Truebird coffee company

Art Direction

Product Design

User Experience

Interaction Design

Motion Graphics

I had the honor to work with Brooklyn-based startup Truebird to shape the digital experience of their business— specifically, their flagship product— a launch of 5 micro cafes serving robotically crafted specialty espresso drinks.
‍
I worked closely with robotics engineers and industrial designers to inform hardware and software decisions that shape the entire customer experience.

Run completely by machine, the micro-cafes rely entirely on a concise customer experience, never dependent on employee assistance. User interviews, user testing, and competitive research dictated a seamless ordering, tracking, and pickup flow.

New Lab Open House — 10.2019

Order kiosk

The ordering kiosk is a 28" vertically oriented screen. The dimensions and orientation of the screen were decisions made based on ergonomics, user research, as well as the overall flow of the café.

The ordering flow

The main goals of the ordering kiosk were to maximize throughput and to provide a spotlight for their partner roasters shine. Exhaustive user testing determined a progressive flow best accomplish these goals.

Hanging receipts

Would like the last customer’s receipt? Designed to fill the gaps that the NYC subway kiosks failed to address, the final screen ensures that users interact with the receipt screen by suggesting that they are ‘unfinished’.

This small change decreased hanging receipt screens by 81%.

The Main Screen
Idle State

The main screen is a 48" which serves a primary purpose of displaying a queue screen during busy times at the café. For the 88% of times when there is no queue, this screen functions as an immersive ad for Truebird and their roasting partners.

order queue

When orders are placed, the main screen reveals a list of all drinks in queue, so customers can follow the progress of their drinks, or decide if the wait is worth placing an order. Drink orders are identified by name and color.

Process animations

User interviews revealed that customers missed a human touch compared to a traditional café experience— specifically, watching the barista step by step as they make the drink. Process animations reveal the espresso extracting process where it's otherwise hidden in the hardware.

Pickup Screens

Customers follow their orders from the ordering kiosk, to the queue, and finally on to the pickup window. Drink orders are identified by name, drink, and color. The pickup door only opens for you when a correct 4-digit pass code is entered