IH02-MichaelLovejoy
From IEOR 170 Spring 2007
[edit] IEOR 170 Persuasive Design
Introduction
The problem described in this report relates to newspaper stands for The Daily Californian. This is a newspaper issued every regular school day at UC Berkeley, and there are several types of newspaper stands currently utilized. Most are just hollowed-out traditional newspaper stands with the door broken off. This makes it easy to grab the paper, but vulnerable to rain. Other stands have doors with a hinge on the bottom or left side of the opening. Either way, it is difficult to open with only one hand free. There is also the issue of the inserts that come with the newspapers, as these are often seen strewn on the ground around newspaper stands.
Target User Group
The main users of The Daily Cal are students who wish to keep up with current events and students who are very bored during class. The students are often in a rush, and want to quickly grab a crisp newspaper without dealing with inserts falling out everywhere. If an insert falls out onto the ground, it is seldom worth the time to throw it away for most users. Typical users are also often carrying items in their hands, including books, umbrellas, coffee cups, etc. Therefore it is ideal for the typical student to be able to simply take a newspaper with one hand and hold it until he/she reaches his/her destination (most likely a classroom).
Problem Description
Typical problems include the newspapers getting wet during rainstorms, inability to grab a newspaper with one hand, a mess forming with the pile of newspapers in the stand, and many inserts falling out onto the ground. Most newspaper stands are open to the weather, but do surprisingly well. However, if it is windy, every newspaper can be soaked before classes start at 8:00AM. The stands that solve this problem present another challenge. Some have a hinged door that needs to be opened with one hand, leaving the newspaper available for the other hand (or the student will prop the door open with his/her body and use the free hand to take the paper). These stands are not very helpful for a student carrying coffee or anything else. Because most students like having a crisp, cleanly-folded newspaper to read, most don’t take the top newspaper unless the pile is squarely stacked. After just a few people have taken papers from the top, everyone else will grab one from the middle, eventually causing a small mess inside the newspaper stand. This turns off some people who are on the border in considering taking a newspaper. Another problem is all the inserts that fall out and litter the ground around the stand. They naturally fall out when the newspaper is carried, or people will get annoyed with them and throw them away (in the garbage can or otherwise). Ideas to solve these problems include having a newspaper stand that releases one paper at a time, denying access to the rest of the stack. This mechanism would be in some sort of small shelter. The paper could advance in a certain way that prevents the insert from immediately falling out (or there could be a separate spot for people to take the inserts). This will ensure everyone gets newspaper no one else has sullied, and keeps them dry from the rain.
Problem Context and Forces
Forces that can affect possible problem solutions include vandalism, weather deterioration, incline of the campus location, and disabled persons. Since there would be some mechanism to advance newspapers, it would easily be vulnerable to vandals and wear and tear. These factors could render the newspaper stand useless rather easily, so the design’s fragility must be accounted for. Since the campus is hilly, the stand must also be stable on an incline. It cannot be top-heavy and must be able to withstand light impacts (people bumping into it). With a large disabled population on campus, the stand must be at the proper height for someone in a wheelchair to be able to easily reach over and grab a paper. Additionally, the force required to pull a newspaper out must not be too great, since some people may not be strong enough to pull very hard. The target user group is going to be highly educated and often in a big hurry. These students are highly motivated, but mostly academically (they will not go too far out of their way to get the newspaper). Some value the environment greatly and will go far out of their way to recycle, while others are very apathetic and feel that someone else can clean up their litter. Solutions to the problem of newspapers getting when during rainstorms are basically to have a door protect them, but this again presents the problem of getting a newspaper with one hand.
