Submitted by: Submitted by eeMos
Views: 442
Words: 942
Pages: 4
Category: Science and Technology
Date Submitted: 02/27/2012 12:48 PM
1.0 Problem & Idea
While a family thinks about effective ways advertising their yard sale, there may be a newly moved-in neighbor looking exactly for what they are selling. To deal with such situation, my idea for the project is to provide a platform for second-hand goods trading/renting within nearby residential communities. Different from previous solutions, this platform is to be Google Map-based, and be accessed through both computers and mobile devices, aiming at matching needs and offers within a neighborhood more easily, and encourage a casual and friendly style of transaction, which is more suitable for a community context.
2.0 Analysis of Problem
Looking around at their home, quite often people can find things that they seldom or no longer use. It could be a hammer forgotten by its owner, or a wardrobe to be replaced. While in the meantime, someone may have just rented an apartment in the neighborhood, considering buying some second-hand furniture. The problem is, however, how to make the two sides be aware of each other.
Although, when designing the space, urban architectures tried to create chances for neighbors to “bump into” each other, such “bump-into” does not guarantee a conversation covering these trading possibilities, not to say having these possibilities known by all people in the communities. As a result of this “information asymmetry”, the two sides tend to search for solutions elsewhere – the offering side may ended up selling to a retailer while the other side may have to buy a new one – which is overall much less economic.
Currently, there seems to exit no such activity as to lease stuffs in idle, but people do hold yard sale to get rid of their obsolete things, or put them on eBay. Yard sale is beneficial in a way that it has neighbors walk into your yards, which is a good opportunity for trading as well as communication. Nonetheless, such yard sale often gathers only neighbors very nearby; otherwise, the owners may need to...