Donation Concept for Hospital Sant Joan de Déu
Social innovation · Consumer insight · Concept creation
The Challenge
During a collaboration with Hospital Sant Joan de Déu (Barcelona), I was invited to ideate fundraising concepts to support their pediatric initiatives.
The hospital’s board presented a clear strategic question:
How can we increase donations to support pediatric care, research and social programmes?
Insight Formation
An insight emerged not at a desk, but in a supermarket.
I noticed how small coins received as change – 1, 2 and 5 cents – accumulate in wallets, creating a subtle everyday friction: they add weight, hold little perceived value, and are often left unused.
This observation led to a deeper realisation: people are more willing to donate money that feels insignificant or inconvenient.
I continued observing how people reacted when receiving these coins and interviewed shoppers about their experience. The pattern was consistent: the coins were accepted, but rarely valued – and many said they would gladly donate them if given the option.
A tension in everyday behaviour pointed to a latent opportunity.
The Concept
I designed a donation mechanism integrated directly into the supermarket checkout flow:
When receiving change, customers would be invited to donate the 5-cent difference to Hospital Sant Joan de Déu.
If paying by card, the terminal would show the same option.
The supermarket’s internal system would accumulate and transfer the micro-donations to the hospital.
Through this mechanism, a behaviour that already happens thousands of times per day can become a consistent source of small-scale donations.
I named the concept “Cinco céntimos, cinco sonrisas”, highlighting how something seemingly insignificant can create meaningful emotional and social impact when multiplied collectively.
What This Case Reveals
Although the proposal was not adopted at the time, a nearly identical mechanism was later implemented widely across major supermarkets in Spain, validating the insight years ahead of its mainstream adoption.
This case illustrates my ability to:
Identify friction points in everyday behaviour
Translate them into simple, meaningful and scalable solutions
Anticipate concepts before they enter the market
What This Case Reveals
Although the proposal was not adopted at the time, a nearly identical mechanism was later implemented widely across major supermarkets in Spain, validating the insight years ahead of its mainstream adoption.
This case illustrates my ability to:
Identify friction points in everyday behaviour
Translate them into simple, meaningful and scalable solutions
Anticipate concepts before they enter the market