Coffeemaker opportunity
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== Pugh Chart == | == Pugh Chart == | ||
| - | Given the results of different market research and stakeholder needs, we come up with the following criteria for design grading in the Pugh Chart | + | Given the results of different market research and stakeholder needs, we come up with the following criteria for design grading in the Pugh Chart below. |
* Easy to Clean | * Easy to Clean | ||
* Portability | * Portability | ||
Revision as of 21:32, 23 February 2014
Contents |
Executive Summary
For this stage of design, the team narrowed down on market research and found opportunities for redesigning personal coffee makers. Market research led the team to use an anthropological study, survey, product review study, and expert interviews to segment both commercial and personal coffee maker markets. The decision to design personal coffee makers was made knowing the inconsistencies found in the quality of brew from affordable brewers.
This stage of the design process also involved comparisons with competing products. Using Pugh Charts, product designs were compared to the Hamilton Beach 12-Cup Coffeemaker, the Aerobie 80R08 AeroPress Coffee and Espresso Maker, the Hamilton Beach 49970 Personal Cup One Cup Pod Brewer, and the Keurig B70 Platinum Single Cup Brewing System RED ( for comparison to a high end product ).
As for laying out the team's schedule and work load for the rest of the semester / design process, the team agreed to the scheduled roles described on a Gantt Chart. The chart is setup to condense work for the remaining time in an efficient manner. Each role begins at an appropriate time, given previous completion of other roles.
Market Research and Observations
For this stage of our design project, we conducted four different types of market research and observations including Anthropological Study Observation, Survey, Expert Interview, and Product Review. Besides, we also posted an Online Survey which served as a back up market research study. The major observations, inspections and conclusions from each study are listed by section below.
Anthropological Study Observations
For this approach of market research, we observed faculties, staffs and students around campus (academic buildings and student housings) to make coffee with coffeemakers located in public kitchens or snack bars. In particular, we did a 2-hour observation around noon and a 2-hour in the afternoon on the sixth floor in the Gates and Hillman Center. In addition, we did a 1-hour observation at the Stever House during an early morning. The key observations are listed underneath.
1. People (mostly students and professors) are easily distracted when using the coffeemaker. They are likely to talk to someone other the phone or around, reading and playing with tablets which could possibly cause safety issues.
2. Oftentimes when there might be a problem with the coffeemaker (or there might not be, like slower dripping of coffee), people tend to just punch around the body of the coffeemaker. This could be harmful for both the users and the coffeemaker.
3. There were a few instances when people are in a hurry of doing something else, they tend to forget to put the coffee container back into place and leave the coffeemaker on which could result in overheating problem or damage to the heater.
4. A coffeemaker placed in a public kitchen could have a shorter lifetime due to lack of cleaning and proper maintenance.
5. It is sometimes the case that a full container of coffee would be wasted as the user might want to remake some hot coffee and dump the cold one made by the previous user. This could be a majority factor of wasting all types of resources.
6. Another minor observation concerned with coffee heating is that some people might want to reheat their coffee with their own coffee mug instead of making a new set of coffee all over again. Oftentime they would just use the microwave. Things could be done on the coffeemaker so that it could possess a feature of reheating a small cup of coffee.
 |  |  |
Stakeholder Needs
- A coffeemaker that have advantages in both timing and quality.
- A coffeemaker whose problems could be easily detectable.
- A coffeemaker which makes the controllable amount of coffee.
- A coffeemaker that guarantees safety under unexpected or aberrant use situation.
Survey
The main purpose for our survey is to know 1)how people learn to use a coffeemaker；2）what are the main complaints about a coffemaker. We conduct a 6-questin short survey to collect relevant responses.
Source
The surver is created using online survey tool on www.surverymonkey.com, and is sent out using Facebook&Twitter.
Result
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Analysis：
According to the responses of our survey, the main methods of learning to use coffeemaker are reading instruction manual and obeservtion. Although most of the partipants said that learning to use a coffemaker is not difficult, the learning process still takes some time.
Two main complaints about coffemaker are noise and cleaning process. Thus our design can aim to solve these type of problems.
Stakeholder Needs
- Coffeemaker that people are able to use intuitively.
- Less Noise-perhaps coffemaker with soundproofing materials.
