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Mich (Minchi)
Tsai
Asshole Pay
Apple pay 2.0 verb
Asshole Pay is literally inspirited by Apple Pay. In the process of research, I quite agreed with Apple’s opinion, that "we shouldn’t depend all our security data on a plastic card". So, that’s why Apple Pay exists now. However, this payment service comes with the phenomenon - impulsive shopping / unconscious shopping. I suppose that’s because it’s very convenient, fast, cashless, and people can use it in lots of shops and restaurants. Thus, these factors make Apple Pay been favoured. Actually, this phenomenon happens in every payment services, but in this project, I chose the Apple Pay as the base for developing. After discussed with my tutor - Wesley, that we just twist the direction of this project. Actually, we was thinking about making a LED cube, and inviting audiences to interact with it in the beginning. If my topic is focusing on stopping the impulsive shopping. Then, maybe I can make the Apple Pay into a parody way, and try to stop people use it, or even hate it.
(1) Cards Collection (2) Expense Summary (3) Notifications
(4) Payment Warning (5) Setting (6) Community (7) User Page
Community
During the process of development, I tried to think about what else functions which I could put in the app. And remember what was happened when I saw my friends buying something. RIDICULE. I always do it with my friends. Such as ‘Wow, what did you buy?’, ‘Do you really need it?’, ‘Hey hey hey, you will eat mud at the end of this month. (Eat mud - Taiwanese language, it means a person has no money to eat, but only mud.)’, ‘Don’t you feel shame?’ etc. Indeed, people care about their prestige, if someone says something which will damage their prestige, then that will be the best way to warn people. Thus, I add the function - Community in Asshole Pay. Users can see their friends spending how much money on how many time ago. They can ‘hush’ their friend for doing ridicule, but their friendship index will also reduce at the same time.
From Payment Service to Social Interaction
I had observed some payment services and mobile banking apps, there is only one bank has the community function in its app. I suppose that most people will think combining ‘finance’ and ‘community’ together, that it will also come with the security problem. Or we can say, people doing the payment or managing their finance online are already improving than before. However, even the companies of payment service say they will not monitor users transactions information, but who knows? When our payment documents expose, how people react with it? And how users interact with their friend with this function, I’m super curious about it.
Becoming an Asshole
At the same time, I’m also considering what consequence will happen after people use Asshole Pay. Everything we do all comes with a consequence, it just depends better or not. Thus, I thought if users become an asshole by using Asshole Pay, is that possible? If we ridicule someone without limit, then we will be hatred. But hushing friends on the Asshole Pay is easier than the real world, because we can’t see the real person, thus the problem of ridicule will be worse. People will become an asshole as well when they using Asshole Pay.
Warning
When users doing payment, Asshole Pay will change usual style becoming agitated, dizzy and witty. Through this way to make users feeling unprepared when they doing payment. Stopping users effectively. The background colour, logo and warning words are also changing to the different style, or we can say Asshole Pay is just like an emotional assistant, to make people feeling that Asshole Pay is angry, something like that.
Flipping Perspective
This project is super fitting with my personality actually. Even my friends all think I’m a person who good to get along with, but if I find something wrong or I can’t accept, then I will be very annoying. Even let people mad. All works, words or projects represent their creator, I suppose that’s why I feel Asshole Pay just to show my feature. Maybe I'm an asshole somehow as well.
About Asshole Pay
Obviously, if I will do this project again. Then I will collect the ideas from the interview to achieve them. Big thanks to my ex-partners from Fablab Tainan - Aent, Ben, Bernard. Actually, some interviewers told me that Asshole Pay is just like some people make the unstoppable alarm clock. It’s impossible to achieve. No one will use these kind of app as well. But I would say even the outcome is not a real app, it truly makes viewers reflected themselves, then we can say it’s a successful project. My favorite part is the community actually. When I figured out this idea, I think I’m such a genius. But it really happens in my life before, thus I thought that others must hush someone or friends as well. The function of community not only represents how people interact with their friend or manage friendship. It also shows people’s mind (not about the mental health problem), actually to hush others is very interesting somehow.
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