Vending Machine
User Research
Context
This is a user research project that focuses on the common issues a user may encountered when using the vending machine that sells drinks and located in the basement of the Engineering Building. This user research is carried out in three parts: contextual inquiry, persona, and storyboard.
My Role
Qualitative UX Research
Generative UX Research
Overview
Engineering Research Center Basement
The Vending Machine
Interface Breakdown
Contextual Inquiry
Occasional User
Participant 1
Observation Findings
01
Observations
Participant 1 needs to squat down to check the labels for drinks that on the bottom row.
02
Potential Issues
It is not accessible for people who have issues of squatting down.
01
Observations
To select the drink, Participant 1 first interacted with the number pad by clicking the buttons on it. Then, she waited. After she got no feedback from the vending machine, she tired to use the card scanner as her next step.
02
Potential Issues
Inputing the code of a product is a intuitive first step for this user, yet the vending machine does not meet her expectations. It also does not give timely feedback to inform the user what is the right order of operation.
01
Observations
After Participant 1 tried number pad, she swiped her card at Payment Terminal 2. She waited for a while, but the terminal still does not give her any output. After some hesitations, she proceed to try the other payment terminal that is above.
02
Potential Issues
There are two payment terminals, it is very unclear which one should the user be using. Moreover, the lack of feedback makes user feel unsure about whether or not their payment is registered or not, further exacerbate the confusion.
Interview Insights
How often do you use this vending machine?
“Depends, sometimes twice in a week.”
In what situations will you buy stuff from it?
“If I didn't eat anything and I have a class or something that I need to do in this building.”
“If the cafe here is closed, then this is the only option.”
What makes you want to buy from this specific vending machine?
“It is the location, this is the most convenient place for me to get something to drink or eat.”
How did you feel when you first walked up to it?
“I HATE the machine, the products it sells are bad, the interface is very confusing.”
What stood out to you about the way products are labeled?
“The labelings are pretty standard, I don’t have strong opinions about it.”
What's in your mind when you were deciding what to purchase?
“It based on how thirsty or hungry I am. If I am thirsty I will just get water, and if I am hungry I will look for more stuffing snacks from the machine next to it.”
How did you figure out how to select, pay and eventually get the product from this machine?
“I took me a long time to it figure out. I know that I need to tap my card, but the machine takes a very long time to recognize my card, and it got me confused a lot.”
Have you encountered any difficulties or confusions when interacting with this interface?
“The typing in the product code part was not intuitive to me. I am from Japan, and vending machines in Japan allow you to pick the item you wish to purchase by clicking the buttons directly underneath each product.”
How satisfied are you with what you received?
“Not satisfied. The options are really limited and they are not good at all.”
“After I get the product, I feel I don’t want to use it again.”
What aspects did you find frustrating or satisfying?
“The products and the interface frustrates me.”
“But I like the way all the drinks are displayed, you get what you see. And I also like the dispenser is on the side, so you don’t need to bend down to grab the drink”
What would make you more likely to use this machine again?
“I hope this machines can be placed on the first floor, now I have to travel all the way down to basement to use it.”
“It will be nicer, if it adopts the Japanese vending machine button layout, and the card reader is more responsive.”
Frequent User
Participant 2
Observation Findings
01
Observations
First Try
Participant 2 tapped his card at the card reader, and proceed to inputing the code at the number pad, but the code is not reflected on the screen.
Second Try
He found out his card was not recognized, so he tapped his card again, and this time it was recognized, as the machine lights up 4 small lights.
02
Potential Issues
The vending machine lacks signifiers for failed card recognition. It does not give meaningful feedback to the users to inform that about the state of the machine and if their inputs are not recognized so that they need to try again.
Interview Insights
How often do you use this vending machine?
“Occasionally, once a month.”
In what situations will you buy stuff from it?
“When I'm studying in the building and I am too lazy to go to stores like CVS to buy something.”
What makes you want to buy from this specific vending machine?
“When it is late at night and I am still working on something, if I crave for some food or sugar, these 2 machines are the closest for me to get something to eat and drink.”
How did you feel when you first walked up to it?
“I was curious about what do they have and I hope it will have the products that I want to get.”
What stood out to you about the way products are labeled?
“The labels are confusing. For each product there is a label below it and a label above it. I am not sure which label is the one associated with the drink that I want to buy.”
What's in your mind when you were deciding what to purchase?
“First, I feel thirsty. Second, I want something to drink that is not sparkling. Then, I want to check the price.”
How did you figure out how to select, pay and eventually get the product from this machine?
“It was very confusing. It has two payment terminals, not sure which one to use. ”
“It also does not tell you what is the order of operation, do it input code first or insert my card first. I figured it out by trail and error.”
Have you encountered any difficulties or confusions when interacting with this interface?
“Yes, I used the wrong card scanner in the first try and it did not tell me which one should I use.”
“I was looking for a confirm button after I typed in the code, but apparently there is no confirm button.”
