Vending Machin

8/6/2019 Vending Machin

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Prince Mohammed Bin Fahd University

Vending Machine Redesign

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Interface Evaluation and Design


Team Name:

iCreate

Team Members:

Fatimah Al-Ghannam

Fatimah Al-Tuhaifa

Maryam Al-Dhamen

YasmeenAbussaud

Course:

COSC3313 Human-Computer Interaction

Instructor:

Darin El-Nakla


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Prince Mohamme

Bin Fahd University

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Table of Content

I. Abstract ................................................................................................................ 5

II. Introduction .......................................................................................................... 6

III. Meeting Minutes ................................................................................................... 7

A. First Meeting Minutes ................................................................................ 7

B. Second Meeting Minutes ..................... ...................................................... 8

C. Third Meeting Minutes .............................................................................. 9


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Abstract

This project proposal paper includes an introduction part that provides brief descr iption of

the problem to be solved, the second part of this paper contains the meeting minutes of theproject.


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Introduction

Vending machines are all about offering convenient services for consumers, and in a world

where we have trouble slowing down; vending machines are capturing every slot in themarket. Our team aims to design a better interface for vending machines in PMU campus,

which offers both convenience and customization.

The instruction plate of the Campus vending machines isnt as instructio nal as it could be; it

doesnt tell the user what kind of payment is accepted by the machine and how to purchase

merchandise. The machine is also programmed to accept only old print of paper money,

when theres a slot for coins too and it doesnt show what paper bills are accepted by the

machine. Another problem is that the machine doesnt return the change back to the buyer.

Whenever the machine is full of money, it doesnt give the buyer a sign that its full and

doesnt accept more money, so buyers keep trying to insert money without having any clue

why the machine keeps returning it back.

The number pad on the vending machine doesnt have a delete button on it, so when the

buyer mistakenly presses a wrong product number, he is simply compelled to get i t even

though he doesnt want it.

Although, campus vending machines sells a wide range of products. The types of products

may include candy, cookies, chips, milk, cold food, bottles and cans of soda; these products

are being sold from the same vending machine while they have to have different storing

temperature.

Finally, when buyers place their orders by clicking the products numbers on the number

pad, purchased products fall into a box with a lid on it, the fall might cause damage to cans

or bottles leading to fluid leakage that eventually will damage the machine. Also, the ring

shaped product holder causes problems too, because its designed in a way that sometimes

snags plastic bags of chips from falling into the box.


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B. Second Meeting Minutes

Wednesday March 17, 2010

11:50-12:15 held in the classroom

Attendance: Fatimah Al-Ghannam, Fatimah Al-Tuhaifa, Maryam Al-Dhamen and

YasmeenAbussaud

I. Choosing and discussing the topic: each member of the team brought an idea of a

topic that she thinks is interesting to be chosen as the project topic.

II. Decision making: it was a bit hard for us to finalize our project topic, because each

one of us had different idea , so we went to our instructor Ms. Darin office to ask

for her opinion and she suggested that we redesign the interface of a vending

machine.

III. Date and time of next meeting: We had set a date to the group next meeting.


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C. Third Meeting Minutes

March 20, 2010

11:50-12:15 held in the classroom


YasmeenAbussaud

I. Roles and responsibilities: Group leader started the meeting by explaining the

objectives and the responsibilities of each member.

II. Starting the meeting between the members: Group leader asked all members

to meet online to start discussing the problem with each other.

III. Searching for information: Yasmeen and Maryam have thought about making a

survey in the weekend to find out what do PMU students and instructors think of the

vending machines and what do they suggest to improve and develop these machines

in order to increase their usability. Then Yasmeen and Maryam discussed it with

Fatimah Al-Ghannam and she was excited about this survey. Finally they asked for

their leader Fatimah Al-Tuhaifa permission to start developing the survey and she

approved.

IV. Discussing the problem: Fatimah Al-Tuhaifa started writing and identifying the

problems of the vendi ng machine, after she had finished her report she shared her

ideas with other members of her team which are Fatimah Al - Ghannam, Yasmeen,

and Maryam, then each girl wrote a list of main problems in the vending machine

and they indulged in a long discussion , they have spent about three hours

discussing the vending machine problems, which gave Fatimah Al -Tuhaifa more

ideas for the topic.

V. Date and time of next meeting: We had set a date to the group next meeting

to divide the work between our team members.


