On Empowerment (Part2)

I have been doing research on the different kinds of subscription services that are out there (in a later post, I’ll go more in-depth as to each ones pro’s and con’s) and something that really jumped out at me was that the boxes all seem to use a lifestyle to sell a variety of products. Even the boxes that are “arts and crafts” oriented are marketing a cool factor to sell pre-determined designs.

You can have celebrities curate what gets sent to you, and you can create your “own” knick-knacks through customization.

There’s this theory about how at first, Betty Crocker’s cake mix only called for you to mix in some water to make a cake, but housewives started to feel guilty about how little work they put in to say they made the cake. By adding in the need for an egg in the recipe helped the sales of the mix. (http://www.gourmet.com/magazine/2000s/2002/08/in_the_mix)

In this way, many of the kits provide a finished product dis-assembled for you to then put back together. I’m not saying that this is a bad thing entirely. The process of putting something back together does teach you a lot about what you are making. Breaking a task down into simple parts will encourage someone to participate in making. Not many people have time to devote to making something from scratch, and let’s face it, instant gratification is important. The prize is the decadent chocolate cake, not mixing together proper amounts of flour, water, eggs, etc.

What I am trying to say, is that there should also be options available for people to go beyond just customization. What I want to ask is “to what end?”

How does someone feel after they have created a colorful necklace? How does someone feel about finishing a project? I’m going to guess that you’ll feel special and proud of yourself for completing something. So as much as I don’t think we need yet another “DIY” kit to make jewelry or scrapbooks, those kits make people really happy through a small task each month.

What I’d like to see is using this system of a fun package that comes to your door that would really benefit your life. Some of the audiences that I’m thinking about are young professionals who have just moved into their new apartment and now have to deal with plumbing problems, putting together their Ikea furniture, trying to hang a shelf on the wall, making sure their personal website is coded well and efficient, and making a cheap but fulfilling dinner. I think that as much as these 20 somethings can benefit from taking time out of their day to create a fun craft item, they could also benefit from some kind of task or game that teaches these skills.

How can typical home improvement become self improvement? How can we make sure more people are aware of their surroundings? This awareness not only being how/why things are constructed, but the value and time in the objects they purchase. How can what comes to you in the box, not just add to all of the other things you’ve collected, but really become useful in your life/home?

What I really want to emphasize is the impact on your mental health, rather than trying to convince people to become craftsmen or carpenters. Will someone feel empowered knowing they can now fix a leak in the sink and not have to spend money on a plumber? Will that shelf you put up that holds all your DIY projects make you smile every time you walk past it, knowing YOU did it?

I’m also interested in whether this sense of accomplishment can then spill over into other areas of your life. Perhaps you subscribe to the types of kits you already know you enjoy, and avoid the ones that seem like you can’t do them/ wouldn’t enjoy them.

For example, I would totally love to get some kind of print-making kit in the mail or some kind of MakerBot/Arduino kit, but I would never want to get a kit that makes me work out with weights, or finish reading two books for the month.

What if, you subscribed to the kits you like, but every once in a while in the cycle of your orders, something you do not prefer as much pops up. Of course, there’d have to be an incentive for you to complete the tasks in the box. This may be in relation to a website where you post your accomplishments for everyone to see. Similar to the badges you get from codeacademy.com, you get rewarded for doing something you normally wouldn’t like.

Perhaps this is just an option, the basic kit order has only subjects you are interested in, and other options give you different ratios of kits you love versus kits with subjects you’ve never attempted.

The relationship to what arrives at your door, and the website that you interact with should go hand-in-hand. The games or tasks you complete become things you really want to show off to your friends. By completing these tasks, you get points or perks. 500 Points gives you a free month? Or perhaps the points give you discounts on items for purchase related to the theme of the month.

What are things you struggle to accomplish, but really wish you could? How can a task like completing your taxes, or doing 5 push-ups become something you enjoy? How much time would you want to spend working on a task for the month? What are better incentives than points/badges/discounts?