Help me out !!!!!!

[anand]

Hi guys, am Anand Kumaresh, from South India. Can anyone help me in
translating my ideas from english to japanese so as to post in cuusoo
website?

[Nick]

Hey Anand,

Sorry for the late response. We are also just getting started here in
Hong Kong, with only a handful of dedicated fans trying to bring
CUUSOO out of Japan and into Hong Kong.

Do you want to post your idea in Japanese? We are actually trying to
post things in English so that more people can find CUUSOO through
Google / Yahoo search. So, I suggest you can also post your idea in
English, may be you can ask people online to help add Japanese
translations later.

-Nick

[Anand kumaresh]

Hi Nick, 

Thanks for the reply..... 

Ya, ok, i ll post it in english itself, shortly....

Regards,

Anand.........

[Queenie Poon]

Hi Anand,

We will have a meeting on Wed.  Maybe you can drop by and we can help you with that.

Thanks,
Queenie

2009/7/26 Anand kumaresh <kuma21...@gmail.com>

[charlotte chan]

Hi all,

I can follow up with Nick on the meeting this Wed afterwards, I can always e-mail Nick, Peggy and others for updates, I will start to think of some ideas while I have more free time now.

Thanks
Charlotte

2009/7/27 Queenie Poon <queen...@gmail.com>

[Anand kumaresh]

Hi,

Meet by wednesday means? Online meet? Shall i type my stuff today eve?

If online na, timing?

Sorry for to many queries........

Regards,

Anand...

[Nicholas Wang]

Hi Anand,

Sorry, by meeting we meant physically meet in Hong Kong (as this is the CUUSOO Hong Kong Group), but none of us actually have time to meet today so it was canceled.

One of the things that we had planned to do is to translated the registration and posting processes into English, please be patient, we will get to it soon, and then you will be able to post your ideas.

Cheers,
-Nick

2009/7/28 Anand kumaresh <kuma21...@gmail.com>

[Anand kumaresh]

hi
oh its ok....
First of all, thanks a lot for patiently replying me...
Wil b in touch wit cuusoo groups...
c u soon........
regards
kumaresh

[Pai Pai]

Hi all,

As Kohei is quite busy and haven't given me the stories, I thought up some ideas on how to draw  the stories I heard from the Hong Kong International Design and Innovation Forum.

I thought maybe we might not need to give the 'exact' story. Instead, we might use the story as the base and make it a more engaging story. :D I have developed a story as an example and would like to discuss with you guys. :) Made a very brief draft too, but I already found that it have to be modified coz the 'link' between the story and how it got to CUUSOO is really missing. This 'link' will have to be filled after asking Kohei (or wait till Nick ask Kohei). I guess this part should stay loyal to the original story :p

So let me know when we can meet online. I'm excited to discuss with you guys about the comic!

Cheers,

Peg

[charlotte chan]

Hi Peggy!

Great to hear from you!

Let's wait till Nick gets settled in Tokyo and we can discuss online.

Charlotte

[Pai Pai]

:D Cool~~ 

[koheinishiyama]

Hi Peggy. I am sorry for long absent. I am here for you now. What can
I do for you?

[Pai Pai]

Hi Kohei!

Never mind really! I know you're extremely busy and I don't want to bother you too much :) That's why I was thinking about ways to start something first and also asked Nick if he can help to jot down the stories for me when he arrived Tokyo. :D I appreciate a lot already that you replied me within your tight schedule!

Last time in the CUUSOO HK meeting, we agreed that the comic strips will be about the real case studies for past successful CUUSOO products/services - how did the person who came up with an idea turned that into a real product/service through CUUSOO.

Since we don't have the exact stories earlier, I wrote a short story that's based on the 'baby-sitting salon service' I heard from the Hong Kong International Design and Innovation Forum earlier, and think maybe it would even be better if I 'edit' the original story a bit to make it funnier and more engaging. Let's call it 'Approach One'.

Approach One 

(Format: a fictional story that's based on the original case; a 1-page comic strip would be best, 2 pages at most)

SAMPLE

[Frame 1] 

(a group of housewives nervously knocking on the door, yelling)

Housewives: Yuki, we're worried! You haven't go out for years!

[Frame 2] 

(Yuki sitting in a dark corner, we can barely see her face)

Yuki: ......

[Frame 3]

Housewives: Let us in first! 

(Yuki opens the door. Housewives are all shocked, looking at Yuki's monstrous, ugly hair.)

[Frame 4]

Housewives: What happened to you!?!?

Yuki (looking desperate): I can't go to my favorite salon since I gave birth to my baby...

[Frame 5] 

(Yuki having her hair permed in a very old-fashioned Japanese barbershop, an old man being the barber, using very old-fashioned pink plastic hair rollers...)

Yuki: I could only go to the nearest barbershop...

(Also showing her 'Before' and 'After' pics like those on beauty magazines. Of course the 'Before' pic is very beautiful and the 'After' pic is hideous.)

