The work starts, right now, right here!

After what we can call a very successful project we are facing the next step of our SnoepDog project: constructing a workable and in real life operational version of SnoepDog. Now THAT’s what you call a challenge. Inventing is one thing, make it work definitely more work. So no summer holiday for us, unfortunately. But hey, what’s more fun than making your own company and making money from your own idea? You’ll be hearing from us soon!

Snoepdog idee van Tilburgse studenten

Giel Beelen 3FM over SnoepDog

SnoepDog project at Giel Beelens 3FM! Listen to our SnoepDog project collegue Sander Tan at http://giel.vara.nl/Audiohighlights.456.0.html?&tx_ttnews[tt_news]=18366&cHash=e4a1a76c24b93742b6e58c9c2c4a216e

Snoepdog on Brabant10

We won the UID Best Project Award!!!

Yes!!! We won the UID Best Project Award!!! And at the same time, SnoepDog is concurring the media! So far, the following media have paid attention to our project:

3FM (Giel Beelen)

BN/DeStem

AD

NCRV

Het Parool

Omroep Brabant TV
Brabants Dagblad

Scientias (Science newssite)

BredaVandaag.nl

Omroep Brabant Radio

TNR

Tilburg.com

Univers

Stadsnieuws Tilburg

Eindhovens Dagblad

Radio Noord-Holland

SnoepDog on Omroep Brabant

Newsmedia dig SnoepDog!

A very busy day with a lot of media at the pre-presentation of SnoepDog in Tilburg. Newspapers, websites and tv stations like the SnoepDog idea!

SnoepDog receives media attention

Always nice, when media are publishing about your project. SnoepDog on the newsite http://www.tilburg.com/

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Studenten Tilburg University lossen met SnoepDog hondenpoepprobleem op

Publicatiedatum: 16 mei 2011

Vier studenten aan de School of Humanities van Tilburg University hebben een prototype ontwikkeld dat het hondenpoepprobleem moet aanpakken in de vorm van een multimedia poepbak met touchscreen. Niet straffen in de vorm van boetes, maar belonen voor goed gedrag is de achterliggende filosofie: zowel hond als baas.
Het prototype, met als werktitel SnoepDog is een grote bak waar na inloggen door de hondeneigenaar volle poepzakjes in gaan en hondenbrokjes uitkomen. De eigenaren krijgen een persoonlijke pas waarmee ze kunnen sparen voor belastingkorting of kans kunnen maken op speeltjes voor de hond. Met het hondenkoekje dat uit het apparaat komt, kan de hond zo geconditioneerd worden dat deze alleen in de buurt van de bak poept.

De SnoepDog is getest bij de hondentraining van de dierenbescherming in Breda. Algemene eindconclusie was dat mensen erg positief tegenover het prototype staan. Belastingkorting en het spel zijn voor de mensen een goede stimulans om de hondenpoep op te ruimen. De studenten zijn van plan het apparaat kostenneutraal aan te bieden aan gemeentes.

Logo design is something else

Well, we are user interface designers, NOT graphic designers. So yeah, the SnoepDog logo isn’t the best part of our work. Working on it! Here’s a new attempt to make SnoepDog more likeable. Although used in many occasions, a dog paw always works fine. We could have done another one: the SnoepDog in ad pile of poop, but hey, that wouldn’t create the nice associations our marketeers our searching for…

Play or get tax refund!

Here’s the first design of the screen interface. As you can see, there’s two ways a dog owner can be rewarded for collecting dog poop. The quick one is a discount on the dog tax. Dog owners that dispose of dog feces in the appropriate way all year long, wil NOT pay any dog taxes at all! How’s  that? It will solve the dog poop problem within a year! A more fun way to change dog owner’s behavior is the Dog game: nice dog prices can be won by rolling the ball.

