Josh Kennedy | 11078189 Group 12 - DYB102: Impact Lab 2
Design Intensive - Brisbane Tool Library
Group Members:
Emilio Bautista
Hyesong Choi
Anastasia Glivinskaya
Our groups Miro Board link: https://miro.com/app/board/uXjVPbQk_I8=/
For the design intensive our group was set with the challenge of improving the Brisbane Tool Library that was severely damaged in the 2022 Brisbane floods. We were asked to consider "how might the Brisbane Tool Library connect with the community in new and meaningful ways to help the service recover and become more resilient into the future?"
In addition to this brief, the Brisbane Tool Library discussed they were seeking an innovative and crisis resilient design that would help them become more sustainable and build a culture around re-using rather than consuming.
Our group came up with two ideas that would be used simultaneously. Firstly, an app we named "Tool Share" which allows members of the Brisbane Tool Library to locate and interact with other members in their community to share tools directly from their homes, providing a more crisis resilient approach. In addition to the app, barcodes that can be easily attached to any tool were designed, in order to make the transfer of tools smoother. These barcodes include a tracking device that will allow other members to see what tools are in their local area as well as deterring stealing others tools.
During the explore phase we conducted a survey of 100+ people in order to understand the problem better and reframe our design brief and goals.
This slide shows off the location aspect of our app which works in a similar fashion to the Car Next Door app, where members can search their local area for various tools and chat with the tool owners to organise meetups and ask questions.
To entice members to offer their tools on the app we decided there should be a reward system / discounts allocated to owners were they are entitled to discounted membership prices or "tool credits" that allows more tools to be hired at once.
This story board shows a simplified process of borrowing and lending tools through the app.
Our design would have many beneficial impacts on the Tool Library's business as it would free up space in the tool library as many tools could stay at residents homes. This would rapidly expand the community as people all over Brisbane could sign up and interact with other members. The extra space at the tool library could also be utilised to host workshop sessions for a small fee, where more meaningful bonds can be made as members help each other with various projects.