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Table of Content

An overview page12

A description of the important characteristics page13

Task Analysis page14

Task Environment page15

Usage Scenarios page15

A simple structured task analysis of the problem page 16

Physical layout page17

A Walkthrough of the existing interface and evaluating it page18

Information gathering justification page19

The most important page20

Appendix page21

IV. Meeting Minutes ..................................... .............................. .............................. 18

D. Fourth Meeting Minutes ......................................... .................................18

E. fifth Meeting Minutes ........................................ ...................................... 19

F. sixth Meeting Minutes .......... ................................................................. 20

G. seventh Meeting Minutes 21


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An overview of what the system will do and why it's needed

Vending machines have long been a source for an occasional snack or drinks. In PMU,

students and faculty use the vending machines as a stopgap for energy until they can eat their

next meal. However, these machines have many problems and there are a different number of

ways to improve them.

1. We will write clear instructions of how to purchase merchandise and what kind of

payment is accepted by the machine.

2. We will program the machine to accept the new print of paper money and coins. Moreover,

using students and faculty ID, credit or debit cards as well as cell phone payment options is

more convenient for customers.

3. Whenever the machine is not working "full of money or empty of products", it will

automatically close the inside lights and will open a red light so that the user can know that it

does not work.

4. On the number pad on the vending machine we will add a delete button on it, so when the

buyer mistakenly presses wrong product number he/she can easily delete it.

5. We will add refrigerated or frozen units that hold chocolate and soda products.

6. We will add insulation or better padding for breakable products when products drop down

after the sales transaction.

7. Vending machines in PMU can potentially be used for selling many more products in

strategic locations than they do and to improve these machines to accomplish this task. We

will improve the design of the machine as well as consider using other materials to fabricate

them.


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A description of the important characteristics of the users of the system

The system users will be the students from different levels (prep, core), both normal and

disabled students. Also, PMU faculty from different ages. The machine containing the

monitor and this monitor will show instructions that make using the machine easier for the

users. So, the system will be very clear and easy to use even for the users who use vending

machine for the first time.

a) The vending machine will be very sensitive; when the user comes in front of the machine,

it will automaticity start working.

b) There is a note on the machine that asks the user reads the message that appears on the

screen

c) The message will appear on the screen, will ask the user

to follow the instructions.

d) After welcoming the user it will ask the user to choose the product that he/she wants, and

then the machine will ask the users to enter the product number.

e) The machine will display price of the product chosen by the user and will then ask the user

if he/she wants to complement the process and pay.

f) Finally, the machine will tell the user from which gate he/she can get the product and will

return the change if there is change.


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Task Analysis

Using vending machines requires from the buyer to do two tasks. Those tasks are inserting

currency and selecting the desired product. When the buyer wants to buy from the

machine, s/he has to choose the way that s/he wants to use forpayment. There are five

ways that buyers can use to payment: paper currency, coins, debit card, student ID or

employee ID. The buyer can insert any amount of money he has in mind and he is willing to

pay.

The vending machine will be connected to the bank network or university network via

wireless and a wire just in case if the wireless is disconnected.So when the students or

employees use their credit or debit cards, cell phone payment or IDs, the bill will be

detected from their accounts.

After inserting the currency buyers have to select the desired product. Completing this

process requires from the buyers to insert the product number by typing on specific number

pad, usually can be found on the machine itself. During this process buy ers may need to

validate their order by retyping its number or they may want to cancel the order and have

their money back.

The other task that buyers can do, if faced with a problem in the machine, is clicking on

the # button to send an error report to the manufacturers in order to ask them to come and

fix the problem.

Also, the vending machine has three tasks to do. Those are reading product number,

giving the buyers their order and write a report. To read the product number, the machine

will use VHDL language. After reading the product number, the machine will check if the

queue that has the order is empty or not. If the queue is empty it will tell the buyer that the

queue is empty and s/he has to choose from another queue. In this case, the buyers can

choose another order or can get their money back.

If the queue is not empty the machine will go to the second step which is giving the

costumer their order. In this process the machine need to move the queue that has the

order in a way that prevents the product from being stuck in the machine and takes it to the

place that costumers can take it from, without any damages.

After the paying process the machine will write a report and send it to the main server.

The report will have the product number, the price, the time, date and type.