What we learned from the user evaluation

The evaluation test at the Animal Protection Service in Breda was packed with lessons for us to learn. We installed SnoepDog at the gate of the training field, so every dog owner in the training course would pass by.  We selected participants ourselves. First we asked them to participate. Then we introduced SnoepDog by telling what it is and how it works. Then we asked them to use it and speak aloud anything that goes on in their minds while using the device. Afterwards, we interviewed them about their experience.  Here are the main results:

-  The interface proved to be more complicated to new users than we expected.  Although we explained in length the way SnoepDog works, it took most participants minutes to figure out what to do;

- Dog owners main focus is NOT SnoepDog, but their dogs! The constant shift of attention between device and dog resulted in a lack of concentration, which made the interface tasks harder to complete;

- The fact that the users of SnoepDog are dog owners caused an unforeseen problem: because within urban space dog owners are obliged to leech their dogs, they only have one free hand to  handle the device: the other hand is used to hold the leech. The problem is that most right handed dog owners hold the leech with their right hand. They tend to use SnoepDog with their left, which makes the handling harder. This especially the case when dogowners need to grab a bag. Tearing a bag of should be made easier with a same system used to tear of aluminum foil;

- Vision and sound can be improved to make the interface clearer;

- The interface uses too much text. Participants did not take the time to read;

- Most participants were eager to proceed the process, they want to get done with it as quickly as possible;

- Strong sun light caused the screen to fade, which made it harder to read, even when the screen was at its brightest;

- Some participants seemed to be more eager to please the researchers than to figure out what to do with SnoepDog. This even when we explained to them that we want to test the system, not how well they perform;

- Young people seem to prefer the game, older people the tax reduce;

- It proved to be hard for participants to think of ways to improve SnoepDog.

Testing at the Animal Protection Service

Today we received some very good news. We got official approval to test the SnoepDog at the dog training of the Animal Protection Service (Dierenbescherming). Now, WERE would we be better off testing a dog and owner behavioral machine than at the expert’s doorstep? Over 80 puppies, dogs and owners will be present next Saturday, under the caring eye of Animal Protection trainers. They will give their expert view on the machine an its design. It will be tons of fun!

Test ground will be: www.hondentraining-breda.dierenbescherming.nl/

SnoepDog for budget prices

Well good news here for local governments that do want to introduce the SnoepDog, but are in these days of cutbacks not willing to invest a lot of money in them. Marketing has brought us the insight of product differantiation, so why not use it? The SnoepDog is coming to you in four variations: Budget, Intermediate and Elite. Here are the feautrues:

Budget

Small garbage collector with limited options. Dog owners have a card which unlocks a hole in the garbage collector.

1.      Dog defecates

2.      Dog owner checks in with his card

3.      The owner can access the recycable paper bags and takes one out

4.      The owner puts the feces in the bag and throws it in the SnoepDog

5.      Chunks of dog food fall out in a small opening at the base of the SnoepDog

6.      Dog is conditioned to defecate near the SnoepDog

Intermediate

Same options as the budget SnoepDog, but this trash can has a flatscreen. On this screen various dog training tips appear when you check in with your card. By checking in, the SnoepDog registers how many times you throw away your dog's feces. The more feces you throw away, the more points you earn. With these points you can get a discount on your dog taxes.

1.      Dog defecates

2.      Dog owner checks in with his card

3.      The dog owner can see on the screen how many times he has checked in and how many times he has to throw away dog feces before he receives a dog tax reduction

4.      The owner can access the recycable paper bags and takes one out

5.      The owner puts the feces in the bag and throws it in the SnoepDog

6.      A video with dog training tips are shown on the screen

7.      Chunks of dog food fall out in a small opening at the base of the SnoepDog

8.      The dog owner now knows how he can train his dog with the help of food

9.      Dog learns new tricks and receives food

10.  Dog is conditioned to defecate near SnoepDog

11.  Dog owner saves for tax reduction

Elite

Same options as the Intermediate SnoepDog, but there are extra options:

·         Sun shade above the screen, so the users can read the screen better when it is sunny.

·         Paper bags with disinfecting lotion in them

·         Dog owners receive a chip to attach to the dog's collar instead of a card. In most households a dog is being walked by more than one person. If that person has the card in his wallet, the others can not dispose the dog feces in the SnoepDog.

·         Dog owners can earn points when they throw away the dog's feces. With these points they can reduce their dog taxes or play a game to win a prize.

·         When the dog chunks fall out a high pitched sound is played through a speaker which only the dogs can hear, so they know there is food.

