Manners Maketh Man: Shopping Mall Innovation

Proposed Idea: Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) Tags for Children

Objective

To help parents locate their children accurately and to reduce hassle searching for them.

Problem

Back in the days, until now reports about missing children is still a thing. Of course, in a heavily-dense area, it is very easy to lose your child. So, what are those areas? We have the parks, plazas, and malls. The good thing when you lose your child in the mall is that the mall has a Customer Service that will paged your report to the people. Though the Customer Service will be a big help to find your child, it still not efficient enough. It could take hours to find your child since the people are too busy, some of them didn’t hear the Customer Service person paging at all.

Gaisano Mall of Davao is a big establishment here in Davao City. Well, not the biggest though. It has five floors, seven when you include the third level of The Peak, not including the lower ground where the grocery lies. Though it is not as big compared to other malls here, Gaisano still has a wide space enough for the crowd to fill. Gaisano Mall’s major floors (From Lower Ground to 5^th Floor) are the most crowded. And each floors has pathways to different stores, which makes it look like a maze. And pretty sure you don’t want to lose your child there. As I observe the establishment, it would be a difficult task to find a missing child there due to the population of the people walking on every floor. I noticed that only the department stores are the only part of that has radios. What if you lost your child outside the department store? You lost your child in the open. Paging it wouldn’t be enough to find your child. That’s why I thought of something will help to your find your with such accuracy and precision.

The Solution

I thought of a method that will make the search for your missing child faster and more accurate. It may take a minute or just a couple of seconds. The point is, it will shorten the span of worrying and to give you confidence that you will find your child.

This method will use RFID or Radio Frequency Identification. According to Wikipedia: “Radio Frequency Identification is the wireless use of electromagnetic fields to transfer data, for the purposes of automatically identifying and tracking tags attached to objects.” So, we will use this power of the RFID as an advantage to find your missing child. We will also be needing the help of the guards on each floor.

So, how does this work? Children under ten years old will be given an RFID Tag either in a form of a sticker or a bracelet. These RFID stickers or bracelets has a code embedded on it. The code is a combination of alpha-numeric characters just like a plate number. The code will act as the identification of the bearer. These tags will be given or applied by the guards at the entrance. It is also an optional choice. The parents can either accept or decline the guard’s officer to apply a Radio Frequency Identification tag. Parents who are very cautious are most likely to accept the offer. Parents who think that they can keep their eyes on their child can decline the offer.

Each quadrant of every floors will have a Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) Scanner with a very strong radio frequency. Strong enough to cover an entire quadrant.

Whenever the child is lost, the parents must head to the Customer Service booth, but instead of paging it to the people through a mic, the parents will just have to tell the person in-charge about the RFID’s alpha-numeric code. Then the person in-charge will input in on the computer, and this is when the magic will start to happen.

Once the alpha-numeric code has been entered, the computer will activate the RFID scanners, all of the RFID scanners. Once the RFID reads the frequency from the tag, the computer will show its location and coordination, tracking the subject in real time just like a GPS Tracking Device. The person in-charge will radio the guard(s) designated on that floor about the description of the missing child. The guard(s) is also equipped with a monitoring device, so that the feedback on the computer can be transferred to the monitoring devices that are carried by the guard(s) so that they can keep track on the child in real time.

Considering the fact that the time will come that the manufacturers will run out of possible combinations for the code, the codes will be renewed. The codes will be renewed every month. The manufacturer will produce new tags with the exact same codes as the previous tags, since the codes are renewed and it will only be used once.

The Design

Below are the concept of the RFID Tag. It is still to be decided if the tag will be a sticker or a bracelet.

This is the first concept of the tag it if was a bracelet. Its looks are identical very to a hospital. The straps are velcro straps for convenience. It will be easy to wear and to take off. The parts of the RFID is located at the wide part of the bracelet, where the RFID code is embossed. The RFID Logo can be also seen

This is what the RFID tag would look like if it was a sticker. This one is a normal rectangular sticker with Gaisano Mall and RFID’s logos on it.

Proposed Idea: Grocery Application for Mobile Devices

Objective: It aim to promote easy way to do your groceries and to reduce hassle from waiting in the queue.

Problem

Before Gaisano Mall of Davao’s grocery was renovated and expanded, it was a fine and well grocery. But, the thing of it is that they have long queues of customers falling in line of the cashier to pay their groceries. When you go the grocery, you can see this tremendously long queues. When you try to get in there, you can listen to two or three full songs and you’ll realized that you have barely moved at all. Especially when it is near 6pm. The already long and slow-moving queue will double its length and it would took you an hour just to get to the cashier.

But last year, Gaisano Mall renovated their grocery. They managed to expand it. They rearranged their aisles. Along with it, the added more cashiers making it a total of 40+ cashiers. With those additional cashiers, the traffic had lessen and you can tell it. But there are those instances that even if they have 40+ cashiers, a lot people are still building up, and long queues begin to emerge again.

Solution

I have thought of a solution that will save you the hassle from falling in. You don’t have to deal with long and slow-moving queues again. You don’t have to deal with carrying all the bags again. You can now do your grocery while at home just using your phone. This solution is a mobile grocery application. This is just like the Gaisano Mall’s grocery but only within the palm of your hand. This application has all the items you need. It contains all the items what the grocery exactly had, so there’s no fear thinking that won’t find a certain item.

The way this app works is, the user must register first. The use of registration is that, it keeps the user’s info, and their address so that the delivery team can locate the user’s house and verify that it is them who ordered those groceries. It also asks for the user’s credit card info if they want to pay via credit card. Then, after the registration, he/she will be redirected to the menu. The menu has a simple User Interface to keep a professional look and so that older users won’t be confused using it. The main menu will have to two option; Log In and Register.

After logging in, it will show you the list of all aisles, from Aisle #1 to Aisle #6. It also has (Meat Section, Cigarette Shop, Beauty Care, Beverages, Vegetables, Fruits). When an Aisle is tapped, it will show you a list of categories. Example, if you tap Aisle #5, it will show these categories;

Aisle #5

-Napkins -Panty Liners

-Feminine Wash -Tissue

And if the user taps a category, it will show him/her a list of all products/items under that category. Each item on the list has the price written on the side, but if they tap on the item, it will redirect them to the item’s info, and they will see the “BUY” button. After tapping on the “BUY” button, a message will appear asking the user to enter the desired quantity of the item. Then you can tap the “FINISH” button when they are done.

There is also a “Multiple Purchase” mode. It allows the user to check multiple items that he/she wants to purchase, then the user proceeds to the next page where the user can individually enter the quantity of each items selected. The total amount will appear on the screen after the user entered the quantity of the items. There will be also a Search Bar to find the item you’re looking.

After tapping the “FINISH” button, another message will appear, asking the user if he/she wishes to pay in cash via credit card. If the user chose to pay via credit, the amount will be automatically deducted from the user’s credit card account since the credit card’s info was asked during the registration. If the user chose to pay in cash, he/she will directly pay the delivery guy.

When it is all done, a message will appear showing that the order is confirmed, and how much the delivery fee will be, and the Estimated Time of Arrival (ETA).

When the groceries have arrived, the delivery guy will ask the user to sign a paper. That paper is a confirmation that the user received his/her grocery.

The Design

Below are the following concept images for the application. It uses simple design to avoid confusion.