[Frame 6]

(From this frame, we can see the housewives from a long shot, showing their ugly hair too)

Housewife A: Now that you bring it up...I got the same problem...

Housewife B: Me too...

Housewife C: I miss my beautiful curls...

Housewife D: Oh how I miss my stylist Edward ♡

Housewife E: My hubby's been saying my hair looks weird too...:(

Yuki:.....

[Frame 7]

Yuki: Hey gals! We have to do something! How about this? We all make our appointments at Edward's Salon on the coming Wednesday, and we hire a baby-sitter to take care of our babies!!!

Housewives: Great idea!!!

[Frame 8]

All housewives got their hair fixed and beautifully cut/permed/colored at their favorite salon.

(Edward the stylist is actually Edward Scissorhands! :p We could put this bit in if we don't violate the copyright :p Maybe he's not called Edward Scissorhands but Albert Scissorhands? :p)

BUT MY PROBLEM STARTS FROM HERE! The story needs the part that links to CUUSOO.

I still don't know how did the housewives get this service linked to CUUSOO. Did CUUSOO helped them to make the service come true? Or did they find this service valuable and posted it on CUUSOO to benefit others, who might need similar service?

So I still need the information here to help me finish the story.

Pros:

This approach would be more flexible when creating stories (can add funny gags inside more easily and make the story more interesting and memorable). The readers should enjoy reading this type more. If we use this approach, we could create a protagonist and each successful story can be linked together. Or at least, if the stories are not linked together, I guess people going to CUUSOO will recognize the characters and get attached to the stories and the website more. 

Cons:

People may see it more as a fiction, though it's based on the real development of the service. We can tell them in advance that all stories are based on real stories too, and probably post part of the development process of such story on the web for people who prefer to see real figures and stuff. :)

OR

Approach Two 

(Format: the exact real case study; the length of the comic strip depends on the length of the story, but should keep it short too)

Pros:

People will know the story is real and could let people think that even a normal person like him/her can make what he/she wants happen too! Some people may prefer to read the exact real stories.

Cons:

Could be less flexible to create a more realistic comic strip --> less appealing to the general public. We could simplify the story as much as possible and try to make it more interesting too.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

So Kohei, which one would you think is better? And how do others in the group think? :) Please comment on this.

Also it would still be great if I can get a few exact case studies in hand too. It helps me to write the stories and make them more accurate. :)

Many thanks,

Peggy

2009/8/3 koheinishiyama <koheini...@gmail.com>

[Nicholas Wang]

Looks like we highjacked another's thread, no matter.

Peggy, that's a funny story but I'm also afraid of the disconnection with Cuusoo.

-Nick

Sent from my iPod

[Pai Pai]

Yes Nick, there's a disconnection with CUUSOO, but this was the idea I had before I got the user stories from Kohei. Originally, I wanted to ask Kohei for the stories and see if I can fill in the gap.

After reading the interview, I guess the housewife later on put this idea on CUUSOO and they made this service happened, instead of the housewives just made that happen by themselves.

So the comic can continue by adding the part in which the housewives got on the CUUSOO web and stuff.

But like in my previous email, we have to decide the direction of the comic. Should I truthfully draw the stories given by Kohei in the interview, or should we use a fictional way to present the story? We could present the poor university student story in a more fictional way too. You know what I mean? 

And when I read back the very first messages from Kohei, his idea was for me to use comic to present how CUUSOO works. So what do you guys think what should be the best? Please let me know. :)

Cheers,

Peggy

[charlotte chan]

Hi all,

For sure, the comic is to present how CUUSOO works. Personally, I would think that Approach two would be better to tie the story (the case) together with CUUSOO. I think the purpose of the comic is to get first time users to have an easy understanding of the CUUSOO system. And yes, the hard part is to make a simple story looks interesting and appealling. This is only my opinion, would love to know what you guys think ^_^

Charlotte

[Pai Pai]

Hi Charlotte,

Thanks a lot for your comments! :D If we all think Approach two is better, I'll start drafting the first story for you guys to have a look. :D 

Cheers,

Peggy

[Nicholas Wang]

Is scenario 2 the same story of housewives banding together?  I'm just afraid that they are creating a "service" but not a product.

I'll check with Kohei tomorrow to see if he can suggest a good story for us to work on. Once we have that, then Peggy-san can work her magic and make arrangements to make it fun to read.

Please wait a little, thanks,

  
Nick
Sent from my iPod

[Pai Pai]

Actually that housewife story was an example I heard from Kohei in the design forum, but of course I added a lot of things that he didn't mention to make the story more interesting. I remember he said that CUUSOO can produce products as well as services. 

But I guess Kohei may like us to draw the stories of the university student (that transparent note-taking pad?) and the wireless portable light 'invented' by the mom, as he sent the interview article to me. :) But you can confirm with him too.

Cheers,

Peggy

[Pai Pai]

Any updates from you, Nick? :)

Peggy