How satisfied are you with what you received?
“Not really satisfied. The options in this vending machine is really limited, and I don’t like carbonated drinks.”
What aspects did you find frustrating or satisfying?
“The purchasing part is a bit scary, as I swipe my card and there was no response, I fear it will juts take my money without giving me the product.”
“The final delivering part was pretty satisfying, because I can see the mechanical holder takes the drink from the shelf and put in the transparent dispenser.”
What would make you more likely to use this machine again?
“I hope there's a clear step-by-step instruction, because every vending machine is a little bit different.”
Occasional User
Participant 3
Observation Findings
01
Observations
After participant 3 swiped her card, she was staring at the small display for a while before putting in the number.
02
Potential Issues
The embedded display is very small, so it is ability to efficiently information to the users is largely limited.
Interview Insights
How often do you use this vending machine?
“Only used once before.”
In what situations will you buy stuff from it?
“When it is really late at night and nothing was open.”
“In the most desperate situation.”
What makes you want to buy from this specific vending machine?
“Convenience is the main reason, there's no other vending machine in the building or that I know of.”
“The machine next to it has hot Cheetos, which I like.”
How did you feel when you first walked up to it?
“It's in a weird location, on the bottom floor of teh Engineering building. And the lighting is really ominous, so it looks scary. I didn't feel very comfortable.”
What stood out to you about the way products are labeled?
“The labels are clear enough for me to read them.”
“The display and the overall look feels pretty clean and new, makes me feel it will work. So I trust it more.”
What's in your mind when you were deciding what to purchase?
“When it was late at night, I will have cravings for sugary drinks and hot Cheetos.”
“But I don’t want carbonated drinks”
How did you figure out how to select, pay and eventually get the product from this machine?
“I looked at the display, it has instructions on it. The display is a bit small, so it only give me pieces of information at once.”
Have you encountered any difficulties or confusions when interacting with this interface?
“I haven’t encounter any noticeable problems yet.”
How satisfied are you with what you received?
“it's good enough. I guess for a vending machine, it was a 10 out of 10, because it works. I have low standards for vending machines.”
What aspects did you find frustrating or satisfying?
“I don’t like the location. No one is down there, and it looks like a horror movie.”
“I do like there are two vending machines down there. There's one for drinks, and there's one for food.”
What would make you more likely to use this machine again?
“If the design was really cute, if it was in a different place, and if it was Japanese vending machine.”
“I wish it sells healthier products, other than water none of the drinks nor food are healthy. Buying stuff here makes me feel guilty about myself.”
Persona 01
Lena Calderon
She is an engineering student who often pulls late-night study sessions at the Engineering Research Center and needs snacks and drinks to keep their energy up.
Frequent User
Engineering Student
Local Student
01
User Problems
- The drinks that the vending machine sells are unhealthy, buying from them makes one feel guilty about themselves.
- The options are limited, no excitement in using it.
- It is placed in the basement, not very convenient.
- The card reader is slow to respond, leading to input mistakes.
Relation To Target Users
This vending machine is placed inside the Engineering Building so its main target users are people who are studying or working at this building. A very big part of this population are students, and from those students, people who stay up late studying are more likely to use this machine as most of the other places like stores and cafes will be closed during the night.
Persona 02
Ryo Takeda
He is an international student who comes to Brown’s Design Workshop (BDW) for the first time to work on his project wants to grab a quick drink from the vending machine.
Occasional User
Art Major Student
International
02
User Problems
- The order of operation is unclear, leads to confusions.
- The label is a bit confusing, and this may cause the users to end up getting something that they don’t want.
- There are two payment terminals, not sure which one to use.
- The US interface convention is unfamiliar to this persona.
- The environment is an ominous, unpleasant experience.
Relation To Target Users
Students from all departments use Brown’s Design Workshop (BDW) for physical prototyping and making in general, and BDW is directly connected with the Engineering Building where the vending machine is placed. Moreover, since Brown also has a large population of international student, it is likely that an International student will be using this vending machine for the first time when they are working at BDW.
Storyboard
Persona 02
Ryo Takeda
This storyboard highlights the potential difficulties that users like Ryo Takeda — a first time user of this specific vending machine, and someone who is not familiar with the US vending machine interface layouts — might encounter.
While Ryo works at the BDW, building a sculpture for an art project, he realizes he forgot to bring his bottle and decides to buy a drink from somewhere close.
He finds two vending machines in the basement of the engineering building. The ominous lighting in the basement makes him uncomfortable.
Ryo looks at all the drinks that are displayed, but eventually decides to purchase only water, as he doesn't like any of the other options.
He inputs the water's product number using the keypad, but the vending machine doesn't respond.
Ryp then tries to pay first, by swiping his card on the card reader, but the machine still provides no feedback.
Finally, Ryo successfully buys and gets his water by swiping his card on the other card reader and then inputting the product number.
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