Beverage Machine Touch Interface for Faster Formulation Selection
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing beverage preparation devices with touch-sensitive image display panels require users to scroll through menus, leading to inefficiencies due to the need for precise timing to select options, which can result in extra time spent navigating and selecting choices.
Innovation Solution
A control unit with a display panel and input means that allows users to select beverage formulations by designating image elements, featuring selection fields that remain visible and selectable, enabling confirmation through a dragging movement, and providing visually observable reactions, such as sound cues, to enhance user interaction and overview.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Speed
If the menu is scrolled at a high speed to respond to user input, then the responsiveness to user input is improved, but the user may miss the intended selection and need to scroll back, increasing the total time
Solution Approach 1:
The system performs preliminary actions by automatically scrolling to and selecting the intended menu element before the user releases the touch input. This eliminates the need for the user to manually scroll back if they miss the selection, as the system has already anticipated and executed the selection in advance.
Solution Approach 2:
The system provides visual feedback by highlighting the current menu element being scrolled to, allowing the user to see what will be selected before the automatic selection occurs. This feedback mechanism helps users adjust their input timing and confirms the intended selection.
2Measurement precision
If the menu is scrolled at a low speed to allow precise selection, then the user can accurately select the intended element, but the selection process takes extra time
Solution Approach 1:
The system calculates the user's intended selection based on the touch input trajectory and automatically scrolls to that position, eliminating the need for slow manual scrolling while maintaining precise selection accuracy.
Solution Approach 2:
The system serves itself by automatically completing the selection process without requiring the user to manually adjust the scroll position. The system interprets the user's touch input and executes the selection autonomously, reducing both time and complexity.
3Ease of operation
If a hierarchical menu structure is used to organize beverage options, then the information is well-structured and easy to navigate logically, but the user must go through multiple menu levels, increasing the number of steps required
Solution Approach 1:
The system pre-loads and displays multiple menu levels simultaneously or makes lower levels accessible from higher levels, allowing users to jump directly to specific options without sequentially navigating through each hierarchical level.
Solution Approach 2:
The system adds a new dimension to the hierarchical menu by allowing cross-level navigation or displaying multiple hierarchical levels in a expanded view, transforming the traditional single-path hierarchical navigation into a multi-dimensional navigation structure.
4Productivity
If the selected menu element is automatically confirmed, then the selection process is faster, but the user may confirm incorrect selections without realizing
Solution Approach 1:
The system provides visual feedback by highlighting the menu element that will be selected and maintains this highlight until the user releases the touch input or the selection is confirmed. This feedback ensures the user can verify the correct element is selected before automatic confirmation occurs.
Solution Approach 2:
The system prevents incorrect selections by requiring the user to complete the touch gesture (releasing the touch) before automatic confirmation occurs. This preliminary check ensures the user has finished their selection intent before the system automatically confirms, preventing accidental selections.
Data Source
AI summary
A control unit for an automatic device for preparing a beverage, which control unit is provided with a display panel and an input wherein the control unit is provided furthermore with an operating unit for displaying by the display panel a visually observable reaction to designations provided by the user, and for controlling a preparation unit of the automatic device, wherein the display panel has selection fields for mutually exclusive settings for formulations of the beverage to be prepared, wherein the control unit enables the user to select one of the settings by designation of one of the selection fields, wherein a collecting field with at least one setting field shows the chosen setting of the formulation, and wherein the non-designated selection fields remain visible and selectable.