P R O D U C E S C A N N E R Prcess Book Ken Chen, Tiffanny Soohoo, Andrew Trenton
PHASE II PHASE I Statement of Design Wicked Problem Scope So What? Initial Solution
EEE Presentation EEE Questions EEE Feedbacks Pivot
PHASE III
Interviews Market Research Benchmarking Observation Design Opportunities Archetypes Information Architecture Wire-Frame Sketches Render Visual Story Board
APPENDIX
Archetype Biography Interview Notes Bench Marking Notes
GLOBAL FOOD ISSUE Roughly one third of the food produced in the world for human consumption every year, approximately 1.3 billion tonnes, gets lost or wasted. While the developed countries like the United States, dispose away huge amount of food every year, people in the under-developed countries suffers from shortage of food constantly. Problem like this can only be solved with solutions from different disciplinary and scope. As a team of young industrial and interaction design students. We wonder how are we going to do our parts and solve parts of this global issue.
650 lb
Food loss and waste per person per year in North America
CONSUMER FOOD WASTE
We started of thinking about the problem in a more local and personal scale, more specifically about our experience of food purchase and consumptions. From our discussion of where we shop, how we usually prepare food, and other various tops regarding food, we found out there’s one thing we can all relate too: throwing away produce that is defect internally or overripe.
240 lb
Food loss and waste by consumer per person per year in North America
SCOPE
We decided to approach this wicked problem with a personal, consumerist, and local scope. We aimed to come up with a way that can reduce the produce wasted in supermarket and home setting simply because they have inner defect or being overripe.
PATENTS
For the purpose of this project, we selected two well-developed patents to help us come up with a solution for this problems we are trying to solve.
QUESTIONS
How can we reduce the food wasted simply because they are overripe or has inner defect?
Color Sensor
A portable 3D ultrasound device generated responses into a 3D ultrasound image. The present invention relates to an apparatus comprising a portable ultrasound device, comprising an emitter to emit ultrasound energy, a receiver to receive responses generated in accordance with the emitted ultrasound energy, a signal processor to convert the generated responses into a 3D ultrasound image, and a display unit to display the 3D ultrasound image.
Portable 3D Ultrasound
A color sensor for recognizing the relative color of an object. A color sensor which is able to recognize more than three kinds of colors or hues with a simple construction and with an easy adjustment of the various parts of the color sensors.
INITIAL SOLUTION
We came up with an initial solution of a hand-held scanner device for upscale supermarkets like Wegman’s or Whole Food, as well as Farmers’ Market. The device is able to scan the inside of the produce with ultrasound and detect the ripeness of the produce. Therefore, the consumer can understand fully the quality of the produce they are acquiring and have a better understand of the best period to consume the produce.
A hand-held device that utilizes ultrasound and color sensor to determine the ripeness and inner condition of the produce for farmer’s market and upscale supermarket like Wegmen’s or Whole Food
Looking for imported Mexican Avocados for dinner party next week
Pick one up and scan with the hand-held scanner
Will be ripe next week with 3% defect inside It’s already ripe with 10% defect inside
Place it in the shopping cart
PRESENTATION
We presented out ideas to a class of EEE students as a collaborative project between two classes. We give them a basic idea originate from utilizing an already developed patent, while he develop the idea more and return to us with a well-written business plan.
FEEDBACK
The report from the EEE students states that our product is technologically and financially impossible. They recommended enlarging the size of the food-scanning device to be used as industrial machinery so large volume of testing items could be placed inside. Also instead of marketing it as a consumer product, it would now be placed in the distribution center or the procurement branch.
PIVOT
Since our idea is deemed financially and technologically impossible from the EEE students, we have to make changes to make this project more feasible. From the EEE students, they suggested to change the target audience from consumer and super market to produce distributors. As well as enlarging the size of the product, and increase the speed of process greatly to make our product possible. However, we have different ideas in mind. There are several options we can pivot this project to make it feasible.
HOW?
Use simpler technology to scan produces Make compromise on the size of the product Make compromise on the information the product can provide Use the technology to scan other food that has higher economical value
SCALE + SCANNER ?
DIRECTION The next step would be integrating the food scanner with existing scale in supermarkets like Wegman’s and Whole Food. But with the decision, comes with numerous more decisions to make, more questions to answer.
QUESTIONS
How does it let the user know it is currently scanning? How will it display the information regarding the quality of the produce? What kind of emotion should the form and interaction evoke? How does it ensure the user that it is harmless to the produce?