- Easier cleaning process
Expert Interview
Build18 Team Interview
We sat down with Chris Palmer and Colin Buchan who created a pour over coffee maker for the 2014 Build18 competition. Chris and Colin are both incredibly knowledgeable when i comes to coffee and they were able to explain the main variables that go into making a great cup of coffee. They explained that there is a "rule of 15's" to describe time in the entire coffee making process, which is coffee beans are good for approximately 15 months, once they are roasted they are good for 15 days, once they are ground they are good for 15 minutes, and 15 seconds if you are making espresso. They explained that the ideal temperature for brewing coffee is between 195 and 205 degrees Fahrenheit. They then spoke about their build 18 design, which utilizes the "pour over" method, which is typically done by hand by pouring the water over beans in a spiral pattern. The radius of the spiral increases as you move outward, as the beans are in a conical filter and there are less beans at the edges. This method tries to evenly distribute the perfect ratio of water to coffee. Chris and Colin also spent some time showing us a few different coffee makers that move away from the standard methods of making coffee in an attempt to make a better tasting cup of coffee. They cautioned us that there are two types of coffee drinkers, the people who don't care what it tastes like and just need it in the mornings, and those who care about taste and would be willing to pay higher prices for coffee maker that produces the best cup of coffee possible. If we ended up somewhere in the middle of these two, there would be problems trying to attract either market to the product.
Product Review
The product review study conducted was setup to go through product reviews online and interpret what people have to say. The goal was to find design flaws in the Hamilton Beach coffeemaker, and additionally to relate these findings to the design flaws found in other competing products. By using product reviews found on Amazon.com, this study was able to narrow down on the opportunities found in the personal coffee maker market. Interpreted reviews were charted for complaints, satisfactions, and general comments from customers.
The reviews demonstrated the importance of speed, quality, and maintenance of personal coffee makers. Important factors found in personal coffee makers and how satisfied these factors are from each reviewed product is shown below.
| Aerobie 80R08 AeroPress Coffee and Espresso Maker | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
http://www.amazon.com/Aerobie-AeroPress-Coffee-Espresso-Maker/dp/B0047BIWSK 
| Desired Outcome | Importance (1 to 5) | Satisfied (1 to 5) | Review Snippets |
| Minimize time to clean after brewed | 4 | 5 | I was worried there'd be a lot of bits to clean, and being plastic not dishwasher safe. / The extra cleaning takes three minutes. | |
| Minimize time to finish brew | 5 | 5 | It's faster than a pour-over, which means you can dish out six espressos for a dinner party in five minutes, tops; once the kettle's hot. / The whole process takes about 3 minutes: I boil the water in a kettle (1 minute). | |
| Increase control over water temperature | 3 | 1 | It might help to have a thermometer to measure the temperature of the water you'll be putting into this product, but the back of the manual describes ways to estimate temperature without a thermometer too. | |
| Minimize number of cups brewed | 2 | 5 | You can only brew 1 cup at a time. / For quick and small brewing. | |
| Increase options for storing hot coffee | 3 | 2 | You can only brew 1 cup at a time. / Small nozzle must fit cup grip and opening. | |
| Minimize time to setup grounds | 5 | 2 | However, it uses a lot of grounds so is less efficient in that respect. / Sometimes, I don't even stir the grounds and it still comes out tasty. | |
| Minimize time to setup filtering | 5 | 5 | It is regular filtered coffee, whether you hand pour it, machine brew it or push it through a tube, it is plain old filtered coffee. Because of the filter, it cannot make the other kinds of coffee, it can only adjust the strength of the brew. | |
| Minimize time to setup water | 5 | 1 | The problem is; even with very fine grind the water leaks right through the filter paper - in my case without stirring the grinds into the water. / Does not heat up water. Prior preparation is needed for hot coffee. | |
| Minimize time brewing excess coffee | 4 | 5 | This seems to give a more flavorful cup than if you make the same size cup by adding water afterwards. | |
| Minimize size of coffee maker | 4 | 5 | I'd never use another because it all fits in the size of a soda can and my space is at an extreme premium | |
| Increase time span coffee maker will work | 4 | 2 | I just want to warn other potential buyers that the rubber end on the plunger tube of my AeroPress wore out after about 9 months of regular but not heavy use. I was frankly kind of surprised it didn't have a longer functional life. | |
| Minimize cost to brew | 5 | 5 | The cost of a new rubber and a new cyl. approach the cost of a new complete unit. / I cost out each serving (large mug) at 25 cents using Costco bulk coffee which is awesome. | |
| Keurig B70 Platinum Single Cup Brewing System RED | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
