01
Overview
There are many reasons for hive collapse and overall loss of bee population. Temperature shift (due to climate change) is a huge factor. Another is that bees simply get lost — their bad night vision (for wavelengths of light that are visible to humans) keeps them from finding the hive. Another issue is that beekeepers have difficulty keeping track of their bees.
Three main problems
Temperature—Keeping the colonies at the right level of warmth
Bees’ Night Vision—They have a hard time finding the hive in the dark
Tracking Bees—It’s difficult for beekeepers to keep close track on their hive populations
01
Overview
The greatest contribution of bees and other pollinators is the pollination of nearly three quarters of the plants that produce 90% of the world's food. A third of the world's food production depends on bees.
02
reserach
Planning stage
One of the problems was that beekeepers had a hard time keeping track of their bees. I found out that there is no company that offers an integrated hive, app, website. Therefore, I had to divide my competitors in two: digital competitors and physical competitors.
Hivetracks: Digital Competitors
Flow: Physical Competitors
Hivetrack functionality
Inspection: Records an inspection using a really detailed template. The information needed for the inspection is simple for the user to input.
Data tracker: Easy-to-use data tracker that modernizes beekeeping processes by keeping track of data, observations, and equipment inventory
Smart maps: You can see where the bees are foraging. A map with one, two, and three mile radius rings around the user’s hive allows them to see the environment encountered by the bees.
On the user’s side, they can message and share with other beekeepers who are using Aïza. Users can publicly share useful articles. Questions can be answered and beekeepers can work together. The website is visually appealing and user friendly at the same time—it’s easy to create information overload. This was the case with Hivetracks.
Flow functionality
Simple to Use: The hive flow is really simple to use. You dont have to be in contact with the bees to access the honey.
Flow Key: The hive flow is really simple to use. You dont have to be in contact with the bees to access the honey.
Hive Stand: The adjustable hive stand makes sure that other animals cannot get into the hive.
The hive might include technical parts that could send out information to the beekeeper, alowing him to troubleshoot tech issues remotely. Instead of using a key, the user would just press his finger on the tap to allow the honey to flow. There might even be a touch ID on the tap, so no one else can steal the honey. A glass window allows the user to see how full the container is.
01
reserach
Based on my research I looked at different solutions to solve the three main problems for beekeepers.
1. Temperature Problem
The reason temperature is so important is that bees use honey to stay warm as well as for fuel. When there has been cold weather for a long period they can end up starving to death or freezing.
1. Temperature Solution
Designing the hive so it will contain UV glow on the edges. When it goes dark the user can turn on the UV glow through his app and make sure that the bees will get home safe. The UV glow will also give the hive a nice look in the dark.
2. nIGHT VISION PROBLEM
Like us, bees are trichromatic: they have three kinds of photoreceptor in their eyes. We see red, green and blue; bees see ultraviolet, blue, and green. Because of this, their night vision is really bad. Bees’ favorite colours are blue, purple and violet.
2. nIGHT VISION SOLUTION
Designing the hive so it glows with a latticework of UV light. When it gets dark, the user can turn on the UV glow through his app and make sure that the bees will get home safe. The UV glow will also give the hive a nice look in the dark.
3. tRACKING PROBLEM
Beekeepers have a hard time keeping track of their bees. The population (strength) of the hive is really important to keep track of, and most beekeepers just estimate it.
3. TRACKING SOLUTION
The doors of the beehive will have tracking sensors that will count the traffic going in and out of the hive and caluclate an estimated population.
04
Digital design
My process involved sketching concepts and flows and then translating them directly into wireframes based on flow. Doing that it made it relatively easy to move straight into hi‐fidelity designs.
04
digital design
I designed the flow based on the hive design and how the problems had to be solved. The main idea for the application and the biggest inspiration was a remote control:, adding a dashboard so the user could see everything he wanted as soon as he launched the app.
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