Looking at novel ways of controlling appliances, I designed a whimsical and efficient system for people to share a coffee maker in communal spaces.
INSPIRATION
Whether it is cramming for an exam or working on a project with a deadline, we spend hours in communal spaces like dorms, studios or workplaces. We consume enormous amounts of coffee to keep us going, but it can be a hassle to interrupt our workflow to get it. It makes sense to use current technologies to access these appliances remotely. However, when the appliance is shared by a community of people, there are new problems that arise from that context.
THE PROBLEMS WITH SHARING
With any remote controlled system, there is always a problem about the readiness of the machine.
- Is the coffee maker ready to produce a drink at the moment?
- Does it have water?
- Are the coffee beans in place?
In situations where a multiple number of people are using the same machine, these concerns are exacerbated. I wanted to try and solve those problems using the powers of emotional and whimsical design.
BRANDING AND UX DESIGN
‘CoffeeShare’ is a system where a communal coffee maker can be accessed through a smartphone, tablet or computer and controlled remotely.
To deal with the issues that arise from this shared usage, the brand “CoffeeShare” was created to encourage communal behaviors. The look and feel of the UI and the design language support the concepts of sharing, community and nostalgia.
The whole experience is also designed to keep the people conscious of everyone else using the same appliance. With a little bit of whimsy and scare tactics, CoffeeShare aims to keep the users on their toes about leaving the machine ready for others to use. A face detection system triggers the webcam to take photo of the last person who uses the appliance, and kindly warns them to leave a mug for the next person, fill the water tank if it is empty and put coffee beans for the next person who will want to access it. If they don’t comply, the photo is featured in a ‘wanted poster’ and sent to everyone registered to use that particular machine.
THE PROTOTYPE
In order to gage the reactions from others, I built a prototype using a remote control to switch the coffeemaker on/off controlled by Processing & Arduino, and a webcam to detect when a person was present, take their picture & send an email. The user interacted with the appliance through an iPhone which was also controlled by Processing and airDisplay.
The general feedback I got from the users was positive and many people stated that the user experience gave enough incentive without being off-putting.