http://www.amazon.com/Keurig-B70-Platinum-Brewing-System/dp/B000GTR2F6/ref=sr_1_6?s=home-garden&ie=UTF8&qid=1393188882&sr=1-6&keywords=keurig+coffee+maker+v+cups 
| Desired Outcome | Importance (1 to 5) | Satisfied (1 to 5) | Review Snippets |
| Minimize time to clean after brewed | 4 | 4 | I am very impressed with how quickly it is able to brew a cup of coffee, the selection of brew sizes, and how simple clean up is. | |
| Minimize time to finish brew | 5 | 5 | It only takes about 4 minutes for the water to heat up so if you can't wait that long you've got issues that need to be addressed with a professional. | |
| Increase control over water temperature | 3 | 5 | Two needles pierce the top and bottom of the cup, and the top needle sends in water heated to precisely the correct temperature | |
| Minimize number of cups brewed | 2 | 5 | If you ask me, the machine ideally makes 7oz. of great tasting coffee per one K-Cup. So if you usually drink coffee from giant mugs or travel mugs, realize you will have to use two K-Cups per fill. | |
| Increase options for storing hot coffee | 3 | 5 | The LCD panel is the brains of the operation, you can decide what cup size to brew, small cup, small mug, large mug, travel mug or iced beverage setting. / Fit only for quick coffee cups. | |
| Minimize time to setup grounds | 5 | 5 | It has been flawless at making perfect cups of coffee with both K-cups and my own grinds (store ground and self ground)in the included adapter. | |
| Minimize time to setup filtering | 5 | 5 | So, I purchased the B70 platinum, tried a couple of cups with the K-cups, which were included, and it made an adequate cup of coffee. I like my coffee strong, so I had to limit the amount of water used, by the way, so that there is less water in proportion to the cup. So, in essence, to get one good sized cup of strong coffee, I would need to brew two times (using two K-cups). | |
| Minimize time to setup water | 5 | 2 | It's necessary to pick up the water tank and drop it back into place several times until the water begins to draw down. Once you can get it to brew, the coffee is excellent, however it's a big annoyance to have to finagle the tank after nearly every cup. / The directions for the water filter say each filter pod should be changed every 60 tank fills or every two months; which seems more than reasonable as a three pod replacement pack is about $12. | |
| Minimize time brewing excess coffee | 4 | 5 | I don't have to worry about spilled coffee grounds, old coffee in the pot all day long and I am able to enjoy the coffee | |
| Minimize size of coffee maker | 4 | 4 | I think the B70 is slightly better and seems to occupy less space. | |
| Increase time span coffee maker will work | 4 | 3 | I've had two in about a year and they stopped brewing after about 6 months. / The one at home just died. It lasted 25 months. | |
| Minimize cost to brew | 5 | 3 | Stopped working after 13 months so your talking over $10 per month to use not counting the price of the coffee / Not easily affordable. | |
Sketches and Descriptions of Design Concepts
Comparison with Competitor Products
As it is mentioned above in the executive summary, we are comparing our design ideas and concepts with four popular products out on the market. This product could be generally used in public kitchens or small restaurants.
- The Hamilton Beach 12-Cup Coffeemaker is the product we used in dissection phase and it is the very basic type of coffeemaker with simple using steps and low price.
- The Hamilton Beach 49970 Personal Cup One Cup Pod Brewer is targeted for those who enjoy one and only one cup of coffee for breakfast.
- The Keurig B70 Platinum Single Cup Brewing System RED is a model that provides high quality coffee. It is considered as a high end product with a high price.
- The Aerobie 80R08 AeroPress Coffee and Espresso Maker is a electronics-free coffeemaker which offers fastest speed in coffee production among the competitive products. It is an ideal product for those who like to go green and tend to feel the excitement of making coffee by hands.
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Pugh Chart
Given the results of different market research and stakeholder needs, we come up with the following criteria for design grading in the Pugh Chart below.
- Easy to Clean
- Portability
- Quietness
- Safety
- Quality
- Timing
- Maintenance
- Affordability
- Easy to Use
We compare our design with a basic product and three other competitor products with distinct advantages and disadvantages so that we are able to assess our design ideas and concepts from a bigger picture. This benefits our conceptual design as we evaluate a number of features of existing coffeemaker and attempt to take in those good ones.
Gantt Chart for Team Plan
The picture below is a Gantt chart of a plan for our design project throughout the rest of the semester. There will be two design reviews and a design expo. Our plan is to have two iteration cycles for the two reviews and finalize our product before the design expo. The major stages within each design cycle involves design reflection, design analysis, CAD and prototyping. One of our team member will take the leading role of each of these four stages and the remaining one team member will be coordinating the entire team design progress. The specific roles that who would be leading which particular task are subject to change on the way.
