Small Business
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Background: Some people have noticeably different behavior depending on the amount of caffeine they have ingested so far that day. An person’s level of caffeination may be useful information to others, allowing them to discern the reason for the under/over-caffeinated individual being overly lethargic or excessively manic. Proposal: Obviously there is no easy way for…
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The Issue: In the “open plan” office (a more-cramped version of the classic “cubicle” office plan), there are typically there are many rows of desks with narrow aisles between them (Figure 1). Often, these aisles are quite long, and they may be completely cluttered with office chairs. Proposal: Although in a perfect world, people would…
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Background: Diligent coworkers frequently set their email system to auto-reply with a specific “out of office” message when they’re on vacation. For example: “I’m gone on vacation until July 25, please email me after that.” The Issue: It can be annoying to have to wait for a coworker to return from vacation to ask them…
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The Issue: Now that most job applications are posted online, it’s unbelievably difficult for a person to have their job application actually noticed (or read by a human being at all). Any legitimate-looking job posting for something like “graphic designer: intro level: salary: slightly above minimum wage” will probably get 1000+ applicants the first day…
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Background: Coffee vending machines exist at some commercial establishments: these frequently offer a user the selection of (for example) dark roast, light roast, or decaf, all from the same machine. Many companies also offer free coffee as an employee perk and/or chemical motivator to increase productivity. The Issue: For businesses that provide free coffee, the…
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Background: Camouflage is used by both humans and animals to hide. This can be to avoid potential sources of danger (e.g., a tiger), to avoid being attacked by a predator (e.g., a tiger), or to hide the individual so that they can observe something (e.g., a tiger) without disturbing it. The Issue: Although tigers are…
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Background: When interviewing for a job, there are many cliché questions that a candidate should be prepared for, such as “what’s your greatest weakness” or “tell me about a time when you resolved a disagreement with a coworker.” The Issue: Although it’s easy to think of reasonable answers to these questions, the successful job candidate…
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Background: “Tipping” is an additional fee paid for certain types of purchases in some countries. It is especially common in the food service industry in the United States. In theory, tips are supposed to either go to the worker who provided a certain service, or to go to a “tip pool” where tips are averaged…
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Background: Some companies provide a type of bonus called a “co-worker bonus” or “peer bonus,” where an employee can nominate a coworker for a small monetary reward in recognition for some sort of helpful action. For example, in 2023 at the company Zappos: “once per month, each employee may offer an extra $50 to a…
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Background: Many workplaces provide coffee makers or espresso machines for their employees to use. The Issue: The process of setting up a drip coffee machine or making an espresso can take several minutes, during which the employee is not toiling productively. Even the single-use-coffee-“pod” machines (famously, the Nespresso brand) take at least a few seconds…
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