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I. Task Environment

There will be three task environments. Those are the competitors, the buyers, and the

suppliers. Our vending machine will have soft drinks, pizza and coffee;therefore, it will have

the universitys cafeteria and Pepsi vending machine as the competitors.So, we have to

make our vending machine more attractive and useful. The other task environment is

buyers who are the students and employees of the University ,who are of different ages

which creates different desires. Also, dealing with the suppliers is one of the task

environments. To fill our vending machine we need to fill it with the needed snacks and

meals. In this step we have to deal with different suppliers to avoid damage when one of

the suppliers bankrupt. The machines should also be placed in a location that guarantees

the buyers attention.

II. Usage Scenarios

Noha wantsto buy a chocolate bar from the vending machine. She is using the vending

machine for the first time. Noha clicks on the button that teaches her how to use the

vending machine. She followed the instruction and she inserted her ID. The machine is

reading her ID and it is making sure it is a valid ID. The ID card worked so she chose to buy

Galaxy by inserting the numberof the product. But she inserted the wrong product number,

so, she deleted what she typed and typed the correct number. The machine accepted the

product number and moved to the order process . After doing this the machine sent a

report to the universitys network to updateNoha account.


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III. A simple structured task analysis of the problem in one of the forms described

in the textbook

The buyer

NO YES

No Yes No Yes

Order

Request

Credit

Checked

ID checked

Money/coins

checked

OK

Notification of

the problem

Problem

resolved

The

machine

writes a

report

Insert product

number

OK

Order cancelledValidate

The currency

Notify buyers

Order

processing

The buyer

receive their

order

The

machine

writes a

report

Try

Again

Cell phone

payment


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The most important:

All of the above was about understanding the problems of the vending machine; we

mentioned in the first part that the vending machines in PMU have many problems. After, we

have explained many points about how to improve the vending machines and how to make

them better for use to satisfy the user.

The second point was a description of the important characteristics of the users of the system.

In this part we have explained how to use the machine and we have mentioned that the

vending machine has a monitor and this monitor shows some instructions to make the usage

of the vending machine easy.

The third part was about the task analysis, in this part we have talked about the steps of how

to use the vending machine and we have also mentioned the processes that occur within the

machine and explained how the system works in details just to make the process clearer to the

users.

There are three tasks environment those are the competitors, the buyers, and the suppliers, at

this point we mentioned the importance of making the machine more attractive to grab the

users attention. And we have also explained the three tasks environment in details.

Usage Scenarios, in this point we gave an example about a girl her name is Noha and how

she have used the vending machine for the first time by using her I.D card; and we have

mentioned that when she inserted the wrong number the vending machine asked her to retype

the correct number; in the end after Noha got her order, the vending machine sent a report to

the universitys network to update her account.

We drew a diagram that shows clearly how this vending machine works in a detailed way.

Physical layout: At this point, we have explained in detailshow the physical layout of PMU

vending machine looks like.

A Walkthrough of the existing interface and evaluating it: in this point we evaluated PMU

vending machines, we explained all the faults of the vending machine in deep details, and the

faults were from our view and from our surveys findings.

Information gathering justification: was from our daily use of this vending machine in PMU,

also was from the information that we obtained from a survey of opinion from the instructors.


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Meeting Minutes

Monday March 31, 2010

11:00 12:50 Held in class room

D. Fifth Meeting Minutes


YasmeenAbussaud

I. Deciding on the methodology to be used to obtain information

y We read Part 1 of the project and we all agreed that the survey methodology is the best way

to gain users view of the vending machines at PMU.

y We decided to make two surveys, one to be distributed to the instructors and another one

to the students.

y Maryam Al-Dhamen and Fatimah Al-Tuhaifa said they will create the instructors survey in

essay format questions, so they can benefit more from their experience, since theyre from

different countries and have used different types of vending machines.

y Fatimah Al-Ghannam and YasmeenAbussaud said they will create the students survey in

multiple choice format questions.


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Prince Mohammad Bin Fahd University

HCI CourseMeeting Minutes

E. Fifth Meeting Minutes

Wednesday March 31, 2010

11:4512:10 held in the classroom

Members: YasmeenAbussaud, Fatimah Al-Ghannam, Fatimah Al-Tuhaifa, and Maryam Al-Dhamen

VI.Starting Discussion: Group leader started the meeting by starting the argument about thevending machine' design.

y Fatimah Al-Tuhaifa which is the leader: She started drawing the machine while MaryamAl-Dhamen and YasmeenAbussaud were in a heated discussion about the machine

design.

y Fatimah Al-Ghannam entered into discussions with Fatimah Al-Tuhaifa and she gaveher thoughts about machine design.

y After Yasmeen and Maryam finished their sharp discussion on the machine design,

they agreed on a particular design on the vending machine and added new ideas to thevending machine.

y Fatimah Al-Tuhaifa and Fatimah Al-Ghannam agreed on Maryam AndYasmeenideas, then the two Fatimahs started adding wonderful ideas on the vending machine

design.

y In the end all the group members were satisfied with the final results of the vendingmachine design.

