The course

The goal of the course was to research the topic ‘Charity and Greed’. To do so, a research prototype had to be developed which would then be evaluated with different research models.

The participants of the course were divided into three research approach groups: lab, field and showroom. As part of the ‘field’ group, our team had to test the prototype in a free setting, the open field. 

Our research question was built on the wish to rethink the way donations are made. By using a coffee machine in which the change is donated by default, we tried to make donating money the norm, not the exception. By combining intangible choice making and defaults in physical interactive products in our research, we wanted to investigate how physical opting-out can influence charitable behavior.

 

If no action is taken, the platform turns and the change is automatically donated.

 

The design of our prototype was made to fit into the given environment of a coffee vending machine. The whole set-up consisted of an informative poster, a 'card payment only' sign to make sure, the participants use cash and the actual donation box. As an initial pilot test showed, that people do not like to take their change from a box filled with other peoples' donation, we initialized a platform which could be turned from a distance in case change is left on it. Therefore the prototype worked as a physical opt-out

system.