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Idea 48: Sound Emails

Problem:

Emails in the work place – enough said. They are always there, you can never truly catch up to them , and many people give you good advice, such as “The most successful people don’t check email first thing in the morning.”However, maybe the problem is not the emails themselves, but the act of having to respond to them in a written format and the time that this action takes based on trying to write a clear message that cannot be misinterpreted by the other side based on the missing “tone of voice” which is often forcefully added to one´s personal interpretation of what the sender of the message was “really” trying to say.

Solution:

Whatsapp and other messaging apps already are using it – voice messages. Simple, quick and to the point. Thus, developing a secure software that could be build into your email provider that allows you to respond via voice or via the written word might add value when trying to solve the problems of efficient “responding to emails.” Especially when talking about internal company communication between coworkers, a voice messaging service might save some time, as the nature of these messages usually involves a question about certain processes and a “standard” answer.

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Idea 44: Waterfall Turbines

Problem:
Renewable energies open the gateway to clean and sustainable energy production. In some cases already existing kinetic energy is used and turned into electricity, for example in water turbines. A question connected to this example is where this constant flow of water exists and how we can use it.

Solution:
Although water turbines are already used in many different settings, one of the places that might open up room for future innovation focuses on waterfalls. Waterfalls would offer a lifelong stream of energy if we would know how to capture it. Due to its vertical flow, multiple turbines could take advantage of the same water stream at different heights. There are several problems with this idea, but one of them surely is not the number of capable engineers in the world to think about it.

Idea 42: Road Trip

Problem:

Often times staying in touch with your friends is a problem. Once the years go by, friends move away and often times the tool to stay in touch is Facebook.

Solution:

The idea would be to create a Facebook compatible app that creates a uses google maps to create a road trip with the friends that you would like visit based on the current city they are living in.  On that road the app could propose hotels and other attractions to make this “road trip” one to remember forever. The app could suggest friends that are “on the way” or offer complete flexibility in terms of deciding what friends and routes one prefers.

Idea 39: Augmented SunGlasses

Problem:

Sunglasses have returned as a fashion accessory that increasingly is valued by men and women equally. As the demand for this product is becoming greater and greater, so is the variety of brands and unique designs. Online retailers are exploding in numbers, and thus, might be looking for a way to differentiate themselves through an unconventional online shopping experience.

Solution:

What works for watches, could also possibly work for sunglasses. Augmented reality although not yet generally applied could be used to enhance the online shopping experience of sunglasses. Although HD pictures can already showcase the qualities of the actual product, being able to “interact” with the product might further lead to a buy action. In addition augmented reality would substitute the mirror that one always finds at a physical sunglasses stand, as the visual connection between “head+glass” appears to be the deciding factor in the buy decision.

Reference: http://www.vizworld.com/2010/02/youtube-nooka-augmented-reality-accessorizer/#sthash.PBlYJMT9.dpbs

Idea 19: Supermarkets for Singles

Problem:

Wasting food is a problem of developed countries. Some people blame it on the expiration date, some people blame it on peoples’ general wasteful natures, and some people blame it on shopping habits. Whatever the reason might be, there is one aspect that appears to happen quite often: buying too much of one thing which one cannot consume alone before it goes bad based on the volume in which it comes in. This especially happens to singles.

Singles appear to have certain living and eating habits that often don’t go together with what the usual supermarket provides. Quantities for bred are too big, chick peas come in too large containers, chicken wings come in 2kg bags, and marmalade glasses are so big they could last for years.

In the end, much of the food that is bought is opened for a one person meal and later is possibly not used again for however long as “variety” and frozen meals take over the food calendar. As a result, some of the foods that were bought land in the trash, as it is always easier to simply “clean” the fridge instead of checking if the food that was opened three days ago is still eatable (how can we be really sure that this is still good? not sure, so lets throw it away)!!!

Solution:

Supermarkets have about three types of customers: families, couples and singles. As stated, the problem is that the quantities/volume of food of a particular item, which are usually offered, are perfect mainly for families.  Thus, there is possibly an opportunity for segmentation here.

