The Ferris Twheel
The Ferris Twheel's (Tea wheel) purpose is to provide its users with a unique way of choosing their beverage. This process is individualistic and allows the user to explore all options before choosing the final drink. In most cases, coffee and tea are usually pushed in the back of a cabinet and there is no good way to view all the options before picking. Choosing the drink can be done by using the primary function of the wheel which is a spinning motion. This allows the user to again, see all the options before choosing. The wheel's fabrication methods included laser cutting, woodworking, and vinyl cutting. The hanging boxes were made from laser cut plywood. The frame was made from different variations of wood in the wood shop. The sticker (on the other side of the project) was made from the vinyl cut machine. The boxes are hanging by repurposed metal hangers to add a recycled element to the project.
User Testing Process: The process that I decided to implement and follow during the user testing section of my project was a list of three questions/commands. I chose to ask my three roommates (all three are females age 21) to be my users because they will be using the project first-hand everyday. I asked the first command "Please rotate the wheel". The second was "Find your desired beverage". Finally I asked "How would you operate this wheel to surprise yourself with the outcome?"
Results:
Roommate 1: (Ashlyn)
1. She rotated the wheel using her left hand on the right wheel
2. She rotated the wheel as she did before, but cycled through all of the options before choosing her desired beverage
3. She closed her eyes and rotated the wheel roughly half of a turn
Roommate 2: (Rhaena)
1. She rotated the wheel using her right hand on the right wheel
2. She rotated the wheel less than a full turn and chose her desired beverage. She already knew what she wanted
3. She closed her eyes and spun the wheel. She realized it is more stiff than she thought, so she then consistenly rotated rhe wheel until she felt like she had made a full rotation
Roommate 3: (Kamy)
1. She rotated the wheel by pulling down on the dowel rods
2. She rotated the wheel by turning the wheel this time (on the right wheel) and cycled the wheel two full rotations before choosing a beverage
3. She asked me to choose for her
