ShareBox

Abstract

Indirect resource exchange (IRE), where individuals share physical items with one another but do not receive direct benefits (e.g. payment), has the potential to increase communities' access to resources, reduce consumption and waste, and bootstrap social ties. Although social technologies could play a key role in realizing this potential, significant barriers have emerged to the adoption of IRE services, including concerns related to trust, reciprocity, and coordination. To explore these issues, we designed and iterated on a concept called ShareBox, a system that enables IRE through a smart lockbox. We developed ShareBox as a technology probe following a set of design guidelines including: creating a physical-virtual system, enabling asynchronous and anonymous exchange, allowing for low-entry-barrier interactions, and emphasizing affordability and flexibility. We explore the benefits and trade-offs of these design guidelines through short deployments and semi-structured interviews with community members, and present findings that highlight both the potential and the remaining challenges of our design.

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