QUT Impact Lab 2: People 2021
Design Intensive - The Good Box
The Good Box is an Australian social enterprise that creates gift boxes for people who are experiencing homelessness.
As a team we discovered that there was a disconnection between the creators and the users of The Good Box community.
The "Connection Hub" is a portable pop-up community hub where people can gather, share their stories, exchange or swap items from the boxes.
An example of a "Connection Hub" could be a pop-up stalls at markets or community centres, or possible collaboration with respected charities such as Orange Sky Laundry.
The "Connection Hub" creates an opportunity for for individuals to connect, whilst also exchanging goods and items. This process will allow informal discussions between volunteers and individuals to occur, creating unfiltered data and feedback for the Good Box.
Once the data has been gathered from the "Connection Hubs" the Good Box can cycle out products that are in less demand. Also, the data will allow for a clear prioritisation of funds and the overall waste levels will be reduced due to the recycling of products and boxes.
The impacts of the "Connection Hub" include the creation of an additional sense of community and home for the individuals, and the recycling of boxes and waste reduction. However, the main impact of the "Connection Hub" is to improve the experience of those individuals in a vulnerable position, through the feedback and data gathered at the "Connection Hub" sites.
Presented below is a possible scenario on how the Good Box can collaborate with the Orange Sky Laundry to create the "Connection Hubs".
Project By
The Collective a team of five members from different disciplines created by the QUT design school for the 2021 Impact Lab 2: People design intensive.
Sophie White - Interaction Design and Information Technology
Jacqueline Hsu - Industrial Design
Katerina Astropalitis - Interior Architecture and Property Economics
Elise Hatchman - Architecture
Alex Latyshev - Interior Architecture
Reference
Orange Sky Australia. (2021). Orange Sky. Retrieved from Orange Sky: https://orangesky.org.au/
The Good Box. (2021). The Good Box. Retrieved from The Good Box: https://www.thegoodbox.com.au/