Summary
Hypothetical Scenario
The average coffee maker over utilizes the coffee beans in the middle of the brewing basket, while under utilizing the beans at the edge of the brewing basket. This is an issue that affects the taste and quality of coffee and one we hope to solve by evenly dispersing water throughout the brewing basket quickly and efficiently. Suppose a consumer wants to get the highest quality coffee possible, but does not want to wait longer or use a more complex hand brewing method for it. The options are to very limited for this consumer. Our product will allow this consumer to utilize all of the beans and get the best flavor out of the coffee without having to wait any longer than a standard drip coffee maker.
Team Member Roles
Lucas Neffa - Product Review
Andrew Vickory - Expert Interview
Nick Ciesielski - Use Study Observation
Yang Wen - Anthropological Study Observation, Gantt Chart
Kaifu Wang - Team Leader, Survey
Appendix
(1) 100 Ideas Generation
(2) Design Sketeches
(3) Survey Questions
(1) 100 Brainstorming Ideas
1. Centrifuge mixing and filtering
2. Automatic on/off switch
3. Coffeemaker with solar cell panel
4. Infrared heating and keeping warm
5. Coffeemaker with electronic gadgets dock
6. Manufactured with recycled materials
7. Distinguish the chamber with color which gives better instruction for user to know where to put coffee beans and where to pour water
8. A handle that is able to control the dripping lever or the valve
9. Heat exchanger rapid cooling
10. Container dock that is compatible with multiple container
11. One button control compact design
12. Unbreakable material for coffee container
13. Change the coffeemaker into a multi-drinks maker
14. Portable coffeemaker with rechargeable battery
15. Exposed major components so that potential problems can be easily identified and fixed
16. A side heating dock to reheat just a cup of coffee
17. A rotating disk which enables the coffeemaker to fill multiple cups of coffee at a time
18. A small digital screen that can replace the daily reminder sticker on the fridge
19. A coffeemaker with multiple chamber/cylinder and coffee outlet in the case when there are a group people who prefer different types of coffee
20. Coffeemaker with a coffee mug hanger on the side
21. A convertible coffeemaker
22. Attach a mechanism on top which could utilize the water vapor coming out
23. An overheating/dry heating signal sound or light
24. Some kind of nozzle that maximize the spread of the smell of coffee as air freshener
25. Automate coffee press
26. Coffee maker to handle making both hot and cold coffee
27. Coffee maker with a supersonic wave cleaner
28. Coffee maker a rotating container which enables better mixing
29. A programmable clock to set on/off time
30. Incorporate two chambers each for making and containing hot and cold coffee.
31. Coffeemaker with a hinge at the top half
32. Soundproofing material to reduce the noise
33. Removable filter and ground coffee container (easy to clean)
34. Adjustable coffee potency
35. Thermal insulation container to keep the coffee warm for longer time
36. Rechargeable battery for travel use
37. Sandglass-shape coffeemaker
38. Coffeemaker built on wall
39. Handhold coffeemaker combining with a cup
40. Clear shell with colorful backlit to indicate on/off or temperature status
41. Sphere coffeemaker with three-layer where water in the outmost layer being boiled and vapor being pressured into the mid layer which contains the ground coffee.