Twitter revolutions

For all people thinking that the only thing we do in Tilburg University is designing dog poop bins: you’re wrong. This how we proof it. Something completely different: our interview with prof. dr. Van Oortmerssen about Twitter Revolutions. So now this blog contains something that cat owners might interest ;-)

There is no such thing as a fool proof design

To make sure the design is suitable for all possible conditions, we had to come up with different scenario's. Expect the unexpected, sort of. This is one of the scenario's that made our SnoepDog 'hufter proof'.

Scenario 2

Wednesday evening. A very grumpy old guy and a very grumpy old dog leave home  for a walk. The guy hates dogs, but he promised his neighbor  to walk her dog Rakker. The grumpy old guy doesn’t know anything about dogs. He walks to the lawn and discovers the SnoepDog. “What the hell is this machine for?”, he wonders.  While Rakkers does the biggie, the old guy does what fools do: NOT reading the explaining text on the screen, but randomly pushing  buttons.  Rakker thinks that a candy is coming and starts crying impatiently , but the old guy, who now knows that he is supposed to throw Rakker’s poop in the bin, gets stuck at the message ’Please scan card at reader’. “What card !?!”, the man yells frustrated. “ I don’t have a card!!’The old guy might be grumpy, he both respects and fears the law. Not being provided with a poop bag and in serious fright of getting fined, he scoops Rakker’s poop with his bare hands. ‘What a mess!’, he cries. ‘Do dog owners actually do this on a daily basis???’The old guy wants to get rid of the poop as soon as possible. But to his growing frustration, the SnoepDog only opens if you have a card. While Rakker goes wild with candy  expectations, the guy roars ‘Aaarrrgh!’ and keeps trying… Wild with rage,  the guy drops the poop on the ground and starts kicking the SnoepDog. He yells: “You damn bastard! First you don’t give me a bag, now you don’t collect this shit. And I am even not allowed to wash my hands here! I hate you!’ Demolishing the SnoepDog cools down his anger a bit. When he is sure the damage to the machine is beyond repairing, he walks home to go wash his hands. “I will never, EVER, walk a dog again!’, he mumbles. And he keeps his word.

Lessons to be learned from scenario 2:

·         Try to design as fool proof as possible;

·         The SnoepDog interface has to be very clear in how to use it, also to people that are uninformed and inexperienced;

·         Pushing buttons randomly doesn’t cause the machine to malfunction;

·         The best place to carry the ID-chip is not by a owner’s e-card, but by a dog coin on the collar of the dog. The dog is the only one that is always there when the pooping is being done;

·         The SnoepDog has to be strong! Vandalism does occur in public space;

·         Special attention for keeping the close environment of the SnoepDog clean (in case of accidents, like falling poop bags).

The Fortune Bin

During our research, we found just one single idea of a poop bin that provides something nice in return of the poop: a fortune cookie!

Unfortunately, a prototype has never been build. It was submitted as an idea by Ricardo Smith & David Vallejo at thefuntheory.com.
Description: In this dog poo bin, when the owner of the dog throw poo, within the bag that the bin offers, into the bin, a ring bell sounds and a message emerge from the messages dispenser, like a fortune cookie. The messages could be famous phrases, fun messages or good advices. This could make this task funnier.

Pavlov was right!

History has been written in Berkel-Enschot. The first real life testing of the SnoepDog! As we expected, our test dog Shep needed just two rounds before he was conditioned: he now knows for the rest of his life were the SnoepDog candy is appearing. Pavlov, boy, you were right! Here’s the video of our first testing round. All went well, above all we learnt the good and bad parts of our design. Still working to achieve perfection. For Shep, perfection already has been reached: never in his 4 year old dog live he ate this large amounts of dog candy.

No one told us that it can be dangerous!

And here we are with the first pics of the high fi prototype of the SnoepDog. The work is reaching its final stage, with the first tests being done last Thursday.  Videos of the test will be published here soon. Our house carpenter Ralph invested a fair amount of blood, sweat and tears in building the SnoepDog at the bayckyard of his home in the beautiful village of Berkel-Enschot. When our team arrived there with our test dog Shep, his cat went into full attack mode! The beast threatened to kill us all, beginning with that hairy Belgian shepherd that hat the NERVE to enter his domain without  asking permission. To defend ourselves we used large amounts of water, that finally scared the cat away.  No one told us that User Interface Design can be so dangerous!