INTERVIEWS
To move forward to the next stage of the project, we realized we need to conduct more research to understanding the perspectives from both the corporates and the consumers. We then went on and interviewed Reid Warren, a loyal Wegman’s customer, and Munira Karimi, a former Wegmen’s employee.
Reid Warren Loyal Wegman’s customer
Munira Karimi Wegman’s employee
INSIGHTS
I think there is definitely a perception of what food should look like. There are plenty of produce that go bad or unused because of a spec but it’s probably fine to use.
Sometimes I wish I did not feel overwhelmed. I did stand in the cheese aisle for 20 minutes. A lot of the times they have descriptions on how to prepare them. Despite the fact I have some cooking knowledge
The placements of the scales are weird, such as the numbers on the scale.
Flooring itself acts as a traffic control. When you push carts on tile it makes a loud noise so out of social manners, customers will slow down their carts and end up spending more time in their sections than without tiled floors.
Wegman’s even has the aisles split in two for slowed traffic flow and forced time in the middle. Slower car traffic means a steady flow at the registers versus long lines with frustrate customers.
They even offer grocery daycare and family events on weekend mornings. I’ve taken a child I was babysitting to Wegman’s for a free easy and healthy cooking lesson for kids, which was wonderful
From Reid, we found out that consumers often feel anxious in the environment like Wegmans’ because it is often crowded with numerous amount of merchandise. He also admits that he sometimes has to throw away over-ripe produce because he’s not familiar with them yet he constantly want to try new things. From Munira, we found out the experience of Wegman’s is more than we think. They purposefully create a homey and friendly environment with layout and staff. Moreover, they utilize environmental elements to control slow down the foot traffic to encourage consumers to purchase more.
PRINCIPLES
Our product should not create extra unnecessary stress for the consumers. Our product should improve the current interface of the scale. Our product should improve the form of current scale.
MARKET RESEARCH We looked at the related products that is already on the market including, 3D scanner, food scanner and scales. We then evaluate their advantages and disadvantages in terms of design to have a better understanding what can we improve and where should we place our product in the design.
Detecting nutrition content of the food. Portable and hand-held Integration with other devices. Cloud Computing
Failed to provoke desired emotion that correspond to their functions. Designed to be portable but the form is bulky. Long scanning time
FIELD RESEARCH
We visited chain super markets such as Wegman’s, Top’s and Price Chopper to observe the behavior of the shoppers more specifically about their interaction with the scale. We also looked at the different kinds of scale in different locations, analyzing their interface and forms.
Categorize produce by organic and non-organic Physical number pad Use LCD screen to avoid screen glare. Always display the weight
SHOPPERS
From our observation, shoppers rarely has any trouble using the scale, probably because they frequent the supermarkets but there are still some interesting subtle interactions we found. One shopper had to use one hand to hold the screen at a different angle to avoid glare while using the other hand to input the information. One shopper attempt to scan the bar-code on an apple by touching the scanner with it, disregarding the sign that says “holding the produce 12-14” away to scan” One shopper had to walk back to where he got the mango from because he there’s no bar-code and he forgot the PLU numbers
Search function is confusing No distinction between instruction and functional button Bad form Integration of the printer and cartridge Only home button, has to start over every time.
BENCHMARKING
We research about different technologies that are related to our products such as SCiO, gas chromatography device and newly developed methods, and evaluate their pros and cons in terms of technology and business to have a better understanding how we can utilize the patent we have chosen and where should we place out products in the market.
SCiO
“SCiO includes a light source that illuminates the sample and an optical sensor called a spectrometer that collects the light reflected from the sample. The spectrometer breaks down the light to its spectrum, which includes all the information required to detect the result of this interaction between the illuminated light and the molecules in the sample.” This device is different because it is taking a large machine and making it into a small hand-held device”
Hand-held, easily portable. Identification of any material. Less expensive that others Cloud-computing Educational, learning tool
Requires smart phone to operate Requires Internet to operate Has to hold for several minutes
Gas Chromatography Produce distributors employ monitors that use gas chromatography or mass spectroscopy, which can separate gases and analyze their composition. These systems cost around $1,200 each
Extremely accurate
Ethylene Level Sensor
MIT has developed a low cost sensor which could be used to detect ethylene levels of fruit to determine its ripeness. They theorize a sensor like this would cost as little as 25 cents for a box of produce.
