Thanks for your presentation! Do you have any feasibility data that shows this desk would be adopted by both the elderly and children? Have you considered other barriers to education in addition to a suitable workspace? If so, what led you to choose this direction?
Dear Dr. Garvey, Thank you for the questions! Here are our answers. Q1: Do you have any feasibility data that shows this desk would be adopted by both the elderly and children? We conducted visits and field research on left-behind families, and one of our members has a short-term experience in rural education. Through observations and interviews, we have concluded the basic needs: A tabletop dedicated to cultural activities, suitable and adjustable ergonomics dimension, affordable lighting, and storage space are the basic needs of the elderly and children for “desks” .They do not have these conditions in the current poor… Read more »
agoldstein
April 6, 2020 12:29 am
Thank you for your presentation. Is a physical space to learn the most impactful? Isn’t assisting the elderly (teachers) skills and resources more impactful?
Dear Dr. Goldstein, Thank you so much for your question. As you mentioned, low educational resources and the lack of ability of guardians（elderly） and teachers are one of the important reasons for the educational gap between urban and rural children. Due to the limitations of many objective factors, these external factors are difficult to be widely resolved by one or two products at the same time. Perhaps this is the “Intractable Social Problems” as discussed in “Social Innovation Design”. Various influencing factors are intertwined, forming a bad consequence and difficult to improve. Starting with improved family education is a better… Read more »
sjonak
April 6, 2020 1:46 am
Hello folks! I echo agoldstein’s sentiments. Also, a lack of electricity seems a more essential issue to tackle, so the foldable battery-powered light is what seems to be the real hidden gem here! What about that as a pivot? Concerned that quality control may become an issue with the varied production methods proposed — holes not lining up would make the desk useless. Assembling furniture (IKEA-style) is a real pain — how will the elderly be able to do this without assistance?
Dear Ms. Jonak, Thank you for your question, I will explain from the following aspects: 1. Just like our reply to the question of Dr. Goldstein, the creation and improvement of the physical environment is only a part of our environment-consciousness-behavior-meaning design system, and the foldable lamps are used as hardware to solve the problem of insufficient light in the left-behind home. It can be easily moved and hung, and it is charged outdoors by solar energy during the day. After calculating the volume of the lithium battery and the power consumption of the LED lamp, we can meet the… Read more »
jnakagawa
April 6, 2020 3:42 am
Thank you for your presentation. It reminded me of how symbolic the “desk” is in Asian cultures!
I wonder though, you mentioned crowdfunding, but the desk does seem a bit complex and rather costly. I’d like to hear more about this area.
Fast Furniture (e.g., Ikea, etc.) is under increasing levels of scrutiny for depleting forests…thoughts on this?
Dear Ms. Nakagawa, Thank you so much for your recognition of the symbolic meaning of “The First Desk”, which is exactly what we want to express other than the physical environment.And thanks for your questions. 1.Regarding the business model We open-sourced the design solution, and strived to reduce costs during the production and transportation of the product, and obtained a product design with a very low price compared with similar products in the market as in the video. In order to make the entire project feasible, we hope to establish a crowdfunding platform, companies or individuals with a charitable vision… Read more »
Thanks for your presentation! Do you have any feasibility data that shows this desk would be adopted by both the elderly and children? Have you considered other barriers to education in addition to a suitable workspace? If so, what led you to choose this direction?
Dear Dr. Garvey, Thank you for the questions! Here are our answers. Q1: Do you have any feasibility data that shows this desk would be adopted by both the elderly and children? We conducted visits and field research on left-behind families, and one of our members has a short-term experience in rural education. Through observations and interviews, we have concluded the basic needs: A tabletop dedicated to cultural activities, suitable and adjustable ergonomics dimension, affordable lighting, and storage space are the basic needs of the elderly and children for “desks” .They do not have these conditions in the current poor… Read more »
Thank you for your presentation. Is a physical space to learn the most impactful? Isn’t assisting the elderly (teachers) skills and resources more impactful?
Dear Dr. Goldstein, Thank you so much for your question. As you mentioned, low educational resources and the lack of ability of guardians（elderly） and teachers are one of the important reasons for the educational gap between urban and rural children. Due to the limitations of many objective factors, these external factors are difficult to be widely resolved by one or two products at the same time. Perhaps this is the “Intractable Social Problems” as discussed in “Social Innovation Design”. Various influencing factors are intertwined, forming a bad consequence and difficult to improve. Starting with improved family education is a better… Read more »
Hello folks! I echo agoldstein’s sentiments. Also, a lack of electricity seems a more essential issue to tackle, so the foldable battery-powered light is what seems to be the real hidden gem here! What about that as a pivot? Concerned that quality control may become an issue with the varied production methods proposed — holes not lining up would make the desk useless. Assembling furniture (IKEA-style) is a real pain — how will the elderly be able to do this without assistance?
Dear Ms. Jonak, Thank you for your question, I will explain from the following aspects: 1. Just like our reply to the question of Dr. Goldstein, the creation and improvement of the physical environment is only a part of our environment-consciousness-behavior-meaning design system, and the foldable lamps are used as hardware to solve the problem of insufficient light in the left-behind home. It can be easily moved and hung, and it is charged outdoors by solar energy during the day. After calculating the volume of the lithium battery and the power consumption of the LED lamp, we can meet the… Read more »
Thank you for your presentation. It reminded me of how symbolic the “desk” is in Asian cultures!
I wonder though, you mentioned crowdfunding, but the desk does seem a bit complex and rather costly. I’d like to hear more about this area.
Fast Furniture (e.g., Ikea, etc.) is under increasing levels of scrutiny for depleting forests…thoughts on this?
Dear Ms. Nakagawa, Thank you so much for your recognition of the symbolic meaning of “The First Desk”, which is exactly what we want to express other than the physical environment.And thanks for your questions. 1.Regarding the business model We open-sourced the design solution, and strived to reduce costs during the production and transportation of the product, and obtained a product design with a very low price compared with similar products in the market as in the video. In order to make the entire project feasible, we hope to establish a crowdfunding platform, companies or individuals with a charitable vision… Read more »