Speed date

Today we participated in a so called speed date session with our professor. Well, no romance involved here, just a lightning fast evaluation of our design work so far. Although we received some critical remarks, the overall evaluation was quite a good one. So, we can go on with our designing phase, and that’s good news. Here some pics of the SnoepDog prototype. Just wait ‘till we show you the interface, you are gonna LOVE it, like you love your dog!

The brain storm sessions...

In two overwhelming fruitful brainstorm sessions in café Esplanade we came to a lot of wild ideas, some very original, some very unrealistic, and some that already existed without us even knowing. Here’s a short list of ideas:
- an interface that makes dog owners choose: to get a discount on dog tax or to play a game and win pet prices. (makes collecting dog poop even more fun);
- a dog poop bin with a suction unit, like a vacuum cleaner, so that dog owners can clean poop without touching it; (makes collecting dog poop less filthy);
- a poop bag behind the dog’s ass (and yes, this one already existed, it is invented in Japan. See photo)
- not to provide a magnetic identification card to the owner, but instead to put a ID chip in the dog tax coin, because there’s many people that may walk the dog, but there’s only one dog;
- to get the SnoepDog sponsored by the pet industry (pet shops, pet food manufacturers, vets, insurance companies, etc.), which can use the display for branding and to communicate special offers;
- to have the dog poop collected to win phosphor from it, which – under current high world phosphor prices - could be make the SnoepDog economically and environmentally cost neutral.
- segmentation: to design three alternatives, the most expensive and luxurious with high tech features, to be called the SnoepDog Elite.
- the cheapest one, the SnoepDog Basic, has no display, just a small dog candy when the poop is disposed of.
- to use a dog whistle to lure dogs (the human ear cannot hear the sound because the frequency is too high)   

First designs & signup for test phase is open!

Now here are some of the first drawings of how the SnoepDog could look like. Not finished, but hey, it is a start. Thanx to our scetch artist Ralph, how is not only very busy with very need 3D drawing software from Google Google Sketchup, but also with wood, nails and a hammer. Photos will be posted here soon. You want us to build a prototype? Ralph will get you one. And yes, we WILL run a user test, so dog owners, sign up now by emailing us, and get a free Snoepie for your doggie!     

Working hard!

So far, all goes well. Not much to post, though, because we are still designing. Therefore, a nice cartoon  will do well. The design phase is a critical one. Here we will write different scenario’s and build a prototype of our dog poop cleaning invention. The first scetches will be posted soon!

We're on our way!

We received our first professional critique on our work and there was good news. Our lecturer digs our work! This is what the teacher of Business Infromation Design msc Suleman Shahid (photo) commented on our research phase:

++overall very good effort! your user research phase is really SOLID and some sections are really excellent.!! overall very good and balanced effort! I really enjoyed reading your document and it certainly went beyond a standard submission! You also did the labor work of transcribing observation and it looks nice! I do not have any major criticism

 Now , that's what we call a compliment. Currently we are working on the design phase of our project. We'll keep you posted!

The Amazing Dog Poop Ass-Bag

For sure, we are not the first to study the problem of dog poop inconvenience. Here is a Japanese inventor that came up with a  brilliant idea. Although it involves quite a few actions, cities and streets will never look the same once all dogs carry this invention in the streets.

This is the idea

After analyzing the data from our different research phases, we have come to the creative part of this assignment. That is: translating the research findings in a functional design. Well, this scheme is the basis of what we are designing. A rewarding way of cleaning your dog´s poop. It´s still a model, but the Snoep Dog is going to function like this!

Do it yourself

All right, we didn’t want to exclude the possibility that dog owners simply don’t KNOW how to clean up their dog’s feces. Well, as always, the internet comes in handy, with a nice home made instruction video. I must admit, it’s a bit crappy, but hey, if you want to change the world, do not let yourself be stopped by crap!

