VEND2GOGO
The Design Process
Time Period: January 2017 - May 2017
​
Course: Introduction to Product Development
​
Skills developed: User Interviews, User Observations and Testing, Value Proposition Analysis, User Needs Analysis, Design Method Implementations, Concept Generation, App Design, UX design
​
Software: Illustrator, Proto.io
Project Background
The project team consisted of five Mechanical Engineering students, Richard Soto, Kenneth Barton, Connor Freeman, and Tushar Malik. We consulted with the teaching staff, and Richard Velasquez, our industry sponsor from PepsiCo, as we went through the product development process. PepsiCo was founded in 1965 with the merger of Pepsi-Cola and Frito-Lay. Currently, it's a global food and beverage leader, with products being sold in more than 200 countries and territories around the world. While PepsiCo has already developed very high-tech vending machines that mix drinks or have large LED Screens, they are very expensive to produce. Richard assigned us the task of redefining the vending machine experience, while also considering manufacturing costs, human factors, and technology and trends. He provided us with data from the vending machine industry, which revealed that college campuses were one of the biggest market segments for their products. Even though we started off with a broad user base at the beginning of the design process , we later decided to solely focus on college students for our final product. At the end of the semester, we finished with a working prototype of an iOS Application that connects consumers to vending machines and its locations.
Mission Statement: We are changing the vending machine experience from a last minute purchase, to an informed, convenient consumer option. Utilizing current technology and trends, we plan to develop a product that informs and connects consumers to the web of vending machines around them.
The first step of the design process is: Design Research and Analysis.
​
After receiving the project proposal, I interviewed a few UC Berkeley students about vending machine competitors, such as Postmates and convenient stores. Through these interviews, I was able to translate the consumers' statements into user needs. However, this was my first time interviewing people and it was a tough learning process. The most challenging part was asking the right questions. For my first interview, it was difficult to think of questions that didn't lead the interviewee to the answer I wanted. But I learned better techniques after each interview and was able to ask more open ended questions, which were more though provoking and allowed for better and more thorough answers.
After each team member conducted interviews, we analyzed the user needs through three different frameworks: clustering user needs, how/why laddering, and customer journey maps. I worked with Kenneth on the customer journey map, while the rest of the team worked on the other two frameworks. We decided to create a journey map for a recently graduated student working in the city. It was an interesting process because I had act as if I were in this consumer's footsteps. So I learned that an important skill in creating a journey map is to have a very open mind and a good idea of what the persona's every day life is like.
Reflection
Retrospectively, I believe that the overall design process was a necessary measure to have the prototype and final product come to fruition. The design process is something I've never worked with in the past. The design process is unique in that it helped us develop a stronger final project idea. For other class projects, we decided on an idea and began working on it right away, not focusing on user needs but just the project itself. In future classes, I hope to use the design process skills and methods to develop better projects that fulfill user needs. Furthermore, working with an industry sponsor was a significant learning experience; it gave me great exposure to the possible constraints and problems that we could face when operating as big companies do.
​
The next steps are to discuss the showcase feedback with the team, and refine our prototype. If my team and I were to continue with this project in the future, we would schedule a meeting with our sponsor to draft the budget, obtain a patent and begin outlining the software for the app, hiring engineers as needed for the development of the project. Not only would we need software engineers to develop the iOS application, but we would also need electrical engineers to upgrade vending machines to have QR code readers integrated with the application, and Wi-Fi to keep track of products and include multiple payment options. Finally, we would be able to launch the app and continue to improve the designs and strive for efficiency and perfection.
Third Step: Prototyping & Communication
First, we created three low-fidelity prototypes. Even though they didn't have a functional component, it was interesting to see how each team member differently visualizes the same concept. But as a team, we were able to combine the best ideas to develop into our low-fidelity prototypes.​
​
​
​
Then, we developed a medium-fidelity prototype of our Modular Add-On idea. It was a popcorn spinner that would attach to an existing vending machine. However, after user testing, we didn't think that it would fulfill enough user needs, so we took a step back in the design process and continued to discuss the user needs and how to solve them. Finally we settled with our final idea and developed an initial app prototype. We each created a prototype of the app and then combined the best ideas to develop our final product. The "voting feature", which is discussed in the next paragraph, was from my initial prototype.
After clustering our ideas and using the concept screening/scoring process, we narrowed it down to our top 5-7 concepts.
Second Step: Concept Generation
After determining the top five user needs, we began generating concepts. As a team of five, we generated a total of 120 concepts, but I've included a couple of my individual concepts. It is interesting to see how I initially had the App idea and a Deal of the Day idea, which were both somewhat integrated into the final prototype. After this phase of the design process, I realized how important it is to have many concepts because you never know which one will end up being the next "million dollar idea."
After clustering our ideas and using the concept screening/scoring process, we narrowed it down to our top 5-7 concepts.
Jacobs Institute Showcase
​
As a team, we complied all of our work throughout the semester, and then I created the poster display. It was my first time using Illustrator, so I asked my teammates for their suggestions on aesthetic and information placement. Additionally, we created a video that demonstrated a scenario of a college student using our app.
​
After finalizing the prototype, poster and video, my team and I proudly presented our work at the Jacobs Institute Showcase on May 4, 2017. The showcase was a great learning process. We received a lot of feedback and suggestions for further improvement. It is always valuable to gain insight from graduate students and industry workers.
Final Product: vend2gogo
​
We created our prototype with the software, proto.io. Although it was my first time using the software, it was very easy to learn; the website provided many tutorials, and the software itself was user-friendly. As a team, we divided the work by app feature, so I worked on the "voting" feature (in the bottom right screenshot). With this feature, users have the option of voting on which items they would like to see in that vending machine. From user interviews, I learned that consumers know which vending machines they do not want to go to, because they sell the same products. Having a "voting feature" allows consumers to have personal influence pertaining to vending machine contents.
After everyone finished their part, I conducted some user testing. I received positive reviews and also some suggestions about aesthetic. I realized that what looks good to me doesn't necessarily look good to the general consumer.