Accurate The cheapest Fast
Currently in development Only for ripeness
Very expensive Not portable, bulky Industrial use only Only suitable for certain compound Needs specific knowledge to operate
PATENT AND TECHNOLOGY
Since our pivot, we have been looking for technologies that is not necessary as compact, but is much lower manufacturing cost. We knew we would be integrate the technology into the scales that are already exist in common super markets, but we weren’t sure what technology can make our project feasible. We finally found out by using infrared sensor we can easily accomplish our goal
INFRARED SENSOR
IR Spectroscopy is a method where a specific wavelength of light is directed at a sample. The light refracts from the sample to a receiver whereby the chemical makeup is determined
BEFORE SCHOOL
Elyse Cooper
is a 32 year old stay at home Mother who lives in DC with her husband and three kids. Elyse is very smart and worked as a political journalist for a few years before she decided to be a stay at home Mother. She has her own blog and writes about food, being healthy and her family life. She is very into the health phase and gives her kids FDA approved organic food. She is very involved in her kids lives by going to Mommy and Me classes and is also the PTO leader of her children’s school.
She drops her toddlers off at elementary school, then heads to Wegmans with her infant son to do her weekly shopping.
DURING
PARKING LOT She finds a parking spot that is a bit far but she’s content with that. She then found a cart in the parking lot. She makes sure she cleans the cart thoroughly with Clorox wipe before putting her son in there.
WEGMAN’S
AFTER
PRODUCES
She pushes the cart toward the entrance of Wegman’s while being extremely wary about the traffic in the parking lot.
TOY AISLE She heads toward the toy aisle in order to find something to comfort her son.
CHECK-OUT After she gets her son a toy giraffe to comfort him, she continues to finish her shopping. She receives compliment on how well her son behaves while she’s checking out.
1 2
3
5 4
SHOPPING LIST 1 She pulls out her phone to look at the shopping list she has created.
ORGANIC
CRYING
SELECTING
SCANNER
2 Since she only eats organic produce, naturally she heads straight to the organic section near the back.
3 Her son starts crying due to the vibration and noise from the cart, and the unfamiliar environment.
4 She doesn’t want to embarrass herself in public so she quickly grabs three yellow organic onions without closely inspecting them.
5 She has trouble scanning the bar code on the onion because she is holding her son in one arm. She reluctantly skips the scanning function so she can receive the sticker faster.
BEFORE WORK
Nick White
Nick White is a 24 yearold who recently graduated from Tuft University and works as a technical staff at a pharmaceutical company in Cambridge. He lives with three other roommates in Somerville. He ran cross-country throughout high school and college, and he is currently training for Boston Marathon in 2016. However, he is extremely impatient and would avoid that by any means. He goes to gym at 5:30 in the morning so he doesn’t have to wait for the machines. He is a pescetarian but he doesn’t eat octopus because he thinks they are highly intelligent.
He gets out of work around 5 on a Wednesday. He heads back home to work on his vintage bicycle before going to Wegman’s at 9 to avoid the crowd.
DURING SUBWAY
He steps outside and realizes it’s raining, so he decides to take the T instead of riding his bike. Luckily the T is not as crowded as he imagines.
WEGMAN’S
AFTER
PRODUCES
OTHERS
He arrives at Wegman’s after a short 5-minute walk from Harvard Square Station. However, it’s fairly crowded for some reason.
Leaves the produce section and head to the other side of the Wegman’s to grab beers and other things on his list.
CHECK-OUT Feels relieved to finally finish the shopping and decided to walk home instead of taking the T
1 4 2
5
3
SHOPPING LIST 1 He pulls out his Field Note Book with his shopping list written on it.
SELECTING
WAITING
SELECTING
SCALE
2 Picks up some green beans and put them in a bag and writes down the PLU number on his notebook.
3 Gets more and more anxious as he waits in line for the scanner. He then decides to pick up all the produce on his list before use the scanner so he does not have to wait multiple times.
4 Looks around the produce section and plan the most efficiently route to pick up all the produce he needs and writes down all the numbers on the notebook.
5 Looks around to find the scale with the least amount people then heads there. He only uses the scanning function for the product he is not familiar with.
BEFORE STORE
Ron Schneider
Ron is a 50-year-old who works as a manager in his family construction company. He lives with his wife and three daughters . He is very fond of woodworking yet does not trust new technology. He wears a fit-bit simply because his wife wants him to be more conscious about his health. He still uses a flipphone and drives a 1974 Ford F-150. He loves to go hunting on the weekend and consume his own hunt. He is proud of his self-sufficient lifestyle, and ridicule Democrat’s socialist program. He doesn’t believe in organic food and other health craze, thinking they are just corporates’ tricks to get people to buy more products.
