has been received

- Breathing Pink: >10 and <=20 seconds since mail has been collected (only to demonstrate for a prototype. in reality, this can be configured based on users' preference)

- Breathing Yellow: >20 seconds since mail has been collected. It stays in this final state till the time the mail has been collected.