FORUM 03: Ideas are made by combining 2 or 3 words, basically. Kindly use this methods for this ideation process. You may sketch with visuals and words. As we all know that when we go to do our shopping in the supermarket, we need a device  (basket, trolley,  grocery bag etc.) to put in our stuffs and manoeuvre our way around the aisle. Illustrate and visual what are the common issues that we face and sketch out how we can improve the shopping experience better. You may create a new system or a product for this task. You may add a statement to support your idea(s). Thank you.

When it comes to grocery shopping, there are many problems I’ve faced such as the difficulty in carrying items as carrying bags can get too heavy for my hands and trolleys could have also been taken by others leaving me with a basket in this case. Moreover I think that trolleys themselves have difficulties as well even if its the current best solution that is available.

It can be hard to maneuver and move along the aisles. It can easily get stuck on the tiles or the floor and sometimes does not fit through the smaller aisles as well. For younger people, it could also be a bit heavy to move around so even if it takes the weight of your groceries, I believe that we can try to come up with an improved solution to this problem. Other problems I have faced in the grocery store include the difficulty of getting items in the higher shelves and not easily getting an employee for helping.

Therefore, by combining the words mechanics and movement, I thought of some solutions for this problem. The illustration is shown below

My first idea was to include a search option on the handle or part we touch to move the trolley. I took inspiration from the airplane seating where you can take the lunch table out so in a similar fashion, you can access the screen to find where the item you are searching for is located in the grocery store itself.

The next idea was inspired by robotics and it is to include a mechanical option on the shelves themselves. So to obtain the item, we can select the item we want on a catalog and the ROBO ARM will bring it towards us.

The final idea is to have a personal assisting robot that can move about and helps to carry your items with ease. This Robo Helper has a detachable head and can take items you cannot access on the higher shelves. Like a drone, it can fly about after you enter which item you want access to.

I took this idea from the self cleaning vacuum so to have a surface like that beneath instead of some large wheels at the bottom. This will make the movements easier and smoother unlike the trolleys that sometimes have an unstable wheel that makes it even more difficult to move. The shape of the circular robot can make it easy to put items inside. The robot can also be allowed to follow you if you give them the permission to do so.

An option to access a catalog is available in its torso so like the previous idea, you can find the the location of the items on the screen(inspiration from Teletubbies cartoon). I was also thinking that the hands could perhaps transform or hold boxes/plastic bags for more space. All in all I hope that these ideas can make the shopping experience better and much more exciting for everyone. This is the time to start investing in the future to help us in our daily needs in this way.