Nowadays, many supermarkets, for example DIA in Spain, bring out their own branded products, which are usually cheaper. Thus, as supermarkets have the possibility to create their “own brands”, they might also be able to determine the quantities of food that are used for one item. If this is the case, segmentation could run its course with the end result of creating small individual supermarkets focused on the market segment of singles.

Taking this one step further:

Once a supermarket like that has been opened, data can be collected on the actual buying habits of singles, (how much is bought of what item) which are based on the assumption that singles buy food for only one particular meal. Once this has been established, supermarkets might be able to “totally” get rid of packaging by providing reusable “containers” (for a lack of a better word) for some particular foods (this is not new as it is already used with fruits and vegetables) Examples:

• Spaghetti: Instead of coming prepackaged, spaghetti could come in larger amounts from which people are able to take what they want based on what they need for their meal and priced based on the weight
• Butter: Instead of coming prepackaged, it could come in a larger container/piece from which certain pieces are taken of and put in the reusable container and priced based on the weight
• Also applicable to frozen foods, coffee, sweets, teas, and maybe even drinks such as water

In the end, one would create a supermarket that offers customizable quantities for most foods available and thus, one that has a positive impact on the society, as it reduces the waste of food and trash in general due reduced packaging and business intelligence focused on buying habits. Also, this type of idea might even create more jobs: How? People usually know what they want to buy or need – the reason for why a shopping list exists. This shopping list could be used to be send to the supermarkets that would then use it to “complete” it the list, taking away what is asked for from the “stock” of foods. To do this many things have to happen in terms of logistics, and part of that is the implementation of more human capital to get this service done in a manageable and timely manner.

Idea 18: Positive News

Problem:

Turning on the news becomes more and more depressing. Tabloid journalism, bad reporting, and most of the times stories about what is wrong with this world. If it is a slow news day without deaths, catastrophes, cases of corruption and poverty, one might be confronted with wiener dog races and talking squirrels. Sometimes, it is no wonder why society is run by fear-driven individuals that have distorted perceptions of reality.

Solution:

Similar to what positive psychology tries to implement in the world of medicine, a news organization solely focused on “what is right” with this world might be something that is needed to at least counter balance all this negativity that people are surrounded by on the daily basis. Obviously there are many problems in this world, however only reporting on the negatives merely creates problem focused mindsets, instead of solution based ones.

Like a smile, positivity is contagious. Therefore by reporting goods deeds or positive news, people might also adopt this kind of behavior. It is time for “Positive News” – life is too short to be surrounded only by negativity.

Idea 15: Water Refill Vending Machines for Offices

Problem:

Plastic bottles are an evil of this society. Many of them are not recycled, thousands of them are used every second all over the world. On another note, when selling water, the plastic bottle represents usually 80% of the costs of the product itself.

Solution:

Although the following idea will not solve the problem in its entirety it might help to have a certain impact. In many offices, vending machines are part of the inventory. Many of these vending machines sell certain types of drinks but also water. As a work place can be seen as a closed “ecosystem,” the same people will always use the same vending machines every day as these machines are usually the only way to buy some drinks in the office without leaving it. Thus, producing a vending machine that offers a refill option for water might help to reduce the plastic waste by allowing to reuse a plastic bottle that was bought from that same vending machine at some point. The problem is that people associate “plastic” with “one-time-use” instead of “multiple-usage” as they do with for example a coffee cup. Thus by having the opportunity to reuse a plastic bottle a certain type of customer education might also take place. Keeping in mind that 80% of the cost of the water bottle are based on the plastic, the refill could be offered for basically pocket change – coins that people usually have in their wallets but never use. The refill option could be implemented by integrating a water tank, maybe made out of glass, into the vending machine. In addition, the logistics of the companies that sell the drinks and the refill the vending machines would have to changed but this process would reveal itself over time when more consumption data are available.

In a market where it is very difficult to distinguish one brand from another, especially when talking about water, it is maybe not so much about the actually product but “how” it is sold and what impact it has.