VII. Date and time of next meeting: We had set a date to the group next meeting.



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HCI Course

Meeting Minutes

F. Sixth Meeting Minutes

Friday April 9, 2010

9:1110:30 held in the messenger


VIII. Discussion about dividing the works :Leader of the group began the meeting byasking each member of the group to choose the part that are comfortable to work on it.

IX.Dividing the workload between the members: Group leader divided the work to fourtasks.

y Fatimah Al-Ghannam would work on the an overview of what the system willdo and why it's needed.

- Also she would work on the a description of the important characteristicsof the users of the system.

y Fatimah Al-Tuhaifa and Maryam Al- Dhaman would work together on thetask analysis consisting of:

- A description of the important characteristics of the tasks performed byusers.

- A description of important characteristics of the task environment.- A simple structured task analysis of the problem in one of the forms

described in the textbook.

y YasmeenAbussaud would work on the:- An interpretive evaluation of the existing system/interface, if one exists.- A brief description and justification of how the above information was

gathered.

- She also had written the fourth meeting minute.

y Fatimah Al-Tuhaifa and Maryam Al- Dhaman would work together on Mostimportant:

- A discussion of the implications of what you learned above.- Maryam Al-Dhamen had written the fifth, sixth, and seventh meeting

minutes.

X. Date and time of next meeting: We had set a date to the group next meeting.Prince Mohammad Bin Fahd University


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HCI Course

Meeting Minutes

G. Seventh Meeting Minutes

Saturday April 9, 2010



XI. Searching of information: group members had started doing surveys to find what students and

instructors think about the vending machine.

XII.Gathering Information: Fatimah Al-Tuhaifa told each member to send to her all their work even

she make sure that information related to each other.

XIII. Working on the Part 1 (Understanding the problem):

y Due April 11Fatimah Al-Ghannam should finish her work on her first two points in thepart one. Also, she will be careful to send her work to all group members.

y Due April 12 Maryam Al-DhamenAnd Fatimah Al- Tuhaifa should finish the third partwhich is the task analysis and send it to YsmeenAbussaud.

y Due April 13--YasmeenAbussaud should finish her fourth and fifth parts and send herwork to all group members.

y Due April 13_Maryam Al-DhamenAnd Fatimah Al- Tuhaifa should finish the last part

and send it to all group members.

y Due April 14-- Finally, Fatimah Al-Tuhaifawhich is the leader, will copy the part 1 to giveit to Ms.Darean on April 14.


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Prince Muhammad Ben Fahd University (PMU)

Human Computer Interaction (HCI)

Computer Science's students

Improving the vending machines""

Please spend some time to answer the following questions to help us improve the

vending machines at PMU.

1- What do you think are the defects of the vending machines at (PMU) ?

2- Compare the vending machines at (PMU) with the other vending machines outside

KSA, what are the differences? In details please


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PMU Vending Machines Survey

COSC 3313 Human-Computer Interaction

1. How often do you use the vending machines at PMU?

o Always

o Sometimes

o Rarely

o Never

2. How frequently do you carry cash around with you on campus?

o Always

o Sometimes

o Rarely

o Never

3. How much do you usually carry around with you?

o 0 5 SR

o 5 10 SR

o 20 50 SR

o 100 200 SR

4. Which do you find more convenient form of payment for snacks on

campus?

o Cash

o Credit Card


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5. Would it be more convenient for you if vending machines accepted credit

cards?

o Yes

o No

6. How far would you support a proposal to replace some current vending

machines with vending machines which take credit cards? (Assume no

increased cost)

o Full support

o Some support

o No support

7. What do you usually buy? (Choose your top 5 choices)

o Chocolate bars

o Peanuts

o Flavored milk

o Water

o Potato chips

o Juiceo Soda

8. What would you like to see in the vending machine on campus? (Choose

your top 5 choices)

o Canned fruit

o Dried fruit

o Cereal bars

o Energy bars

o

100% fruit juiceso Flavored yogurt

o Other ( .. )

9. What is the most thing that annoy you about the vending machines on

campus?