PARKING LOT
He is asked to get some grocery from his wife since she is busy. He tries to do his shopping at the nearby corner store he usually frequents but they don’t have anything on the list. He then decided to go to Wegman’s per his wife’s request.
He can only find parking spots far away from the entrance since it’s crowded and his truck is large.
DURING WEGMAN’S
PRODUCES
Walks in and feels instantly overwhelmed by the numerous amount of people there.
LEAVING He leaves Wegman’s without putting his cart back. He slams his car door as he drives away, swearing never to come back to this place ever again.
2
3
4 5
1 SHOPPING LIST 1 Walks toward a less crowded area to calm down a bit then pulls out the shopping list from his wife
SEARCH
SCALE
2 He starts looking for the first thing on the list: endive. He spends 30 minutes looking for it since he doesn’t like asking for help.
3 He finally finds it and grabs 10 of them since he does not know how much his wife wants. He then assume he should use the scale like everyone else because it seems necessary.
PLU 4 He finds the one with no lines and put endives on it. He didn’t realize the machine requires him to input codes so he goes back and write down the code on his list.
MISSING 5 When he is back at the scale, ready to input the code, the endives he placed on the scale is gone. He is extremely frustrated and angry.
INFORMATION ARCHITECTURE
We utilized the experience map to extract necessary information we imagined the users would need. With different archetypes who might not necessarily utilize the product to its full potential. We have taken into consideration of their irrational action and thought process to make the product more well-rounded.
SKIP
Through our experience map, we found out grocery shopping can be a stressful experience for some. While they are trying to finish their shopping as soon as possible, the extra 10 seconds of scanning might make them even more anxious and provide them with information that they don’t necessary need. So we decided to offer them the option to skip the scanning process
USABILITY TESTING
After establishing the information architecture, we created a rough paper prototype to test in order to understand if the information provided is useful for the user and the wire-frame is functional. We also want to understand the pain and gain from the information and the interface.
1st ROUND TESTING
At the start, the user was confused about how to start the process, but the process went smoothly afterward after we provided her with an object to act as a produce. During the scanning, the user decided to skip it because there is no sufficient information regarding the purpose of scanning. The user also suggested that the ripeness scale should be a single-color gradient instead of from green to red to avoid confusion and connection to any produce.
2nd ROUND TESTING
The user is already familiar with the interface since she frequents Wegman’s weekly. She has no issue going through the search function to find the produce, but she pointed out a typo in the interface. She also stated that the scanning function could be very helpful for her when she is purchasing produces that she is not familiar with to gauge a better understanding of when to consume the produce.
FINAL ROUND TESTING
For the last round of testing, the user went smoothly through the process without any issues. However, he pointed out the information regarding what the scanning process is for should be more prominent since the process of weighing produce is sometimes a mindless task.
WIRE-FRAME
We designed this interface to have a logical flow, which is easy for the user to navigate. This is achieved through functions on the interface which gives the user a linear directionality for each path. The addition of back and home buttons prevent the user from being confused, when they click an unwanted choice.
PATHS
SCAN BAR-CODE ENTER PLU#
STYLE GUIDE
For the color scheme we decided to utilize the color green to match the colors of vegetables and fruits. For typeface we decided to use thicker and larger font like Futura to accommodate the people with disabilities We utilize the gray-scale as the ripeness scale to avoid confusion and connection with specific produce.
Typefaces
Futura Condensed Medium ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz 1234567890!@#$%^&*() Futura Medium ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ abcdefghijklmnoprstuvwxyz 1234567890!@#$%^&*() Ripeness Scale
COlor Palette
CMYK 80/2/97/0 RGB 25/174/78
70/2/97/0 82/180/75
60/2/97/0 115/187/71
CMYK 0/0/0/90 RGB 65/64/66
0/0/0/76 97/98/100
0/0/0/7 237/237/238
Icons Back Button
Futura Medium Pt.11
Home Button
SKETCHES
We explore possibilities to integrate the sensor, sticker roll, and the interface into the scale. One of the biggest challenge we faced was the placement of the sticker roll. We had a hard time figuring out its placement within the form. Moreover, we aim to create a form that seems advance yet not intimidating for the users.
SOLUTION
For our sensor to work, the sensor must physically touch the scanned object, therefore we create a caved in top surface, so no matter where the user situate the produce, it will automatically roll to the center, where the sensor situates under. We also placed the roll in the back and created an over-all streamlined form with no sharp edges, to visually integrate the sticker roll, create a futuristic yet friendly forms.
