How is the Tool & Task service provided?

Channels &
Touchpoints

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    Mobile
    • Smartphone App
    • Text Messages
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    Shop
    • Kiosk
    • Shopkeeper
    • Signage
    • Lockers
    • RFID Key Fob
    • Task Board
    • Instruction Card
    • Skills Sheet
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    Desktop
    • Website
    • Email

Who is involved with the service and what do they do?

chart_actors_tasks

How does touchpoint design affect the service experience?

The smartphone app allows residents to reserve goods remotely, helping them plan so that they can be assured of tool availability.

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Featured collections of goods help residents make sense of how they can use the service.

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The app design supports an experience that feels like shopping.

The task sheet enables residents to share tasks. Entry of tasks via digital touchpoints (kiosk, app) improves legibility and allows cross-channel availability. Tasks are also printed and posted in the shop.

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An open-ended format provides a basic structure for requests, guiding residents and then getting out of their way.

The shop kiosk allows residents to check out goods 24 hours a day, it also decreases the residual costs of staffing.

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An RFID key fob means easy identification, the kiosk allows printing of items such as receipts and task sheets.

Clear lockers both display goods to residents and facilitate check-in and check-out. They ensure security while maintaining a retail-like feel and help residents easily gauge the utility of the service.

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Residents can quickly see what items are available. LEDs indicate items ready for check-out, preventing check-out of reserved items about to be picked up.

What is the resident's journey through the service?

And how does the service support it?

  • Resident
  • Touchpoints
  • System
  • Organization
  • Discovery

    Discover Condominium

    • Meet with salesperson

      Visit site, website, view brochure

    • WebsiteBrochureStaff
    • Introduce Tool & Task service as an amenity

    • Produce advertisements

      Hire salesperson

  • Purchase Home

    • Meet with salesperson

      Pay, sign contract, plan move

    • PaperworkStaff
    • Provide Welcome Packet with condo details and Tool & Task information

    • Produce Welcome Packet

      Provide move dates

  • Move In

    • Move belongings into new space

      Explore new building

    • InvitationShopkeeper
    • Invite new residents to Tool & Task picnic event

    • Produce invitations

      Hire shopkeeper, provide training

  • Initial Use

    Register for Service

    • Meet with shopkeeper

      Receive key fob, How To guide, aid

    • How-To GuideKioskKey FobShopkeeper
    • Aid resident in registration

      Answer questions about service

    • Produce guide, key fob, kiosk

      Ready shop

  • Use for First Time

    • Optionally meet with shopkeeper

      View instructional poster if needed

    • Instructional PosterKioskKey FobShopkeeperTool Locker
    • Aid resident in first-time use

      Have high-demand tools ready

    • Purchase initial tool inventory

      Produce instructional poster

  • Contribute First Good

    • Bring good to shopkeeper

    • KioskKey FobShopkeeper
    • Assess need for and condition of good

      Enter good into inventory system

    • Inventory management system

      Criteria for need

  • Regular Use

    Borrow Tool

  • Choose Good

    • View goods

      Optionally reserve goods for future use

    • KioskMobileTool LockerWebsite
    • Display goods

      Indicate if unavailable for reserve/checkout

    • Reservation System

      Website, Smartphone App

  • Check Out Good

    • Use lockers, kiosk, and key fob

      View instructional poster if needed

    • Instructional PosterKioskKey FobTool LockerEmailReceipt
    • Record checkout of good

      Provide email/print confirmation

    • Provide lockers, checkout system

      Produce instructional poster

  • Use Good

    • Bring to use location

      Optionally use instruction card

    • MobileWebsiteHow-To Guide
    • Provide instruction card

    • Produce instruction card

  • Return Good

    • Use lockers, kiosk and key fob

      View instructional poster if needed

    • Instructional PosterKioskKey FobTool Locker
    • Record return

      Record condition of item

    • Inventory management system

  • Lend Tool

  • Offer Good

    • Bring good to shopkeeper

    • ShopkeeperKey Fob
    • Assess need and condition of good

    • Inventory management system

      Criteria for need

  • Check In Good

    • Wait while shopkeeper checks in good

    • ShopkeeperKey FobEmailReceipt
    • Record check in of good

      Provide email/print confirmation

    • Notification system

  • Pause Lending

    • Indicate length of pause

      Check out good

    • KioskKey FobMobileWebsite
    • Change status of good to reserved

      Communicate limitations on pause

    • Criteria for pauses

  • Remove Good

    • Bring good to Shopkeeper

    • ShopkeeperKey Fob
    • Record return

      Record condition of item

    • Inventory management system

  • Post Task

  • Post Task

    • Provide task information

      Optionally print task slip

    • ReceiptKioskKey FobMobileWebsiteTask Board
    • Record task

    • Provide entry points for recording task and system of record

  • Await Response

    • Check touchpoints

      Receive notification through preferred touchpoint

    • ReceiptKioskKey FobMobileWebsiteTask Board
    • Send notification of interest in task

    • Notification system

  • Aid in Task

  • Browse Tasks

    • Check task description and contact information

    • ReceiptKioskKey FobMobileWebsiteTask Board
    • Display tasks

    • Provide display points for tasks: website, app, task board, kiosk

  • Contact Requestor

    • Use requestor’s preferred contact information

    • ReceiptKioskKey FobMobileWebsiteTask Board
    • Provide preferred contact information

    • Notification system

What is the rationale behind the Tool & Task service?

Within Reach Presentation
View the presentation online

The Framework

There are currently no technological quick fixes for global warming. Our only hope is to change our behavior in ways that significantly slow the rate of global warming... Climatologist Lonnie G. Thompson

What is Tool & Task?

Tool & Task provides residents of apartment buildings with access to the resources they need to live well (tool), while also enabling them to support each other in the use of these resources (task).

Through the use of a retail­-like shop setting, this service offers an attractive, convenient way for residents to live in a more sustainable manner, primarily through identifying community resources and maximizing their use.

Why Tool & Task?

Condominium residents could access tools that solve their daily needs, without having to buy or store them. Tool & Task would make living in smaller spaces more palatable by decreasing the use of living space for storage. Residents would have a service that helps introduce them to their neighbors and enables them to more easily give and receive help.

For developers, Tool & Task could become a new type of amenity, making their offering more appealing to buyers. The service could be a prototype for developers looking to become service providers, or at least in selling the initial service to new communities.

The environmental benefits have not been quantified, but one proposition is that people will more fully use underutilized resources. For perspective, Collaborative Consumption guru Rachel Botsman states that nearly 50% of households own a power drill, yet most drills are only used for 12 minutes in their entire lifetime. Another impact could be cultural: the service as a stepping stone to feeling comfortable living with less and building reliance on each other to help solve problems, rather than consuming.