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o Not accepting the new paper money

o Purchased items dont fall down into the box where you can get it

o Other (.. )

10. Overall, are you satisfied with the vending machines on campus?

o Yes

o No


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Part 2


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Table of Content

H. First design...................................... ..............................................................29 - 30

I. Second design ....................... ....................................................... ............... 31 -33

J. Third design ...33 -35

K. Meeting Minutes .................................................................... ..............................36

H. Eight Meeting Minutes ......................... .............................. ..................... 36

I. Ninth Meeting Minutes ...... ..................................................................... 37


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THIS IS OUR FIRST DESIGN FOR THE VENDING MACHINE:

This machine has an external interface of glass there are pictures of foods on it, but these

pictures are sensitive to touch. Vending machine consists of three sections: The first section

is for cold drinks, the second section is for junk food and finally the third section is for hot

drinks. There is nothing distinctive in the outer form of this machine except that the machine

is sensitive. Most of the operations centred in the second section which is the junk food, in

this design the junk food is pushed toward the moving belt which is in its turn transfers the

food to the elevator gate, then the elevator moves the food down and then deliver it to the

buyers out of the main gate. And following the same method used in section two there is a

push machine, moving belt, and elevator. In the third section which is for hot drinks, hot

drinks machine has large buttons and these buttons has pictures with names of the drinks

vended by the machine. Of Course, there is one gate for each section and there is a keyboard

for buyers with special needs so they can choose food without facing any problem. There are

also slots in the machine to enter credit cards, coins and paper money, not to mention the

sensitive chip that is for mobile phones to accept payment by mobiles and that will further be

added to mobile bills.


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The method thati bei used by this machi e is very simple; buyers place their hands on the

desired product oritem and gently press.


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THIS IS OUR SECOND DESIGN FOR THE VENDING MACHINE:

This vending machine will offer snacks, cold drinks and hot drinks. The snacks will be in the

middle part of the machine. The machine will have a rectangle shape with the colors red and

yellow. In addition to that,the machine has buttons with the shape of the machine's sold

products, for example, a button that is chocolate shaped or strawberry milk shaped. These

shapes are made of clickable rubber, which is when clicked buyers get the product. So, each

order will have its own button and whatever the users want, theyll just have to click the

button without the need of inserting the products code or number. On the left side there is a

coffee machine which has buttons made of rubber decorated with nice drawing of coffee

cups; This coffee machine has its own gate and the cups will come down to this gate. Also,

this machine has a monitor on one of its side. This monitor shows instructions providing

users with more understanding of the use the machine. Under this monitor there are three

columns. The first column has a slot for inserting credit card, the second column has

numbered buttons to enable the users to insert there cell phone number, the third column has

a slot for inserting ID card and any type of money and under these columns there is a

keyboard for people with special needs. This machine has an electronic hand that takes the

order from its place to the gate, this hand has three fingers, it moves in both horizontal and

vertical direction and the gate is window that opens up automatically when the order reaches

it.


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T waterfall diagram of the process of usi g the coffee vending machine:

User insert money in the machine and s'

ecify order

Water comes from thesource

Water mixes with thecoffee

( up is placed on thecup holder; coffeespills in thecup

User get hischange bac ) (ifexists0


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5

4

9

8

7

6

3

2

1


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1. This is the list of buttons to help the users specify their order, the size of the cup

or cancel their order.

2. This is a keyboard to help users specify their order that ejects when the users

press the button, its designed especially for people with special needs and itsalso designed so they can reach it easily.

3. This is where the coffee comes out into the cup.

4. This is where the cup stays.

5. This is a monitor that displays a list of instruction on how to use the machine.

6. This is the slot for inserting debt cards and ID cards.

7. This is the slot for inserting paper money.

8. This is the slot for inserting coins

9. This is where you can get your change back.

10.

THIS IS OUR THIRD DESIGN FOR THE VENDING MACHINE:

This design of the vending machine has three shapes connected to each other by rows of

iron. On the left sides the coffee cup shaped, the chips bag shaped is in the middle and on the

right side the soft drinks cup shaped machine. Each shape has its gate and own clickable

buttons. Also, they have a place for inserting the ID card or credit card and they has a special

numeric buttons for buying by using buyers cell phone number. In addition to that, there is a

keyboard added to each one of the machines for people with special needs. In the soft drinks

shaped machine there is a headphone that buyers can use to listen to the instructions of how

the machine can by used by clicking on the start button.

This machine adapts a magnetic mechanism for serving the order. Each product has a piece of

iron glued on it. When the users order their product, a stick that ends with a small rectangle

magnet will move toward that product and attract it, then it will take it to the gate and the gate

is like a window which will open automatically.