RENDER
Screen Number Pad
Label exit
Label roll
Caved surface
STORY BOARD
A women enters Wegman’s and heads to the produce aisle for an avocado. She needs an avocado for a party next week and is buying it in advance. She checks out the avocados but is not sure what is ripe and what isn’t. She wants an unripe one because she wants it to be ripe for her party. She then goes to the scanner and sees that it checks the ripeness. She goes through the steps and she sees that her avocado is not ripe yet so she buys it because she knows it’ll be good next week
APPENDIX I ARCHETYPE BIOGRAPHY Elyse Cooper
32 year old Grew up in South Carolina, but now lives in DC - well a suburb of DC Got a bachelor’s degree from Georgetown in Political Science and Journalism and worked as a political journalist in Washington DC for a few years before she got married and had kids Once she had kids, she gave up her career and became a stay at home Mom. Married to Jake Cooper, a lawyer, and has 3 kids (Sara 8, Nicole 6 and Ben 1) Her main focus is on her kids Sara is in 3rd grade and Nicole is in 1st Reads Mom blogs and also uses pinterest / technology for new ideas Has her own Mommy Blog Very into the “Health” phase and wants to give her family the best foods. She wants to give organic food to her kids. Since she worked in government a bit, she understands the education/ knowledge of FDA approved stuff Buys very little processed foods. Sticks to mainly produce Her younger Son Ben has an allergy to Nuts, she is very careful what she cooks Jake Cooper makes a decent amount of money so she has money to spend on the best groceries Often does not have much time because she is always taking her kids to different things and wants to keep them occupied. They often get bored at the grocery store. Sara and Nicole are both in girl scouts, take dance lessons. Sara is also in art classes Nicole is in piano Elyse has a lot of play-dates with other parents and those other parents are in the “health” phase too She does not give her kids soda or any candy Elyse friends are other Mothers with young kids She participates in Mommy and Me classes with Ben Often Cleans and cooks while her kids are at school. Very organized and neat. Likes to Prepared for the worst Head PTO leader for her daughter’s elementary school Her husband often plays golf with his fraternity brothers from college. He went to William and Mary. Then to Georgetown law School (How he and Elyse met) Tries not to give her kids many technology toys or watch TV Encourages physical activity and grades Favorite TV show: Anything on HGTV or FOOD Channel Favorite Book: Doesn’t read much, only blogs/ Favorite food: FDA Approved Organic Vegetables and Fruits (rather get them from farmers markets or farms, but will go to wegmans cause it’s closer) Favorite vegetable: EVERYTHING Favorite fruit: EVERYTHING Very close to her family, especially her Mother and her husband’s Mother. Also her sister who has 4 young kids of her own. Although her husband has a good amount of money, she is still frugal because she is saving for her kids college education.
Nick White
25 year old Grew up in Chicago Thinks St. Patrick’s day parade in Boston is nothing compares to the one in Chicago Graduated from Tuft in 2014 Resides in Somerville, and bikes to work everyday, unless the weather is bad outside, then he would take the T. Lives with two roommates in a three-bedroom apartment in Somerville, who he befriend in college. Steve, who now works at New Balance, and John, who works at John Hancock Insurance. Owns a 2007 Jeep Wrangler with black exterior, black interior and black soft top. Currently works at a Millennium Pharmaceuticals as a technical staff Majored in Bioengineering Ran cross country in high school, and was in running club throughout college. Participated in several marathon. Best time 2:44:39. Has close-knit group of friends Has one sister who’s studying communication in Tulane Fairly close to his parents, he calls them twice a week. Dad is a professor in SAIC teaching illustration, and mom works in a local bank as a manager Nick exercises 5 times a week, both cardio and resistance training at the Boston Sport Club in Davis Square. He wakes up every morning around 5:30 to go to the gym before work. After work he would often work on his bike while having a beer or occasionally gets high with his roommates. Currently training for Boston Marathon 2016. Vegetarian who also eats fish, but not octopus since he believes octopus is highly intelligent. Cook meals in bulk every Wednesday night. Loves banana, but he hates when it is too squishy, Favorite dish: Risotto Favorite vegetable: Zucchini Favorite fruit: Mango Hates bugs especially cockroaches because he accidentally step on one barefoot when he was little. Spent several summer working at a bike shop in Chicago. Restore vintage bike during his free time, and he currently owns 3 bikes. Dream job is to work at MIT Media Lab or Boston Dynamic Hates waiting, and doing nothing. There’s are several time he just decided to walk to places because he doesn’t want to wait for the T. Drives to Wegman’s every Wednesday afternoon to get the freshest product when it’s the least busiest. Favorite TV show: The Office Favorite Book: The Great Gatsby
Ron
