Your neighborhood furniture finder!
Sqout - Your neighborhood furniture finder
Project Overview
Waste management and inflated landfills are an undeniable reality in the city around the world, including in New York City. Large scale garbage like household furniture has been one of the severe, yet disregard problems around the city. The project aims to extend the life of the furniture that has been discarded on the streets of New York so that it benefits people in need and reduce the trash in the process.
The Team: Ana Mercedes Fernandez, Mehul Sharma, and Nattakarn Tapasanan
Project Duration: August - December 2018
Key Contribution: Research, Branding, UX & UI Design, and Prototyping.
Phase 1: Empathize & Discovery
Research Areas: NYC (Downtown Manhattan, Harlem, The Bronx, Queens, and UES)
TOO MANY ABANDONED
FURNITURE IN NYC
IMPROPER METHOD TO
DISCARD FURNITURE
PEOPLE PERCEIVE
DISCARDED FURNITURE
AS TRASH
USABLE FURNITURE
GETS THROWN AWAY
Research methods
5 in-depth interviews
27 general interviews
25 survey respondents
1 social experiment
7 site visits
Discovery and Findings
of people have seen trash on the streets.
96%
of people discard furniture like trash.
44%
56%
of people have discarded furniture before.
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People don’t want to pay for transporting furniture but are open to picking them up.
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They are terrified of bedbugs. It is one of the first examinations they check on the furniture.
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Different areas and demographics have drastically different attitudes towards discarding furniture.
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A lot of furniture is discarded at the end of the school year.
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Most furniture leaves the sidewalk in 24 hrs.
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Most people do not give to charity as they do not want to pay for transportation.
Interview snapshots
“I’d call salvation army and if they don’t accept the furniture, I will put it on the sidewalk or break it and throw it away.”
— East Harlem
“People wanted me to deliver the furniture that I was trying to sell on LetGo/Craigslist!”
— East Village
“I broke an arm one time while picking up a sofa chair from the sidewalk.”
— Midtown Manhattan
“I feel like the quality of the furniture on the streets has decreased and that proves that the economy is less prosperous”
— Greenwich Village
The social experiment
Experiment objective: observe behaviors and interaction when people encounter abandoned, yet good condition furniture.
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Method: We placed several chairs (with cushion and without) in different locations and observed passersby interaction with the furniture.
Indentified insights
PEOPLE ARE OPEN TO PICKING UP FURNITURE OFF THE STREETS.
PEOPLE RARELY LOOK AT THE STREETS FOR FURNITURE. ALMOST LIKE A CHANCE ENCOUNTER.
PEOPLE DON’T WANT TO PAY FOR TRANSPORTATION OF DISCARDED FURNITURE.
Phase 2: Synthesis and Ideation
Persona and Empathy Map
Jane
Age: 55 years old.
Profession: Early retirement
Income : 150,000 USD
Neighborhood: Columbus Circle.
Personality: Kind, loves sitting in the park and reading, loves to tend to her rooftop garden.
John
Age: 27 years old.
Profession: Lawyer.
Income: 50,000 USD
Neighborhood: East Village. (Moved 3 times in 5 years)
Personality: Outgoing, athletic, Netflix, survives of coffee, independent.
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Ideation
Brainstorming
Mind Mapping
Phase 3: Implementation
User interface
Competitors and Market size
Market Communication