The truth reveiled

Our extensive research resulted in a clear description of both the problem as the way we can contribute to its solution. First of all, we found that dog poop in public space is experienced as a huge problem. Local governments are struggling to find a solution. Surveys among dog owners in different municipalities show that the main reason dog owners refuse to clean up their dog’s feces is because:
- It is inconvenient;
- There’s no place to get rid of the filled poop bags;
Our survey and observations show that the majority indeed feel it inconvenient to clean up dog’s feces. Results of the survey show that the respondents don’t like to walk around with a filled poo bag. Most of the time they take the dog out at a dog walk area where they don’t have to clean it up. The observations showed that ones who let their dog poo on board walks or public gardens do not take the effort to clean it up. Most of the gardens are filled with other feces! Also, other surveys show that, in order to change dog owners behavior, local governments should:

- Provide enough bins to get rid of the filled poop bags;
- Provide free poop bags to dog owners;

However, none of these studies have taken into account scientific theory on human behavior and human-dog relationships. We believe the solution lies here! First of all we found that the only stimulus used by local governments to motivate dog owners to is a negative stimulus (punishment by penalty). This exclusively repressive method of motivation shows obvious similarity with the way dogs (Canis familiaris ) were trained until about 15 years ago. Since the well known experiments of Pavlov we know that dog behavior can easily be conditioned. Research shows that in dog training, applying positive stimuli like rewarding is a much more effective means to change dog behavior than the use of negative stimuli, like punishment
- Dog owners should not be convinced to clean up their dog’s poop by thread of financial punishment (alone), but by financial reward.

Secondly, we believe that the positive correlation between dog and human wellbeing could be put into advantage. Thus, it is very well possible that we can reward a dog owner by rewarding his dog. And you don’t need science to learn that there is no better way to reward a dog than to donate something eatable.

- A dog owner could be rewarded by rewarding its dog;
- A considerable part of our target group suffers from lack of time; Therefore:
- The disposal of dog feces should be made quick, convenient and easy.

From our participating experiment we learned that walking the streets with a hot, filled poop bag is a dreadful experience. This was affirmed by 70.2 % of respondents in our survey. Although the feces are concealed in a bag, you get a feeling that you want to wash your hands immediately. That would be more hygienic anyway! . Does the same go for people, like dog owners?
Yes! Studies within cognitive psychology show that people, like their dogs, are easily conditioned, but not by punishing (alone)! Especially in the theory of operant conditioning we found proof that positive stimuli can be an effective way in changing human behavior into a desired direction. This is also confirmed by our survey in which dogowners say that fines, government obligations and the chances of getting caught is not a motivation to clean up dog feces.

Research Interview Snoep4Poop

Our one and only Dimphy Spielberg delivered a fine job by editing the shots taken during one of the qualitative interviews we conducted during the research phase of our project. Take a look at this fine movie clip!

A dirty job

To get to understand what dog owners have to go through, we did some participational research. Here's the report:

Klaroenring, Etten-Leur
Date/Time: 22 February, 10.11h.
Weather: -1 degrees Celcius, misty
Subject: Bas Kock

General observations:  - cleaning up your dog’s feces is a dirty job
                                               - social rules are felt harder than the law
                                               - lack of dustbins is irritating
                                               - could there be more bins, and a means to wash your hands?

For this opportunity we walked a 4 year old Belgian Shepherd called Shep. The dog weighs about 25 kilos and is very well trained. We walk her in the morning because this is her usual pooping time. It is freezing, but the dog doesn’t seem to care. First she sniffs the ground and takes a leak. Then she searches for a nice spot to drop her thing. We are walking for about 15 minutes when that happens. She prefers a green field with not too much other dog feces present. Pooping takes about 10 seconds, during this period subject feels a bit nervous, as being watched. More important than the law social rules are felt. [subject thinks: “What if anyone thinks I won’t clean it up…”]

 The cleaning process starts with searching for the poop bag. [subject thinks: “In what pocket did I hide the damn bag!?!”] After searching the bag in three pockets it is found in the fourth. Scooping up the poop is a very unpleasant experience. First comes the feeling of hotness: the poop is about 38 grades Celcius and in the cold of the morning it feels like it is boiling! Subject realizes that there’s only a thin layer of plastic separating his hand from the feces. Then the smells kicks in. Horrible. The entire process makes subject feel grouse.

No poop bin is found, so where subject wants to get rid of the smelly bag as soon as possible, he has to carry it around. After ten minutes he finds a private dustbin and he desposes of the bag. [subject thinks: “Let me wash my hands now, please.”]