Iffy about new technology, such as having something scan his food Does not believe in the whole “health” craze Wears FitBit just because his wife bought him one Wealthier, hard working guy Owns flip phone because smart-phone are too confusing Has friends post things to craigslist because he doesn’t know how Gets anxiety when shopping Graduated from University of Kansas business degree Lives in Dodge City Kansas Sells concrete to contractors (Business man) Family Business but still has to work under his father who won’t give him more responsibility yet. Wears jeans, timberland boots, button down shirt, sport coat Drives Ford F-150 King Ranch edition Hunting on the weekends Not politically correct Favorite TV show: NCIS Favorite Book: Huck Finn Favorite Artist: ... Favorite Rapper: I don’t eat candy Favorite Band: Fleetwood Mac Favorite food: meat Favorite vegetable: corn Favorite fruit: Raspberry Grows raspberries, tomatoes, in back yard Has three daughters (takes them hunting on weekends) Goes to the bar on Friday night to hang with his friends (they just sit and drink whiskey at their favorite bar where they are the only customers) Dream Job: running the family business as the boss, tired of taking orders from father. Enjoys woodworking and all the furniture and cabinetry in his house he made himself
APPENDIX II Interview Notes Reid Warren – Wegman’s Customer
Typically I go to Wegman’s around every week and I spend about 45 minutes to an hour. I’ll go to Tops and Trader Joe’s if convenience is a factor. I feel like there is a lot of selection and variety and especially because the way the grocery stores are at home. Wegman’s feels the most similar to that. I like that I will always be able to find what I want, and explore new possibilities of food because of the amount of food they have. I will go for a different kind of cheese or a new kind of bread or something. I know if I go to the whole foods, they will never have what I am looking for cause I don’t know what I am looking for until I go. While, trader Joe’s has a set selections. Most consistently is the produce, so tomatoes spinach, onions and garlic, herbs. Pizza dough. I get eggs and all different kinds of choose and bread. The produce seems as good. It’s not more or less expensive. Just giving the stuff, there giving amount of it. A lot of the same vegetables. I can find different. I have selection. Sometimes I wish I did not feel overwhelmed. I did stand in the cheese aisle for 20 minutes. A lot of the times they have descriptions on how to prepare them. Despite the fact I have some cooking knowledge, it’s easier for me to visual the end product when I talk to someone. I want the face to face interaction. The scales at Wegman’s: I like that my produce will come out less to the price per pound. I like that I can get as much. The placements of the scales are weird, such as the numbers on the scale. There is usually a good amount of them and all around the store look up the same items. I can do it in the bulk candy section. I like that I can do it at the self check out or the clerk can do it for me. I just have to be honest about what I am getting. My knowledge of fresh produce. I think I know how to tell if stuff is fresh because I stick to the firmness rule and the color. I often feel the produce or give it a smell. They work with the same firmness test. I spend a lot of time in the produce section, I’ll make different rounds of it. The self serve where you have all the choice in the world. I spent a ton of time. Product: I would use it if there is some sort of discoloration. Even if I get stuff that is overripe, I would eat it quicker. I think it could be helpful where the firmness test wouldn’t be true or the color seems off but it doesn’t seem good to eat. I think there is definitely a perception of what food should look like. There
are plenty of produce that go bad or unused because of a spec
Munira Karimi- Work at Wegman’s
What was your personal experience like working at Wegmans? -Positive and Negatives? Who are the typical Customers that shop at Wegmans and how would you describe them? (In Details) -What they wore? -How they acted? -Family Members / Solo Shopper? How was your relationship with Customers? -Do you have any personal experiences with Customers? -Good / bad stories or memories that stuck out? – A really nice or maybe rude customer? Why do you believe that Customers go to Wegman’s instead of to other grocery stores and explain? What was your personal experience like working at Wegman’s Positive: The staff was super friendly. Our training was paid. They would have fun things going on during the holidays like we could wear Santa hats or cams themed vests and sweaters. A Santa would come around and give us bells or candy during the weekends to boost morale. They have clearance stuff in the way back where storage is and we can buy those like discontinued items at a huge discount. The schedules were really flexible and allowed me to still do well in school. They have a scholarship program that my friend applied for and got. The break room was pretty nice too. Negative: I mean it was a cashiers job so I would get rude customers or my hands would freeze from the huge turkeys. There’s an Items Per Minute challenge every week which is encouraging but discouraging at the same time because it would show how fast you fulfilled grocery scanned orders and post it for everyone. It sucked being the new guy because speed is everything. There wasn’t anything really bad about working there, I just didn’t love being a cashier. Since i was younger, I didn’t feel entitled to ask