About the Project
This project was partly created as an experiment as I was learning Adobe Dimension and Aero and to test out an idea that there must be a more fun and interesting way to put together the perfect cup of coffee (or any other customizable product for that matter) and possibly share your concoctions with your friends.
Using models sourced from various sources (Adobe, SketchFab, my own personal models produced in SketchUp) I quickly put together this scene in Dimensions and rendered the scene with custom lighting, materials and background.
Here is the rendered result of the AR scene:
Research and Pain Point Discovery
This was probably one of the most enjoyable research projects I’ve done, because I LOVE coffee! As you possibly do too, dear reader (or maybe you’re more of a tea type of person?) I spent some time in local coffee shops and observed the sometimes very lengthy orders people were trying to explain to the barista. There’s even a reddit about baristas sharing their nightmare orders!
Some customers even got dirty looks from those behind them in line when they took a few extra minutes to ask the cashier to describe a drink that they had never heard of before.
Could there be a better way to help people visualize what ingredients might go into that new Summer special drink that the coffee shop is offering for the season?
Define Product Goals:
After recording my observations from my field research and interviewing my colleagues about their own coffee consumption practices, I got down to business mapping out some areas where some more fun could be brought into the daily ritual of getting the morning cup o’ Joe.
Creative innovation: Visual way to introduce new ingredients and coffee concoctions to the user.
Social innovation through crowd-sourced coffee: Possible social aspect where users could vote on drink creations created in the community. For example: “Maine Blueberry Latte” - Submitted by a Cathy L. Biddeford, Maine.
I imagined this could be used as a barista training tool or a tool to teach home coffee enthusiasts what ingredients and techniques go into the making of popular drinks.
Journey and Wireframes
I sketched some ideas on my iPad and shared with my team. They offered some feedback. Here’s the general idea of how the user journey would go
Prototyping with Adobe Aero
Next I rebuilt the scene in Adobe Aero, added some simple behaviors and sounds to the objects to indicate selection and the checkout process.
Below is the final augmented reality experience projected into the kitchen on my RV on a camping trip: