We will go through each of the projects that might be continued and come up with a list of questions that need to be addressed to move from first prototype to viable plans. With these in mind we can find the right knowledge sources (both people and online or print) to find answers. I've come up with some initial lists for two of the projects, to illustrate the kinds of questions we want to address. I'm sure you will come up with more for these as well as for other projects.
What does the equipment/game have to be in order to provide safe effective exercise for the target population? How does that shape the population we should go for? What game designs would be effective at promoting the right kind of exercise? What is already on the market (including other Wii games and other social games) and how do they relate to these goals? How would you differentiate this from the others?
What are the technology options for tracking people's motion as they play. For each option, what are the costs and availability, degree of incovenience and acceptability to users, how much work would it take to interface them, etc.
Could this be effectively sold as a use-at-home product? What would the user need to purchase and/or download? How hard/easy would setup and maintenance be? What kind of space is needed and how does that match the actual living settings of prospective users? What would the user need to remember/do each time s/he wanted to play? Would this require support services?
Is there another setting in which it could be effective (e.g., residential living communities, day centers, etc.). If so, how would the previous set of questions play out in that environment?
Should it be marketed as a standalone product, or as part of some larger context (e.g., health maintenance programs), like Weightwatchers meals are sold as part of a diet system? Who would make the purchase decisions - would it be like other computer devices, which are often bought by elders' children for them?
How appealing is the "play with a buddy" feature to the target audience? Are there social differences, and if so how would this affect your stragies and markets? What would be required to set up a structure in which they could effectively find people when they want to? Should it be a "match me with someone else who's online" style as with many online games, or a "call my friend" style like with Skype and other communications services. What kind of directories, calendars, reminders, etc. would be needed for the target population to use it successfully.
What would the actual costs be of developing and manufacturing? Can it be done as an all-software solution piggybacking on other hardware sales (e..g, Wii) or does it have to be done as a physical product with channels of distribution? If so what would those channels be? What would the range of viable target prices be?
Are there any liability issues to worry about, and how is this affected by the question of who sells the hardware?
What is the range of existing ride services that are currently available to the target population? What are the benefits and problems of each of these? What can be learned from them?
What is the profile of transportation needs? We learned that errands may be more important than concerts. What are the range of different kinds of needs and the ways in which their particular features impact scheduling, predictability, waiting times, closeness of location to where the driver would want to go, etc.? Is there some subpart of this large space that is more promising than others?
What are the technical options for making the matches? Should it be phone based? Web based? How does this relate to the knowledge, abilities, and technology preferences of target users?
What are the ongoing motivations/incentives for the drivers. If these require money, then how would the service be funded to provide money for them and how would it be managed? How realistic is it to see the opportunity for personal interaction as sufficient? What can be done to maximize this?
Is it necessary to build a new organization from scratch, or could this be put together as a service for some existing organization that is already set up with a client base, outreach, etc.? What would the value proposition be for an organization that wanted to take this on?
What resources would be required to run the service? How much would they cost, and who would pay? Are there foundations, service organizations, church organizations, government institutions, etc. that would be interested in making this happen? Where would you find them and what would need to be in the proposal to appeal to them? How would they see this fitting into their larger mission?
How would this scale? Can a centralized organization support geographic distribution and larger numbers? Should it be more like a franchise to be taken on in a semi-independent way by multiple organizations? What is the range of options here?
What would be required to develop sufficient awareness among both the rider and driver populations that there would be enough of each to make it worthwhile for them to call? Are there types of viral marketing that are relevant? Would it require advertising - if so, where and how?
How would you approach the trust issues, when you aren't dealing with a rider who has already met one of the people involved? What will give riders a sense of security? How can word-of-mouth play into this?
How would you screen and then monitor the behavior of drivers in a way that effectively reduces the possibility of bad incidents? What kinds of incidents should we worry about? What is the experience of other related services, and how do they deal with this?
What are the relevant legal liability issues and how do you have to set things up to protect the people involved (both the drivers and those running the organization) from potential legal action?