for a break and they weren’t they best about keeping track with that kind of thing. Who are the typical Customers that shop at Wegman’s and how would you describe them? (In Details) What they wore? So since the location was literally right behind my High school, a 10 minute walk down a grassy hill next to Home Depot, a ton of students would hang out there. It’s also in a more economically well off neighborhood but so is the majority of the restaurants. The plazas and mall etc are in a cluster maybe a 6 minute drive from my house. But here (I’m in a good Econ class and did a supermarket analysis) the middle class and higher shop there. Even though the prices are competitive with the free club card, it’s out of people’s way to get there since there isn’t proper transportation to and from here in Syracuse and even at my town. You’re basically expected to own a car if you want to shop at this superstore. But they were dressed decently. Shirt and tie, dresses. White collar job attire. Very rarely would you see someone of low economic status shop there except for late night drivers and night shift people coming in for groceries at like 3:30am. Maybe a couple times a day, there’s would be a WIC which is basically a grocery check and we would
make sure that acceptable items were rung up and not the “junk” How they acted? Super friendly most of the time. People were always polite when it wasn’t the crazy holiday season. Since my town was small, we would often see people we knew etc. Well mannered. Low amounts of minorities shopped there and when they did, you could tell by their attire that they were affluent. Wegman’s is definitely associated with nicer and more expensive notions. Not going to lie: Wegman’s is a pretty social place for being a supermarket. The cafe area is typically filled with people conversing over coffee or lunch and you can tell they’re enjoying the Wegman’s atmosphere. Even when low income families came in, they were far more patient and friendly compared to what I’ve seen At tops or Walmart Family Members / Solo Shopper? Solo shoppers during the weekdays and family style shopping on the weekends. During the summers there are more families with school out. Typically moms or couples that come in. Dads come in after the 9-5 for dinner supplies. How was your relationship with Customers? Do you have any personal experiences with Customers? Upon realizing I was applying to colleges or about to graduate high school, they became a lot more patient. I had a really rude customer once who assumed I was worming there for life and not for extra cash. She was extremely rude until it dawned on her that I was in high school. I think I may have had my keys with a school key chain next to the register or a cardigan with my school mascot on it. I don’t know but her attitude towards me flip flopped once she realized I was a student. It’s always awkward working there as a minority too -- well anywhere -- because in Wednesday’s when they offered the senior citizen discount, and I mean they weren’t racist, but they definitely treated you differently. Not in a bad way intentionally either. One time I had my register next to a guy around my age who was also ran but may have been of South American decent -- both of us Americanized and first gen. But customers would talk to us about a show on MTV and say how we look like them or that we would make a cute couple. My other friends didn’t really get that ever. Plus my name tag would obviously say my name so they would ask how to pronounce it and say it was pretty etc. I’ve definitely been asked out by older men that I check out (lol punny) but I was in High school and they were mid 20’s. A really memorable one was during the holidays: an elderly couple came in my line and then gave me an envelope before taking the receipt. I opened it immediately because I was confused and it was two $50 bills with a note wishing me the best with my studies and the holiday season. I wasn’t going to keep it because we aren’t permitted, and my manager happened to notice. She ran to stop the elderly couple before they left to return the envelope. THEY THREW A FIT. It was crazy. I’ve experienced the ames thing at the dome but they thought this was a perfect gesture. They were very unhappy when the manager explained that employees can’t accept these. It wasn’t the first or last gift, monetary or otherwise, so they weren’t the only ones unhappy with the unfairness of the rule. I didn’t mind too much. The job was more of a mental break from family and school pressures where I mindlessly scanned items and improved my small talk skills
-Good / bad stories or memories that stuck out? – A really nice or maybe rude customer? Why do you believe that Customers go to Wegman’s instead of to other grocery stores and explain? The design honestly. It doesn’t feel like a warehouse like Sam’s club and Walmart. It’s like a small town in itself. There are so many additions too compared to a corner store or mom and pop store: the flower arrangements, cafe, sub shop, other prepared foods, deli, fresh seafood, fine cheeses, catering options, free samples, knowledge based trainings about the products they’re having you sample, employees are very knowledgeable in their respective departments, the long and full aisle of international foods, the home goods section, the array of options for each product like hummus or Greek yogurt, gluten free, kosher, sometimes halal