The poop facts

For years in a row dog poop is, in the perception of Dutch citizens, a steady number one in the list of causes of deterioration of the living community[1]. In the Netherlands, laws against  poop annoyance are exclusively made and executed by municipalities. A growing number of municipalities oblige dog owners to clean up their dog’s feces[2]. In the battle against dog poop, the main weapon used by local governments is repression[3]. The risk of a fine up to 90 euro is the single (adversative) stimulus that should motivate dog owners to comply to the desired behavior. Still, the motivation of dog owners to clean their dog’s feces is very low. We want to investigate how dog owner behavior can be changed in a desired direction by applying science and, more specific, User Interface Design. Based on theory on cognitive science we will design an interactive device that will change cleaning up dog feces into a fun and rewarding experience.

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[1] source: De Beer, 2004

[2] source: Handreiking Bestuurlijke Boete Overlast, VNG (Association of Dutch Municipalities)

[3] source: Hondenpoepoverlast is mensenwerk, Gemeente Olst-Wijhe, maart 2009.

Smelly observations in Etten-Leur

The participating research phase of our project is coming to a climax with this week’s poop excursion into the beautiful town of Etten-Leur. We interviewed a bunch of dog owners and observed dogs in their most intimate action of the day. And o my God, this was the first time in my life I actually touched dog feces! A poop bag was the only tiny little thin separation between my bare hand and dog shit. I could feel the heath. And the smell!!! Well, this movie gives you a first impression of our busy week. Thanks to our talented video editor Dimphy G.

Use it, misuse it...

You can't win a batttle without a plan and you can't conduct good research without a good battle plan. So today we finished our research plan and after ample discussion we decided to share it with our fellow Tilburg University researchers of other UID projects. Not because we want to help them beat us in this User Interface Design competition, but just because we are nice. And oh, also beacause we want to show them they don't stand a chance! So here you go, use it, misuse it, whatever you want, as long as you keep out of our way.

Tsunami!

OMG! Team member and Mister SPSS Mikail mails me that we are facing a real tsunami of respondents that are filling our the questionnaire! Within two ours after publication via Thesistools, already 26 dog owners have filled out the questionnaire. And we are still counting. This morning, the body count was 70!

Reason for this succes: we posted the questionnaire on multiple forums of dog owners and asked them to help us out. Well, they did! And we say: thanks a lot!Wraf!

Wanted: Dog owners

We beg dog owners to help us with our research by filling out a short quetionnaire on http://bit.ly/i7ztkB.
This is because, as scientists at Tilburg University, we believe there is only one way to end dog poop terror: by applying science! So this week we started collecting our data. Not only by conducting participating research, as the previous blog message showed, but also by conducting a fair bit of quantitive research. So dog owners, make yourself immortal an help us help you. We love you!

Team leader Ralph gets his hands dirty

As we told you before, the best way to destroy your enemy is to know him thoroughly. So today we started a serious indepth study of shitting dog behavior. Our field study took us to the beautiful municipality of Etten-Leur, which for the upcoming weeks will form the home base of our experiments. In the freezing cold of dawn we observed and filmed pooing dogs and their owners and guess what: we learned hell of a lot from it. No wonder no one cleans up dog poop! Those poop bags are very unhandy, smelly, and there is no place to get rid of them accept your home bin. This problem is screaming for a user interface design solution!  

Know your enemy!

To all offfending dog owners, we know who you are! But do you know who we are? Ah, that's what I suspected. Well, lay down, drool and tremble. We are Pear, an anonymous group of five students of Tilburg University, who are deploying our cummaltive IQ of 716 points in the upcoming and already epic battle of hard science versus soft shit. And we are totally ready to get you. Those who are going to die greet you, and make no mistake: It will not be us!

We hate dog poop!

Is there anyone out there that has never had the enlightning experience of stepping into a pile of fresh & smokey dog poop, on a bright sunny sunday morning? Wel, I know I have, although with me it ususually seems to happen on a Monday morning. Did you know that one third of all Dutch citizens describes dog poop the number one annoyance in public space (source: CBS, 2007)? I strongly agree! Fot once and for all, this blog will learn society how to put an and to dog poop terror. Dogs and dog owners be warned! We will aplly science where it is most needed: on the streets, in the parks and at your doorstep. Hallelujah!