Recently in Mekwa presentations Category

A list of Mekwa Use Cases. Use cases, in a service design process, are part of the concepting stage. They help pin down a target audience, social capital gain, value proposition, drivers and requirements. Download PDF with list of usecases here. We are not posting a full list, it's too long...

Janet 16, Seattle

Janet is a 16 year old girl who needs to write a paper on Japanese culture. She changes her Mekwa's desire tags to "Japanese food, Tokyo, Mount Fuji, Japanese Culture".

After a few days she notices her Mekwa has been hosted by 4 different Japanese Mekwa users. They have added a lot of great images about their lives and daily routines. Janet uses this to enrich her school paper.

Oscar, 16, London

Oscar loves his Mekwa. It's a virtual creature where he can put his face in and it will go out there trying to surprise him. Every week there are new Mekwa bodies available. This week the Mekwa bodies were created by Simone Legno.

Oscar goes online and chooses one. There are only 3 left. He then goes looking for other Mekwa users who have got the same body, as though they belonged to the same species. He comes across one that has as a wish "Pictures of Designer Toys". He faves it and pokes it with a thumbs up.

Adrian, 24, Rome

Adrian has never really bothered getting a blog. When twitter came out he liked it, quick posts, but it lacked something. Mekwa just felt like Twitter with a twist. A little creature, just like a pet that he carries in his mobile and can is beamed to other mobiles all over the world. Every day Adrian changes his Mekwa's wishes and sees his Mekwa gathering lot's of entries from others. Now this is the kind of blogging I enjoy, he thinks to himself. The other feature he uses a lot is poking. Unlike other sites, Mekwa allows him to poke with all sorts of different objects and with music. Whilst browsing he finds his cousin's Mekwa and pokes her with a monkey.

PDF with list of usecases...

When one launches a new digital service one tries and connects with the very incestuous but ever engaging web 2.0 community. In order to do so one needs a press release. This is what we have released. Comments/changes are welcome.


The first Mekwa Press Release:

An innovative and fun social networking site that allows you to connect with strangers and be surprised.

Who: Mekwa was created by Kwame Ferreira and a few friends in Lisbon and London. The service presentation can be found here: http://www.kwamecorp.com/mekwa/presentation

What: At mekwa.com the user is asked to put his head into a creature (the Mekwa) and then to state a few wishes/desires. Someone somewhere will see that Mekwa at mekwa.com and try and fulfill those wishes by creating an entry with pictures/video that the Mekwa gathers and then conveys back to its owner. Mekwa is about a creature which is part of you and that goes out into the world in order to surprise you. The iPhone app makes it possible to look for Mekwas around you, using a neat map feature, and to surprise Mekwas on the move by taking pictures and adding them to Mekwa entries.

Mekwa can be used for dating: fulfill my desires and I will get in touch, but Mekwa can also be used to escape, to have part of you go places and do things you can't. Connect with people you usually would not.

Mekwa bodies are designed by artists from all over the world and change every month.

Why: If you know what people want, their desires, you'll have a better chance of surprising them, of connecting meaningfully. Mekwa is about digital altruism. The fact that you can beam down someone's Mekwa to your iPhone and surprise it whilst your Mekwa may be on the other side of the planet being surprised by someone strange and wonderful. That's why we created the Mekwa.

With social networking sites you already know who your friends are and you just confirm that fact online and then sustain that connection. I've always thought of social networking sites as address books on speed. (...) But what about strangers? How can you also connect with strangers in a meaningful way? Well, Mekwa is an attempt.

Mekwa is for everyone and anyone who wants to go beyond their social network, to go places they can't, meet strangers... Anyone who wants to be surprised, have a wish fulfilled.

How: Mekwa has had no venture capital. Through the blog www.kwamecorp.com/mekwa, users who are interested in what it takes to create a service like this, can follow us as Mekwa tries to raise a first round of investment amidst an economical crisis. Fun, fun, fun. We want to connect with our audience and adapt the system accordingly but at the same time stay faithful to that founding principle of escapism/surprise.

In many ways, Mekwa feels like something Disney would pick up for a movie...  It feels like twitter with a twist with lots of maps... it feels playful, special. I hope you you enjoy it.

This is part of a Mekwa presentation we have used with VCs.

presentation__web.pdf