The making of the Vse Sam vending kiosks interface

Trying to imagine how a vending kiosk should interact with customers.

Senior designer: I recommend you to go out on the street and try to use at least 5–7 different terminals (ATMs, Kiwi terminals, etc.) to see what they look like. Blue gradients that look good on computer screen will not be visible on the terminal display.

Referring to the corporate identity and making the screen elements larger and more contrasting.

Art director: Very confusing. You need to start over.

A new designer joins in.

Art director: I don’t want to hear that you’ll see the result on a screen in the engineers’ office. What you need to do is find some cardboard or a piece of chalk and a board, take screen printouts and price tags, some tape and a chocolate bar and create a dimensional mock-up with two screens and a panel with a keypad. You’ll also have to maintain correct distances from the user to the buttons and to the Snickers with the price and the code. Before you do that, there’s nothing to talk about.

Buying some tape and a chocolate bar. Assembling an interactive prototype.

Testing the designs in real life.

Considering possible errors and unusual situations.

Adding subtle animations and other effects.

Presenting to the client.

Finalizing usage scenarios, drawing, coordinating with engineers, writing a detailed design guide and sending it to the client.