Generation of Idea

This article discusses the generation of ideas to upgrade regular letterboxes using the SCAMPER technique. It explores various ways to substitute, combine, adapt, modify, put to another use, eliminate, and reverse the mailbox to fit modern culture. The article also suggests recommendations for upgrading letterboxes, such as changing dimensions and installing security systems.

Running head – GENERATION OF IDEA
Generation of Idea
Name of the student
Name of the university
Author’s Note

1GENERATION OF IDEA
PART – A
Letterbox has been a part of the life of human since the 19th century (Carpenter, 2015).
Private mailbox has served for a long time in collecting mails and letters for people all around
the world. The different adaptations of letterboxes around the world had made it a part of daily
lives. In different countries, a letterbox has been placed outside or inside the resident which have
cut the door to door services or interaction of the mailman with the public. Mailboxes have been
considered safe and useful in the pre eras when the world was not familiar with the internet and
the uses of it (Briscoe et al., 2016). Nowadays, in the period where most of the letters and mails
sent via the internet as electronic mail; better known as e-mail, the use of the letterbox are almost
obsolete (Hermans & Murphy-Hill, 2015). However, sometimes the essence of ethnicity and the
touch of old techniques are needed to be saved for preserving the values of human evolution. If
the people start adapting the future upgrades by forgetting the very root from where they belong,
the next generations would not be able to know the path of evolution (Freedman et al., 2016).
The following discussion is based on the very purpose of generating ideas to upgrade the regular
letterboxes. By SCAMPER, the study will try to find the substitute, combine, adapt, modify, put
to another use, eliminate and reverse of the mailbox to fit in the era of modern culture (Tsai,
2019).
Substitute
Nowadays, the whole idea of using letterbox is being omitted. To gain the use of mailbox
again, some of the aspects of the letterbox is needed to be substituted. The typical dimension of
the letterbox is becoming too small for modern packages. Rather than using the old design, a new
and much larger letterbox should be adapted to fit the model.

2GENERATION OF IDEA
Combine
The letterbox could be combined with the modern day security system that people install
to protect their homes from thieves (Resch et al., 2018). As the modern day home security
provide 24/7 surveillance on the entrances and the compound around the houses, a security
camera could be installed to monitor the access to the letterbox. There could also be the
installation of an alarm system in the letterbox. Without proper authorisation or passcodes, if
someone tried to open the mailbox, it would alert the owner.
Adapt
The letterbox could be adapted to be useful again. Rather than using the extra packaging,
people could ask the authorities at the delivery branches to cut the additional packaging cost and
use plastics to roll the packages so that it could fit in the letterbox or mailboxes. Another idea of
adapting the use of mailboxes is to provide information to the delivery persons’ to drop the
package at the mailbox in cases when no one is at home to collect it.
Modify
The letterbox can be modified in various ways. Addition of new locking systems could be
installed to increase the security to the letter or mailbox. The use of steel or iron boxes could be
used to build the message or mailbox instead of the traditional wooden arrangements. This would
prevent thieves from breaking the mailbox.
Put to another use
Rather than dismantling the letter or mailboxes, it could be put in some other purposes. It
could be used as book holders or to build bird shelters. The letterbox could have application in
the kitchens too. It could be used as bread keepers or spice jars or other utensil holders.

3GENERATION OF IDEA
Eliminate
The weak structure of the letterbox could be eliminated. The thin wooden or plywood
structure could be reduced. The old appearance could also be eliminated (Kotch, 2016).
Reserve
Doing the exact opposite of the actions would permanently obsolete the use of letterbox.
In the era of internet, people are dependable on e-mails rather than letter s Thus, reversing the
process of preservation would omit the existence of letterbox.
PART-B
There could be many recommendations regarding the upgrades of a letter or mailbox and
also how to make it useful daily life. From the above-stated ideas, the most useful one is the
change of dimension of the letterbox and installing new systems on the mailbox for security
reasons.
The box could get a full new look if the dimension of the letterbox is changed. As in the
generation on online shopping, clothes, groceries and even liquor are being delivered at your
place in the touch of one button. The problem is not there. The question arises when there is no
one at home’s to pick the package. The organisation cannot just rely on one customer and let
their delivery guy wait for that particular consumer. To cut the wait, they place the packages
outside their homes. In the cases, there are high chances that it might not end up getting in the
hand of the customers. Thus, if the size of the mailboxes is to be increased, then the delivery
persons’ could easily slip the package inside the letterbox, and therefor the package would be
safe till the owner have returned.

4GENERATION OF IDEA
Another upgrade that could be done to the letterbox is the installation of upgraded
security systems. The recent home security system allows the owner to have surveillance of the
whole compound of their homes. Like that, another security camera could be placed in front of
the letterbox so that the owner could have access to the footage of all the persons’ who are using
the mailbox. An upgraded security system could be installed in the letterbox that would allow
access to the letterbox via a passcode or fingerprint activation. Electric shook applicator could be
installed in the letterbox, so that anyone who will open the letterbox without proper authorization
would get a shock. This would provide better security from thieves. Thus, these ideas could be
used to upgrade the letter or mailbox and stop it from getting outdated.
Other ideas were not considered to be appropriate as most of them discussed about the
change of the original appearance of letter box or put it to some other use. Letter box are meant
to be used for the solo purpose of receiving mails and packages. Ideas discussing about the use of
letter box as a decorative object inside the house or object used to store groceries inside the
kitchen would have omit the concept of upgrading the letter box and save it from getting out
existence.

5GENERATION OF IDEA
References
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Kotch, R. (2016). 8 Easy Ways to Make Your Mailbox Cuter. Retrieved from
https://www.countryliving.com/diy-crafts/g2445/diy-mailbox-ideas/
Mind Tools Ltd. (2019). SCAMPERImproving Products and Services. Retrieved from
https://www.mindtools.com/pages/article/newCT_02.htm
Resch, J. K., Mark, Z. J., Baptist, A., & Volvovski, I. (2018). U.S. Patent No. 9,881,043.
Washington, DC: U.S. Patent and Trademark Office.
Ryan Carpenter. (2015). History of Letterboxing. Retrieved from
https://www.atlasquest.com/about/history/index.php

6GENERATION OF IDEA
Tsai, L. L. (2019). New SCAMPERS. International Journal for Innovation Education
and Research, 7(1), 136-146.