Gabriel M Silverstein

Our team was challenged to take the role of “International Scientists” and create a plan to establish a mock “civilization” on an uninhabited island in the Pacific called “MS DOS”.

There were several problems in this project. Firstly, as International scientists, we had to first plan how, or if, we should actually visit or inhabit the island, in fear of potentially damaging the environment and disrupting its natural habitat. Second, we had to consider various “lenses” in our final presentation and report. These included Marketing (how we would market IDRC to investors), Finance (who would fund IDRC and specifics), Conservation (how would an expedition operate with conservation in mind), Technology (interactive virtual research experience) and Legal (detailed legality).

We found the coral reefs need to be protected and inhabiting the island would harm the reefs. We also found remote sensing technologies could allow for key data to be extracted from the island without harming it. Vulnerable and sensitive coral on MS DOS needed to be protected and conserved.

As a team, we decided to create an interactive virtual experience to study the coral reefs, and study from the island and its habitat. We were thus able to satisfy the “civilization” aspect, while having minimal environmental impact on the island.

MeKit is for airline passengers to feel safe, seen, secure, and delighted on their flight during COVID-19, and beyond. It provides a way to please customers with personalized travel kits, waiting at their seat. Each one of the several kits are tailored to a specific archetype, in which flyers choose when they check in. MeKit was created in the midst of COVID-19 to transform what would be a stressful experience, into a safe and positive one.

In our research we found that during the earlier stages of the pandemic, airlines and airports struggled on how to make flyers feel comfortable and safe during flying. This thus impacted the emotional well being of flyers, as found in our research and interviews.

Flyers needed some assurance and a way to feel “seen” - to encourage travelers to fly and maintain their safety while doing so. We discovered flyers would feel more safe if airlines responded in a way that could ease their anxiety and answer their uncertainty about air-travel.

Our solution was to create several essentials kits based on different types of flyers, or “archetypes”. These include Work Trip, Pure Zen, Techie, Self Care, Mystery, and Child. These kits include important cleanliness items such as sanitizing wipes, tissues, as well as a reusable water bottle. Plus, each kit includes a unique extra item specific for each archetype. This allows each flyer to feel “seen” and delighted knowing a specific kit tailored to their travel personality will be helping them on their journey.

MonsterMail empowers users to turn the persistent task of deleting unwanted emails into a fun and rewarding experience. Our core problem was that users are “frustrated” with the persistent amount of emails they have to attend to. We decided to focus on this element, and transform it into a fun way with a welcoming interface and gamified experience.

We found existing email clients to look and function largely similar, displaying a long overwhelming list of emails. Email users are frustrated by this, so why not make this daily chore more fun?

We found via the email clients we researched, and users we interviewed, that deleting unwanted emails was an unpleasant chore. Currently, many email users choose to simply ignore unwanted emails altogether, as they pile up over time and take up valuable storage space. Additionally, the onslaught of email creates clutter - an infinite log of old emails, distracting the user from the current task at hand. We needed a way to help reduce the constant email clutter in a way that’s fun and engaging for users.

Enter, MonsterMail, a fun and rewarding way to manage and delete unwanted emails in a gamified way. MonsterMail implements a welcoming, “cozy” interface with soft gradients and airy space. Plus, customizable themes and settings for a personalized look and feel. Users are aided in deleting emails with the help of a monster, which helps identify old emails that are ready to be “eaten” and deleted. The user completes quick daily “Quests” to feed, grow and evolve their email monster over time. MonsterMail makes deleting unwanted emails more fun and easier for all, so you spend less time in your inbox and more time in your day.