Community Chest
iLikeDesign
of the University Of Dundee and Design for Industry students of Grays
School of Art were given a brief to create a self-service solution for
a fictional character. The purpose of the service was to improve the
characters life.
I, as a member of Team Community Chest, was involved in the creation of
a 'Community Chest' which allowed members of the public to swap,
add or remove items from a chest if they desired. Objectively it was a
service to enable the fictional character called "Bridget" to feel
safe leaving her house. However, subjectively the service was used as
a Cultural Probe, allowing the team to examine and determine the values
of the community in which the Chest was placed.
This Paper examines how the Community Chest was introduced into the
town and how this style of observational research can be used.
Keywords: service design, cultural probe, community
The self-service solution we created for Bridget Henderson was the
Community Chest. It is a bright yellow piece of recycled furniture.
The Chest would be placed in a public space in Bridget's hometown of
Gauldry. The Chest is itself a public space for unwanted goods to be
placed, removed or swapped. Items such as unwanted Christmas presents,
clothes children have grown out of, old toys and almost anything can be
placed in the Chest. It is also possible to place letters for others
or anonymous letters for future pen pals as well as favourite recipes
or tips that you wish to share.
The concept has two theoretical benefits for Bridget. It encourages
communication of ideas e.g. recipes and indirectly through the sharing
of goods in a community. It also builds trust in the community
because everyone can see the (unprotected) Chest survive day after day
without misuse or damage.
The service we, Team Community Chest, will provide is the creation of a
Community Chest from a donated piece of furniture or a piece purchased
second hand on behalf of the community. We would place the Chest and
maintain the Chest in the community. It would also be possible that
each Community Chest would be swapped monthly with other communities
around the world to provide new items to remote communities and link
towns with little or no contact with each other.
The final model was created from a piece of old furniture sourced form
a local recycling centre. It was then painted yellow. This was done
for many reasons. A yellow chest stands out, it has a strong identity
and it is difficult to mistake a bright yellow chest for a piece of old
furniture.