Project Theme: Service Design

Problem:  The lost and found system at UVA is extremely flawed.  Oftentimes when a person loses an item on grounds, they may never find it.  They do not know which building or departments to check in, and the areas that do have lost and founds are disorganized and inefficient.  We want to change that.  Each of us have had personal experiences with losing an item and not being able to find it.  For example,  Caleb lost a computer charger, spent half of a Friday wandering around grounds looking for it as well as checking lost and found, and to this day has not found his charger.  Hunter, who works at Trinity, also has recovered countless amounts of earrings, glasses, credit cards, etc, all which go unclaimed and untouched.  This is an issue that affects many us and we want to change that. 

Product Description/Application:  What we have currently settled on is an app called  Hoo’s Got It.  Hoo’s Got It would help lost and founds around grounds and in close off campus areas better connect people with their belongings.  The app would also include variable privacy measures to protect personal items from theft, and develop trust between the client collecting an item and the lost and found user.

Client:  Our client will be a manager or worker at one of these locations with frequent lost and found items .  We proposed that our specific client to be Hunter’s manager at Trinity.  We feel that he would have great insight into items that are lost as well as would give us realistic expectations on the practicality of our app,  tips to improve it, as well as if he felt other businesses/ lost and found services would use it. 

Concept Statement: Hoo’s Got it must allow user’s to conduct a search of the basic qualifications of their item, allowing them to connect with someone who has posted a missing item that matches these qualifications.  The app allows for precise descriptions of the lost item, as well as a location service where the user can pin the last place that they had the item .  The direct message feature allows for the the person who lost the item and the person who found the item to connect in order to meet and return the item.   The app should also have certain  trust features to ensure that no one is reclaiming an item that is not their’s.  For instance,  the app will track how many item’s the user has lost and in what time frame.  If it detects a the user’s behavior is untruthful, say for example they lost 5 items in one week and each item was over $200, they will be restricted from direct messaging and contact the finder of the item.  

Technical Summary:  The app will first have a interface where you can create an account.  The options will be create an account with a traditional email, username, and password, or the user will be able to sign in with their school credentials in order to connect with people in the UVA community.  Next it will take you to the main page where you will have the  option to search for or report an item.  The user interface will have a magnifying glass for the search feature and a megaphone icon for the report feature.  If the user selects the search feature, it then take then to a search bar prompting them to “give a detailed description of what you lost” after that, it takes them to a google map where they can drop a pin on the last location where they found the item.  Subsequently, the app will then organize and display a list of items that fit the description and item found in that specific location.  The user will also have an option to filter the searches by these two options.   Additionally, next to the image of the item will be a statement that says “Found By ____” where the finder’s username is.  The user will then have the option to click on the username and select the option,  “Direct Message ____”, where they will then be transferred to a direct message chat with the finder.  After the user and finder talk and the item is returned, both the user and the finder can select an option on the home page titled “Item Found?”.  If they select this the item will be logged as found, and it will be removed from the search list of items.  However, to ensure the truthfulness, on a finder’s and user’s profile, it will show a history of items that where returned, so if someone find that their item was mistakenly returned to the wrong person, they can either message the person or still report their item as lost.  The app will also have features where the user can modify their account, create a profile picture, and add friends so they can be better connected to the community at UVA.  Additionally, lost and found locations in different academic halls, restaurants, bars, etc., will have special “business accounts” where they will be able to post larger quantities of lost items, and people will contact the business/hall directly instead of an individual person.