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Also, there is a red lamp thatlights up when there is a problem in the machine or when the

machine is full of money. In addition to that, there is a button in the soft drink shaped

machine that enables users to reportthe problem and try to fi the problem ifitis possible.

The method thatis being used in this machine is very simple,you only have to press the

buttons atthe bottom of each meal.


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L. Eighth Meeting Minutes


HCI Course

eighth meeting MinutesThe

Saturday April 24, 2010

9:1110:30 held in the messenger

Members:

Maryam Al-Dhamen

YasmeenAbussaud

Fatimah Al-Tuhaifa

Fatimah Al-Ghannam

XIV. Discussing the design of the vending machine: Group leader began the meeting byasking each member of the group to give their ideas about different designs to the vending

machine.

XV. Ideas agreed: Each member of the group gave different ideas to design the vending

machine; finally group members came up with about four different designs to the vendingmachine. But in the end the group leader decided to show just three of them to the audiences.

XVI. Date and time of next meeting: We had set a date to the group next meeting.


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M.Ninth Meeting Minutes


HCI Course

Meeting Minutes

Ninth Meeting Minutes

Tuesday May 12, 2010

9:00 12:00 held in the messenger


XVII. Discussion about dividing the work: Group leader began the meeting by dividing thework among the group members.

XVIII.Dividing the workload between the members: Group leader divided the work tofour tasks.

y Maryam Al-Dhamen will work on the first design

y Fatimah Al-Tuhaifa will work on the second design

y Fatimah Al-Ghannam will work on the third design

y YasmeenAbussaud will draw these designs

XIX. Date and time of next meeting: We had set a date to the group next meeting.


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Part 3


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Table of Content

Abstract ...................................................................................... .........................40

System Description .................................................................... ..........................14-42

Challenges Faced ...................................................................... ...............................43

Design Justification .............................................................. ...............................43-44

Functional Requirement ............................................................. ...............................44

Usability Specification ................................................................ ...............................44

N. Meeting Minutes .................................................................... ..............................46

J. Tenth Meeting Minutes ....................... .................................................... 46


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Abstract

Our project aims to build a vending machine that has the ability to provide users with

various products; such as, snacks, hot drinks and cold drinks. Purpose of this

vending machine is to make buying easier, convenient to the user and keeps the

products safe and fresh.


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System Description

Figure 1.1 Vending Machine.

As shown in (Figure 1.1 Vending Machine), our design of the vending machine

consist of three parts all shaped like what is being sold in it and all connected to

each other by rows of iron.

Each part of the machine has its own buttons and gates, and slots to insert the

money or ID and credit cards. In addition to that, there is a keyboard added to each

one of the machines for people with special needs. Using the vending machine

requires the user to do two tasks, which are choosing the payment method out of the

five methods, and they are paying using paper money, coins, credit card, ID card

and through mobile phones; then the user must specify his desired product by

touching on the image of it that is placed on the machine gently.

The vending machine will be connected to the bank network or university network via

wireless and a wire just in case if the wireless is disconnected. So when the students

or employees use their credit or debit cards, cell phone payment or IDs, the bill will

be detected from their accounts.


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Figure 1.2 Food & Cold Drinks Vending Machine.

Figure 1.3 Hot Drink Vending Machine.

In this design the junk food and cold drinks are pushed toward the moving belt which

is in its turn transfers the food or drink to the elevator gate, then the elevator moves

the food or drink down and then delivers it to the buyers out of the main gate. As

shown in Figure 1.2 Food & Cold Drinks Vending Machine. The same thing goes for

the hot drink vending machine as shown in Figure 1.3 Hot Drink Vending Machine.

Not to mention, theres a light that lights up red when theres a problem with the

machine or full of money and a button to report problems.


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Challenges Faced

After analysing the results of our survey, we found out that many users prefer to

have various choices sold by the machine. We also wanted to provide the machine

with Sawa cards for mobiles and snacks that could be heated and served to the

users fresh, but that was difficult for us and it will make the machine complicated and

messy.

Another difficulty we faced, was using a suitable program to develop a design for our

vending machine, we had a very hard time to find an interior designer to help us with

the design drawing.

Finally, we found a difficulty in making a decision on how the products will be served

to the users by the machine without damaging them.

