Proposal

**Designing for the Other 90%: Idea One- Pill Dispensing Solution**
__Problem & Target Auduence:__

Inspired by technological conveniences like online banking and self-checkout machines at retail stores, we have created a concept for groups who regularly use prescription medication. The idea works like a vending machine, essentially reducing the need for a pharmacist as a middleman between doctors and patients. Our target audience is patients are required to take daily medication to treat their illnesses. It is a major inconvenience to set up an appointment with a doctor, acquire a physical prescription note, drive to a pharmacy, wait for the pharmacist to dispense product during normal business hours, etc. Those who require medication for daily functions should be able to live as close to a “normal” life as possible, without having the burdening task of refilling prescriptions.

There are many questions that we will need to answer to better understand the problem and its implications:
 * 1) Does the problem really exist?
 * 2) Is there a demand for this machine in society?
 * 3) Which market is this machine targeted to? higher class, middle class, lower class?
 * 4) What materials will be needed to design this machine in an efficient way?
 * 5) Why are we designing this machine? convenience
 * 6) How many types of medications will this machine hold?
 * 7) Can anyone use this machine?
 * 8) How do we prevent misuse or abuse of the machine?
 * 9) What marketing tactics will be used to, promote this system?
 * 10) Are these machines under surveillance?
 * 11) Will there be a help line needed for people who need help with the machine?
 * 12) How many compartments will this machine hold for the different types of pills?
 * 13) System and technology needed to verify the identity of the patient.

Our current use of modern resources outweighs the supply of natural resources available to us. The Amish live a very peaceful, holistic, natural lifestyle. The Amish have voluntarily decided to remove themselves from the consumer driven, technologically advanced modern society. Using a ground-up approach, we should learn from them rather than design for them. Rather than exhausting our resources and damaging the earth for our own convenience, we should adapt from the Amish a community tight, sustainable lifestyle. Currently companies in society are branding themselves as going green, when in actuality they are still promoting convenience for their own selfish reasons rather than for the greater good of the environment. We should take a leadership role so that people may follow in the environmentally friendly ways through small steps. For example, rather than driving to the nearest Tim Horton's 5 minutes away, people should consider other methods like biking, roller blading or walking. We should be customers not consumers, or that we should buy what we need and not buy for obsolescence.
 * Designing for the Other 90%: Idea Two- Integration of Amish Lifestyle**


 * 1) What alternative ways can we adapt from the Amish and integrate into our individual lives?
 * 2) What's the difference between the Amish and Mennonites and the way they live?
 * 3) How are we going to market the idea of authentic vs commercialized going green?
 * 4) Can we learn and implicate methods of food preservation of natural/ holistic/ organic food undertaken by the Amish?
 * 5) Furthermore can we translate these methods not only into our own lifestyle but to third world countries where people can learn how to grow food and preserve it without electricity or machinery?