Redesign for Sustainability 2012 Asian Smart Living International School Report 6766

Er JieRedesign for Greater Erjie Community

Mentor / Fang-Wu Tung _ Taiwan

Seed Teaching Assistant / Wei-Kang (Jerry) Wang _ Taiwan

Team members / Ayako Miyoshi _ JapanBart Sanders _ NetherlandsWen-Shu Kwek _ SingaporeWen-Hui (Wendy) Chuang _ TaiwanYun-Fong Kao _ Taiwan

Redesign for Sustainability 2012 Asian Smart Living International School Report 6968

First we went to Wang Gong Temple in Erjie. We learned about the history of the temple, the community it is located in, and the future plans for its renovation. The end goal is to make Wang Gong temple symbolic of the unique cultural heritage in Yilan County. Before leaving, we ran into owners of a new car who were preparing to drive it over �re as part of a �re walking ceremony. This is a traditional ceremony performed to ward o� evil spirits that may bring danger or bad luck. Our encounter with �re walking had a big impact on the direction we took in conceptualizing tourist attractions for the area.

Then, we returned to the Erjie Barn, where we discussed the results of our interview at Wang Gong Temple, and created a plan for the next step in our design process. In the afternoon we identified and interviewed individuals who would be helpful to us, including workers at the granary and local residents who manage bed-and-breakfasts in their homes. We learned more about the potential opportunities and the potential pitfalls of development in this area.

DISCOVER

DEFINE

First, we wrote down all our ideas on post-its, and then we separated them into di�erent subjects. Then we determined the purpose, expectations, and targets of our design. Currently, Erjie Community is losing youth due to rural-urban migration and Erjie Community has an aging population. Job opportunities are decreasing, and the community is not well connected to other communities in the area, such as Jenju and Bai-mi. We thought it is essential to develop tourism in the area in order to promote the preservation and development of native folk culture. When combined with developments in Jenju and Bai-mi, this movement can make a great contribution to the tourism industry in Yilan County.

Redesign for Sustainability 2012 Asian Smart Living International School Report 7170

We further determined that, in order to develop the tourism industry in this area, we must tackle the following: a lack of publicity, underdeveloped transportation, the emigration of young adults, and the underutilization of cultural heritage sites. Then, we imagined what we would like Erjie to be like in twenty years. At this point we created stories around the unique characteristics of Erjie we discovered, in order to clarify what type of tourism activities would be best for the community. These focal points include traditional rice cakes used in celebrations, traditional ceremonies and holidays, visual characteristics that could be used for marketing, and how Erjie �ts into its surrounding area. Our goal was to develop interactive activities that would allow visitors to experience the authentic local culture.

DEVELOP

We believed that the selling points of Erjie are its beautiful surroundings, rice production, its relaxed countryside atmosphere, local arts, the granary architecture, and other cultural sites. Together with the attractions of Jenju and Bai-mi, these three villages can be combined in a bicycle tour. Visitors could �rst use the wood working facilities in Bai-mi to create a basic design, then get fibers from the straw in Jenju, and finally take it all to Erjie to make an individualized pastry mould, called gaomuo in Chinese. Further, targeting the rice harvesting culture of Erjie, we designed a special CIS and unique packaging to go with it, in the hope that attractive packaging would boost the value of rice as a souvenir. Third, we created a mobile phone app which introduces the attractions of Erjie in a scavenger hunt. Visitors can also conveniently take and upload photos to social networking sites on their mobile phones. All the above activities could be integrated into a points system, where visitors receive gifts such as free souvenirs and discount coupons.

DELIVER

PROBLEM IDENTIFICATION

DESIGN GOAL

How to strengthen Er Jie and make it contribute to the whole of Yilan.

With our ideas above, we hoped to create a meaningful tour experience that would draw young visitors. In particular, we had aimed to utilize the natural resources of the area, and to create a wealth of information for potential visitors. Furthermore, with our e�orts we aimed to contribute to the economic development of the region. We hoped our ideas would bring in much needed revenue to the villages and increase public understanding of Yilan County.

FINAL PRESENTATION

LEARN

EXPERIENCE

REWARD PLAY

No Tourist Information

No Eco Transportation

Not Attractive for Young People

No Use of Heritage

Service Framework of A Journey Erjie

SERVICE FRAMEWORK

Meaningful Tourism

Enjoy Environment Good Information

Attracts Young People

Upregulation ofLocal Economy

Maintained Craftsmanship

Local History Education

Jobs Youngsters

GenerationInteraction

Yilan Identity

Promotion Yilan

This service framework wants to illustrate what Erjie Community can do and its relation between di�erent stakeholders.

FINAL PRESENTATION

DESIGN CONCEPT

Our target demographic is between the ages of 20 and 30. We hope these young people will visit Yilan in groups of friends. They can �rst create their own unique souvenir through our artistic activities, then discover the area more deeply through our cell phone app, then �nally have a chance to win and purchase a variety of souvenirs.

We hoped to tie Bai-mi, Jenju, and Erjie together into the same travel itinerary. We wanted visitors to visit all three areas at the same time. Visitors can travel on the bike path to get from one village to the next. An example of combining attractions from all three villages would be: firstly, visitors could make wooden molds at the woodworking shops at Bai-mi, and then they could collect straw at Jenju. After that, they could turn the straw into paper pulp at the paper making factory in Erjie. Finally, the visitors could use the wooden mold to mold the paper pulp into different designs for souvenirs.

Concept 1 _ Yilan Biking Tour & Treasure Hunt

Treasure hunt tools / Er Jie memory

New customer journey

B&B Wood Carving

Baimi

Mold Product

Erjie“ DIY ”

Straw Pulp

Jenju

We would design and market souvenirs from Erjie by utilizing traditional cultural elements, such as turtle shell-shaped molds (Hong Gui Guo). We hoped to boost the attractiveness of these local products through our packaging design.

Packaging design / Giving identity to Er Jie Community Er Jie Logo design

Concept 2 _ Branding Er Jie

We hoped to utilize our mobile phone app to increase the popularity of the region. Our app would provide lots of information about local foods, festivals, and ceremonies. We highly encouraged visitors to use bicycles as the main form of transportation. As visitors moving along the bike path, they could search their app for speci�c information. Furthermore, the app would provide a scavenger hunt that takes visitors to di�erent attractions. Visitors who get enough points would receive gifts provided by local businesses.

Concept 3 _ Er Jie Journey

Story board / Bike renting service & Usage of the Er Jie App program

Er Jie App program / Connecting the local resources and informations to customer journey