Module 8 activities

SPENT: I made it a whole 7 days before I was out of cash. And that was largely because I tried to make the "right" (i.e. law-abiding) choices. I think what the game really does is it forces you to acknowledge the precarious financial position faced by the people we call the "working poor" and the often lose-lose choices they have to make on a regular basis because of that precariousness. While the interface of the game wasn't terribly high tech (kind of reminded me of a nicely updated version of the adventure games I used to play on my Apple 2+ - that was a computer in the early 80s for those non gen-xers), I didn't think it needed to be anything more complicated to get the point across. I think the challenge of the game is such that it doesn't need a whole lot of bells and whistles, since it's essentially about strategy and choices. I think using the medium of the game to educate is probably pretty effective once you get people there, especially for someone who thinks they can "beat" the system. I certainly wanted to keep playing, and I'd imagine the more you play, the more you learn. Is this game biased? Certainly, it is probably biased by the experiences of the people the charity serves on a regular basis. But that's kind of the point isn't it? It's trying to put you in someone else's shoes in order to get you to lend a hand or donate some money.

I think an interesting simulation would be to put people in the shoes of a member of congress. What kinds of decisions do they face? How do those decisions impact their popularity among voters and their ability to fund raise for the inevitable reelection campaign? Might give us a better sense of the incentives our politicians face and how we might reform the system to help them potentially make better decisions.

10,000 Solutions: 

My posted solution (based on something I heard from a friend about a similar initiative at her company) is for ASU to have a contest for its employees and students to keep their weight steady over the winter break. The holidays are often a time when people gain significant weight that they never lose. Holding a contest for keeping your weight steady with prizes (or an entry into a raffle for a substantial prize) might be an effective way to help employees avoid this holiday pitfall.

The solutions that stuck out to me were:

Bringing bike sharing to Phoenix - reason: the comments tended to be people who pointed out flaws without actually offering a solution to address these problems. The response to these comments from the idea creators also came off as defensive. It's too bad, this is a good idea that has started to take hold in other cities in the country. The proponents might want to take a look at what has worked or hasn;t worked elsewhere.

Safe battery disposal - reason: this is a simple idea that, apparently, has already been implemented in some dorms, but that hasn't been very well publicized. The idea creator makes a good point that the collection points need to be highly visible and accessible (much like your average recycling bin).

Designated driver guide - reason: this is a similar idea to the couch surfing website I highlighted earlier this semester (and similar to the couch surfing and ride sharing services highlighted by Clay Shirky in the book I read for my review). The charge for the service is $25 for someone who stays with you all night. Not bad, considering how much a DUI will cost you. Is it cheaper than a taxi? Guess it depends on where you're going. I wonder if people actually use it.

The main thing I would change about the interface is that when browsing for solutions by category, I would allow sorting by popularity and not just by date posted. Would be nice to have a quick way to see some of the "better" solutions, at least in the minds of other users. There's a lot of posts that are not terribly innovative, original or feasible, IMHO.