What would you do with bttn? | MCD Partners

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INSIGHTS | May 29, 2014

What would you do with bttn?

We love things that make life easier and solve everyday problems. Who doesn’t, right? So it’s not surprising that some of us here are actually a bit addicted to IFTTT, aka "If This Then That"–a service that lets you create “recipes” with defined triggers and resulting actions across a variety of channels. Want your phone to unmute itself when you get home? Or for your Instagram photos to be uploaded to your Dropbox whenever you post? Just create the recipe and you're set.
So when we heard about bttn–a wifi connected physical button that you can push to trigger something to happen; or, with its flashing light, can be used as an alert–we immediately started thinking about the possibilities.
How would MCD-ers put bttn to use to make everyday activities easier, help solve everyday problems, and of course, have a little fun?
We polled the office to find out. For a bunch of people that usually work in digital buttons, we came up with some pretty... um... interesting ideas. Check them out below!

1. Dinner Bell

bttn Dinner Bell
Use bttn as a modern day dinner bell. Mom hits the button to text the dispersed family that dinner is ready.

2. Garden Minder

bttn Garden Minder-guy working presses a button to start the garden sprinklers
Hook bttn up to a moisture detector in your lawn, and it will start flashing when it needs watering. Then, hit the button to turn on the sprinkler from wherever you are.

3. Latch Key Kid 2014

bttn LATCHKEY
Want to make sure your daughter got home okay? She can press the button when she walks in and you'll get a text. It will also trigger the doors to lock and the alarm to set.

4. "MCD Late"

bttn "MCD Late"-person pressing a button to send an alert in to work because they woke up late
At MCD we use an SMS-based attendance service, so if you’re going to be late, or you're sick, you send a text and it shows up in the daily attendance email. So naturally, one MCD-er wants to place bttn right next to his bed, so he can roll over and push the button to text MCD attendance service that he won't be in until 10:30 am.

5. Family Time

bttn Family Time-A dad pressing a button to start family game night
You want some family time, but everyone is on their devices. What do you do? Hit the button to disable wifi access for 60 minutes. Teen drama ensues.

6. Gotta Go

bttn dog gotta go
Train the dog to hit the button when he needs a walk and you'll get a text alert. (This one was an excuse to draw a dog.)

7. Baby Selfies

bttn Baby Selfies
Set up bttn in the baby's crib. She thinks it's a toy. Little does she know she is taking baby selfies and posting them to Facebook so grandma can adore her from afar.

8. The Bathroom Diaries

bttn Bathroom Diaries
Log your co-worker's bathroom schedule by pressing the button when he goes in and again when he comes back out. Automatically capture the data in a Google doc (and then send it to his doctor for review).

9. The Kill Switch

bttn The Kill Switch
When the FBI is at the door, press the button to erase your files and social identities. (It should be noted that this one came up TWICE from two different MCD staffers. Should we be worried?)

10. Beer-mergency

bttn beer
Ahhhhhh we're out of beer!! Press bttn to text your roommates that they drank all the beer and better pick some up before coming home. (Okay we have a lot of text ideas, but running out of beer is a serious thing).
What do you think of our ideas? Have some of your own? Tweet them to us @mcdpartners and to the folks at bttn @officialbttn.