For my feedback loop project, I’d like to present “snarkicity: saving your money and the earth one mildly abusive comment at a time.” The idea is that people aren’t aware enough of how they’re spending their money on electricity at any given time. To remedy this issue, snarkicity would gather your electricity usage data and display in a semi-aggressive fashion how much you’re spending on any given device in your home and suggest (kindly) a better allocation of funding.
The screen is a 3.63 by 2.02 inches touchscreen mounted next to the light switch closest to your front door. Snarkicity is a fully customizable experience. You answer a few questions about your electricity usage and select the level of abuse you can handle.
The first edition of snarkicity has three distinct personalities so the user can choose how he wants to engage with the device. For the purist, snarkicity displays the amount of money you’ve spent on any given device in your home or overall usage and compares it (hilariously) to charities that could make better use of your money. There is the “Denah Edition” where you would experience the most harsh level of abuse and the “Mr. Rogers Edition” where he kindly suggests charities that could use your funds instead of wasting them on lights that clap on.
The third personality, “Kardashian Edition,” was developed based on user feedback. I found that many users interviewed would prefer to see how their electricity spending compares to the cost of different activities and shopping experiences. People want to know how the money spent on running their television compares to the coolest kicks they can buy.
As your spending increases and you violate your stated budgets, the level of snark rises, but never getting too high as to alienate the user (who chose to install it in the first place). Future versions of snarkicity will be even more customizable, as users can choose the exact level of sarcasm they want to experience.
The “Denah Edition” clearly features the most abuse. This is not for the faint of heart.
The “Mr. Rogers Edition” gives the user some encouragement to do better.
The “Kardashian Edition” shows the user a better, personal way to spend their money.
And that is snarkicity, a feedback loop to encourage better spending and less waste, never losing sight of free will. Even though I may know better…
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