Design Justification

Our vision of the vending machine has become clearer after submitting part I and

part II. After completing those parts of the project we found out that there are three

main problems faced by the users of the vending machine. The first problem was

that the vending machine in campus accepts only one type of currency which is old

print of riyals, creating a problem to the users and the owners of the machine.

Because when the users find difficulty in buying from the machine, the owners will

lose their goods. The second problem is that sometimes during serving the order, the

product stuck in the machine. The third problem is lack of instructions that help

users to deal with the machine, for example, many times the user tries to insert their

money but the machine does not respond; few users know that this happens

because the machine is full of money.

The main aim of our vending machine is to solve these problems that the old one

has, by focusing on Flexibility and ease of use. Our vending machine will have

several options for payment. It will be programmed to accept new print of pap er


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money, accept any amount and gives back the change to the user. It will have a

slotfor inserting the ID card for students or employees and for credit card. When the

user buys by ID card, the amount will be recorded in their account in the network

which is in this case Prince Mohammed Bin Fahd University. For that, the machine

will need a cable that connects it with the network and internet which will enable the

machine to send the record to the network or bank. The vending machine will have a

screen that can scan the mobile when the users put it in front of it. This will enable

the users to use their Qetaf points for buying.

Because stuck food in the machine is one of the major problems in the vending

machine, we decided to use an electronic hand that will place the product on the belt

that has the ability to move automatically and drives the product to the sensitive

elevator. When a specific weight stands on the elevator, the elevator will move to the

gate, so that users can take their orders.

Also, the vending machine will adapt the touch-screen, so users can choose their

desired product by clicking on the image and validate their ID number by typing in

their passwords to avoid theft.

Functional Requirement

1. The first task the vending machine must do is to accept the payment, as

mentioned before; there are several choices for payment. Such as, paper

money or credit card.

2. Reading the ID card.

3. Checking if the desired product is available or not.

4. Serving the order by driving it to the gate.

5. Record a report and the bill 6. Sending the report to the network and sending the bill to the bank.

UsabilitySpecification

90% of the users are expected to find the machine easy to use without any prior

training , giving the instruction on the screen.


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It will also be usable by people with disabilities without requiring an end -user to

attach assistive technology to the product. Personal headsets for private listening are

also assistive technology.


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K. Tenth Meeting Minutes


HCI Course

Meeting Minutes

Monday May 31, 2010



I. Working on Part III (System Prototype and Evaluation Plan):

Tasks have been divided between Fatima Al-Tuhaifa and YasmeenAbussaud.

y Abstract (Fatima)

y

S

ystem Description (Fatima &Yasmeen)y Challenges Faced (Fatima)

y Design Justification (Fatima)

y Functional Requirement (Fatima)

y Usability Specification (Yasmeen)

II. Agreement on the Evaluation Method:

All group members agreed on using survey questions as a method for evaluating

the new design of the vending machine and its system

III. Agreement on the Time of Next Meeting:

Members agreed to meet online on Thursday


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Part 4


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Table of Content

Abstract ...................................................................................................................5 0

Introduction ......................................................................................... ...................51

Interface ..................................................................................................... 52

Choosing the product ................................................................................ ............53

Coming down of the product ............... ................................................................ 54

Coming out of the product ....................................................................................55

A. Meeting Minutes .................................................................................................. 58L. eleventh Meeting Minutes ................. ..................................................... 58


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Abstract

This part is about showing and discussions the results that we gained from the survey aboutPMU Vending machine and our vending machine and we have Comparison between them.


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Introduction

-A description of the evaluation techniques, tasks and users involved in your study.-Design rationale for the evaluation tasks and materials you employed.

For the evaluation we choose to do a survey to the same client we asked before "PMU

students and doctors" and our goal for the survey is to provide "useful feedback" from our

client and to see

y Will our new idea for the vending machine work?

y

Will our client be excited about our new vending machine?y What does our client need that they cant find?

After we were done with the design we present it to our class mate and doctors. And we

choose to do a survey because it can very useful to collect information about our new vending

machine and get clients feedback that cannot be directly observed. So we conducted a survey

of short questions for the main changes we did to the PMU vending machine.


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A discussion ofthe results.

The results ofthe survey were very clear, most of people faced problems using PM

ending machine.

The interface of the PMU vending machine and our vending machine:

Most people said that, the interface of PM vending machine is not attractive, but our

vending machine interface is more attractive and most people willlike it because we added

colors and shapes to it. That s why the percentage of people who disliked PM ending

machine was high about 67.52%. While the percentage of people who liked our vending

machine was high about 84.12%. And you can see the percentages from the charts down

here.

