I have an idea about a system that allows a person to express their values into a model, and then gathers product and availability information to propose optimized shopping excursions. I just wrote the following tiny bit after reading an article in Fast Company about things Wal-Mart could do to change its image (10 Steps to Turn Around Wal-mart). The comments on the article were very interesting as they quickly highlighted the standard dimensions that exist around the issue.
Executive summary of this idea:
“Free markets are responsive to consumer purchase decisions, but there is a ocean of information that needs to be considered every time a consumer heads to the grocery store, and weighing that ocean of information against the consumer’s own values and making optimized purchasing decisions is an insurmountable complexity. This proposal describes a system that takes the chore of collecting the ocean of information, then interpreting it through the lens of the consumer’s values, to support everyday consumer decision making.”
more to come on this topic…