42. Coffeemaker with a small refrigerator to keep ice
43. Built-in thermometer & hygrometer etc.
44. Automatically lock the lid during process of boiling water & making coffee
45. Pour over method applied to dripping of hot water over grounds
46. Temperature regulation for water being dripped over grounds
47. Pump air through hot water with grounds to mix into water
48. Cooker for taking the used ground coffee and use for baking goods
49. Ink jet technology used to print water over ground coffee and maximize temperature efficiency
50. Mobile app to regulate coffee being turned on or off and regulated
51. Freshness meter displays last time coffee was brewed
52. Card reader on coffee maker to secure identity of person making coffee
53. Soda gun machine but for dispensing coffee
54. Super small portable coffee maker made for cars / truckers
55. Bring hot water down from the sides of the cone instead of middle
56. Series of holes leading to one drip
57. Cream foam printer for printing designs
58. Centrifuge with grounding coffee mechanism to prepare grounds while mixing with water
59. High pressure mist sprayer shaped as a cone / triangle that rotates to reach all radii
60. Coffee paper that gets printed out
61. Slanted surface with extruded fin walls to run hot water over from the top
62. Rectangular slope with ribs and compacting wall to hold ground coffee together and flat
63. Hydroclone to separate ground coffee from hot water
64. Filter straw that sucks up filtered coffee from hot water and ground coffee
65. Perpetual coffee maker
66. Coffee bags similar to tea bags
67. Laser chromatography to detect quality of brewed coffee
68. USB port powered coffee maker
69. Different volume bins to level amount of coffee to water ratio
70. Coffee spray personal use
71. Cyphen water out from ground coffee
72. Microwave the water, have a small microwave system
73. Soundwaves to break up water tension and get water to run through without needed pressure
74. Shifting platform to move apart ground coffee from hot water
75. Membrane filtration system
76. Temperature neutral pressure brewer
77. Honeycomb surface pattern to hold small pockets of ground coffee to run water through
78. Vacuum brewing
79. Rain powered coffee maker
80. Blood regulated coffee maker that detects caffeine levels and goals
81. Coffee maker that detects if you are awake before brewing at a set schedule
82. Run the coffee through hot water as opposed to hot water running through coffee
83. Cars can run on ground coffee byproduct, so use ground coffee byproduct to heat water
84. Wine opener handles to push down and apply pressure on hot water
85. Have water basin on top of ground coffee to provide natural flow through gravity
86. Coffee breathalyzer
87. 3-in-1 roaster, grinder, coffeemaker
88. Double water tank so that water doesn’t need to be heated between po
89. Attach an electric shaker (like one of those making bubble teas) to the coffeemaker
90. Place an ice chamber at the top of the coffeemaker so that the steam could be used to melt the ice to cool the coffee 91. Coffee maker that snap freezes espresso so that coffee can’t break down. frozen coffee can then be added to a glass of water for iced americano.
92. Facial recognition attached to coffee maker that adjusts the concentration of the coffee based on identity.
93. Heating pot / container with automatic cup filler
94. Apply dispenser that works when cup is pushed against it
95. Built in coffee reservoir with water cooler-style spigot
96. Vacuum sealed coffee bean reservoir
97. Turkish coffee maker mechanism that allows coffee to be dropped directly into the water and isolates the coffee from the water when correct concentration has been reached.
98. Stove powered coffee maker
99. Coffee recirculation system
100. Turkish coffee pot that mixes beans and water using bubbles
(2) Design Sketches
(3) Survey Questions
| Cofeemaker Questions | ||
|---|---|---|
| Question | Answers | |
| 1 |
What is your gender? |
|
| 2 |
What is your age? |
|
| 3 |
Have you ever made coffee using a standard at-home coffeemaker？ |
|
| 4 |
How did you go about learning to use the coffeemaker? Was it difficult? |
Free response section |
| 5 |
How confident are you in using a coffeemaker you’ve never seen? |
|
| 6 |
What are some annoyances / problems with making coffee? |
Free response section |
References
1. Dieter, George E., and Linda C. Schmidt. Engineering Design. 5th Edition. New York, NY: McGraw-Hill, 2012. Print.
2. Broken Coffeemaker, n.d. photograph, viewed 22 February 2014, <http://www.greenenoughforme.com/2010_02_01_archive.html>
3. Coffeemaker or Microwave, n.d. photograph, viewed 22 February 2014, <http://retroranchrevamp.com/2013/02/06/>
4. Wasted Coffee, n.d. photograph, viewed 22 February 2014, <http://www.gmcr.com/en/Sustainability/SustainableProduct/CreatingSynergyAlongtheValueChain/UseandConsumption.aspx>
5. Hamilton Beach 12-Cup Coffeemaker, n.d. photograph, viewed 23 February 2014, <http://www.amazon.com/Hamilton-Beach-49316-12-Cup-Coffeemaker/dp/B002EJF8TI/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1393191074&sr=8-1&keywords=Hamilton+Beach+12-Cup+Coffeemaker>
6. Hamilton Beach 49970 Personal Cup One Cup Pod Brewer, n.d. photograph, viewed 23 February 2014, <http://www.amazon.com/Hamilton-Beach-49970-Personal-Brewer/dp/B003GW873G/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1393191398&sr=8-1&keywords=Hamilton+Beach+49970+Personal+Cup+One+Cup+Pod+Brewer>
7. Keurig B70 Platinum Single Cup Brewing System RED, n.d. photograph, viewed 23 February 2014, <http://www.amazon.com/Keurig-B70-Platinum-Brewing-System/dp/B000GTR2F6/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1393191482&sr=8-1&keywords=Keurig+B70+Platinum+Single+Cup+Brewing+System+RED>
8. Aerobie 80R08 AeroPress Coffee and Espresso Maker, n.d. photograph, viewed 23 February 2014, <http://www.amazon.com/Aerobie-AeroPress-Coffee-Espresso-Maker/dp/B0047BIWSK>