32 Q 48R

67S52

T

The Interface ofthe PM ending Machine

U ike

Dislike


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Choosing products from PMUs vending machine and our vending machine:

Some of people don't have problems with the way of choosing products in PM s ending

machine, they said that buttons are notthat much bad and the percentage of people who

said using buttons is effective was about 41.94%, wasn't a low percentage. But most ofthe

people like the way of choosing products in our vending machine which is by touch and

the percentage was too high about 78.02% most ofthem said choosing products by touch is

more effective than buttons. For more information take a look atthe charts bellow here:

84.12

15.88

The Interface of our ending Machine

aike

Dislike


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Product coming down from PMUs Vending machine and our vending machine:

Most of people don'tlike it when the product drops down to the bottom ofthe PM s

ending machine because this way might damage the product;that's whythe percentage of

people who disliked this techni ue was very high about 76.94% because these people

found itto be not effective. While the percentage of people who liked the way of products

coming down from our vending machine was 74.86%, they said this method is effective.

For more information look atthe charts down here:

78.02f

21.98f

Choosing Product (Our ending Machine by

Touch)

Effective

Not Effective

41.94%

58.0g

%

Choosing Product (PM ending Machine

by Buttons)

Effective

Not Effective


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Product coming out from PMUs Vending machine and our vending machine:

Most of people don'tlike it when they have to push the vending machine doorto take the

products out from it and the percentage of people who disliked this way was very high

about 86.59%. While they found ourtechni ue of delivering the product using the elevator

and automatic door more effective. The percentage of people who liked the elevator

23.06%

76.94%

ProductComing Dowen (PM endingMachine)

Effective

Not Effective

74.86%

25.14%

ProductComing Dowen (Our endingMachine)

Effective

Not Effective


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method was very high about 95.21%. If you want see more informationjustlook atthe

charts down here:

The implications that you make from the results with respect to your design.

13.41%

86.59%

ProductComing Out (PM ending

Machine)

vike

Dislike

95.21%

4.79%

ProductComing Out (Our endingMachine)

Effective

Not Effective


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From our survey results most percentages were with our vending machine, the high

percentages were for our vending machine and the low percentages were for PMU

Vending machine. We are encouraged by the results from our survey, and this implications

gave us confidence in our vending machine.

A description of how the prototype design could be improved in light of the

implications.

If we go back to the research results, will note that the PMU Vending machine need to be

modify from the inside and outside because most people don't like the interface of PMU

Vending machine and also the processes from the inside, that's why PMU Vending

machine has to be modify from the outside which is in it's external shape and from the

inside by re-programming and re-designing the machine from the inside.

We learned many things from it, first of all we learned from the HCI Course how the

programmers and the designers should care and think about the users. Because there many

users are not educational so we have to make the design simple and easy to use. We asked

the users questions and we asked them to answered our survey questions because we care a

lot for their views. The information or the results that we got from the survey will help us a

lot to understand what the users want and like then this results will help us to make the users

Satisfied.We did not face any consequences with the new design.If we have more time OF

Course we will think more about the design and adding extra products.


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HCI Course

Meeting Minutes

Meeting Minutes number 11

Friday June 2010/06/11

9:00 5:00 held in the messenger

Members: Maryam Al-Dhamen ,Fatimah Al-Ghannam,YasmeenAbussaud ,and

Fatima Al-Tuhaifa

XX.Discussion about dividing the work: Maryam decided to divide the work between her andFatima G. As Part IV consists of six parts so maryam divided the work she gave the first

three parts to Fatima G and Maryam took the three parts from the end.

XXI. Dividing the workload between the members: Group leader divided the work to fourtasks.

y Fatimah Al-Ghannam will work on:

1- A description of the evaluation techniques, tasks and users involved in yourstudy.

2- Design rationale for the evaluation tasks and materials you employed.3- Description of the results of the study (data presentation).

y Maryam Al-Dhamen will work on:

1- A discussion of the results.2- The implications that you make from the results with respect to your design.

3- A description of how the prototype design could be improved in light of theimplications.

Also maryam answered these questions:

- Describe what have you learned from it, why did you ask users thequestions you have, what information these questions will help you

understand or get. What aspects worked for your design and what

didn't work?.if you had more time to change or develop your designwhat changes would you do?


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4- Maryam had collected the works.5- Maryam had written this meeting minute.

XXII. Date and time of next meeting: No time for next meeting, because this is the last

part of our work.

Documents

Vending Machin