The brief required us, as a group, to investigate what we perceived a “world/social problem” to be. Issues such as deforestation, poverty, crime, healthcare and lack of education, jumped to mind initially. However there are hundreds, maybe even thousands of problems out there that need attention, and so as you can probably imagine, it was exceedingly difficult to pinpoint one particular issue that we felt hit a soft spot for us collectively.
We decided that in order to find the right angle, we needed to think in terms of human-centeredness. Immediately the idea of human comes to mind, what it means to be human, what humans think and feel, and how they respond to real world problems.
What: The Problem
This “lack of enough caring” problem stems from an understanding that although we do believe that people care, even at varying levels, there is a strong disconnect towards the care we feel, and the actions we take in order to show that care. We all know the saying, “actions speak louder than words,” and in this instance, the saying could not ring more true. You can easily say that you care about global warming, pollution and poverty, but so long as you merely say these things, the problem or issue persists. It is only when we actively begin to do something about or for the things we care about, those things truly start to change.
Why?
Our decision not to choose a specific world problem began as an attempt to be different with regards to this brief. We knew that the general understanding of the brief would ultimately result in groups focusing on one particular problem, and then answering the brief accordingly. We wanted to think outside of the box and try to do something entirely different, and yet remain on point with the briefs specific outcomes. We also realised that the problem that we did ultimately decide on was a problem that we experienced ourselves, so there was a good relation between designing for the brief, but also for ourselves. We felt as though we could identify personally with what we were researching and discussing. We found that coming up with this concept or problem, became quite a personal and emotional introspective process for us, whereby we were forced to challenge our own notions around giving, donating and caring about the world.
How:
The solution comes in the form of a mobile/smartphone application and online Internet website. The solution arose from a desire to change how people make a difference and to make caring and helping more accessible and easily digestible.
Through our research, we understood that the general public has good intentions but little physical action involving change. Time constrains, missing the whole picture and a lack of motivation pushed people away from improving anyone but himself or herself. This is completely understandable. Humans are historically selfish in their actions and unless the change involves some sort of self-gratification, absenteeism takes hold. This is however revealing to our solution. Psychologically, humans feel good about themselves when doing good gestures for another person or a cause.
By using this emotive, human-centric trait, it unpacks the main reason why our solution would appeal to the target audience. We provide the platform to help you to make the change. We know that problems are big and seem daunting, however it gives people satisfaction to at least support the change they wish to see.
The essence of this project is to challenge society. The question-statement “who cares” requires the reader to search for a meaning of their own regarding their opinions and attitudes towards world issues that happen in and around their own sphere of existence. We choose to believe that human beings have an innate sense of care and thus latched onto an altruistic understanding, and what that might mean for our society today. Having said that, we would like to challenge the extent of the care we experience as humans, and how we might encourage a little more proactive behaviour when it comes to solving world issues, both large and small.
It is not about trying to conquer the world singlehandedly, it is about doing the best that you can do as one person, and in collaboration with everyone else doing the best they can do, we create an impact of change that far exceeds anything we might ever have been able to do on our own. Furthermore, in order to really capture the essence of this massively close-to-home task, we have to be optimistic. Belief in something can often be the greatest foundation for real change and change making.
It is understood that there are many problems in the world, and in our proposed solution, we offer a platform for people to make a difference in all situations – not just one. This is because people, like global issues, are diverse and therefore humans care differently about certain things. By allowing a more selective approach to improve the state of the world, our prototype adheres to all tastes and differences. The final solution is based on the grounds of making little differences in all scopes of life, slowly but surely, and eventually culminating small steps into big changes.
Contributors:
Jenna Lawrenson
Elan Marx
Michael Just