options. Even the beer section is well labeled. The prices, again, are competitive contrary to popular belief. I’ve gone to price chopper and tops for that analysis and only when things are on sale are they SLIGHTLY cheaper than Wegman’s. But the original price of the product is oftentimes more expensive Than Wegman’s baseline price. Plus there’s that “Menu” that gets mailed out with recipes and coupons. They even offer grocery daycare and family events on weekend mornings. I’ve taken a child I was babysitting to Wegman’s for a free easy and healthy cooking lesson for kids, which was wonderful. It’s definitely more of an inviting design and layout with the warm colors and soft lighting too. It’s a one stop shop User experience of wegman’s: So first when you walk in, most entryways will be to the produce section. You feel like you’re walking into a fresh farm stand like scenery. There’s even farm imagery around and signs for local this and that. The cafe and prepared food is also in the front, catching those who stupidly come to the grocery store tired or hungry, which is common obviously. Then the flooring itself acts as a traffic control. When you push carts on tile it makes a loud noise so out of social manners, customers will slow down their carts and end up spending more time in their sections than without tiled floors. The perimeter has all of the staples and the middle is extra stuff you don’t really need. The ends of aisles that you see as you walk by are typically impulse buys or popular brands that are on “sale” so you might see that and buy it, or realize that there’s a different option of that product so you get sucked into the maze of the middle. Wegman’s even has the aisles split in two for slowed traffic flow and forced time in the middle. Slower car traffic means a steady flow at the registers versus long lines with frustrate customers. There’s also the fact that the products that aren’t worth the price and are brand name are right at eye level. Kids gummies and cereal are at their height, the products with good per unit pricing are located lower to the ground right before the bulk versions and the really nice and usually expensive options are top shelf -- just like liquor. The free samples also slow down customers and aid with impulse buys, passing out and explains great recipes with those products that get your thoughts about cooking rolling. Then you end up buying more that you expected and needed.
APPENDIX III Benchmarking Notes https://www.consumerphysics.com/myscio/order Cost: $249 How it works: SCiO includes a light source that illuminates the sample and an optical sensor called a spectrometer that collects the light reflected from the sample. The spectrometer breaks down the light to its spectrum, which includes all the information required to detect the result of this interaction between the illuminated light and the molecules in the sample. Spectrometers used for near-IR spectroscopy are normally found in scientific laboratories and are very big and expensive. Designed for consumers, SCiO leverages a tiny spectrometer, designed from the ground up to be mass-produced at low cost. Consumer Physics achieved this advancement by reinventing the spectrometer around low-cost optics and advanced signal processing algorithms. SCiO’s typical scan cycle is approximately 10 seconds: 2 seconds to aim, 2 seconds to scan, 1 second for analysis, and another 4-5 seconds for transmitting the spectrum and getting back the results on a 3G Internet connection. Transmitting and receiving times may vary depending on your smart-phone data connection. Sensor distance from thing being measured is 5-15mm Requirements: I Phone 4S, 5, 5C, 5S ( iOS7 or later ) Android based phones ( Android 4.3 or later) Summary: Too expensive for families who are trying to save money, and it also requires you to have a smart-phone. Where if you cannot afford a smart-phone, or if you don’t believe in having one, or you are old and don’t want to learn how to use it then you won’t be getting this device. Not on market http://news.mit.edu/2012/fruit-spoilage-sensor-0430 No one likes spoiled fruit, especially the stores that have to eat the cost of the wasted food. Catching when fruit is about to go bad and selling it before it turns would be ideal, and a new sensor from MIT will help shopkeepers do just that and save the roughly 10% of fruits and veggies that go bad on store shelves every year. Best of all, it could potentially be done with cheap electronics and almost no energy use. According to MIT News, the sensors could “detect tiny amounts of ethylene, a gas that promotes ripening in plants. [MIT chemistry professor Timothy] Swager envisions the inexpensive sensors attached to cardboard boxes of produce and scanned with a handheld device that would reveal the contents’ ripeness. That way, grocers would know when to put certain items on sale to move them before they get too ripe.” Right now, equipment used in warehouses to detect amounts of ethylene are very expensive, but Swager says that the MIT re-
search team built a small sensor using carbon nanotubes, copper and polystyrene, which can detect levels of ethylene as low as 0.5 parts per million. While the ingredients for the sensors are not exactly earth-friendly, if they last awhile and can spare food from being wasted, they just might be worth it. A life-cycle analysis of what it takes to build (and recycle?) The sensors compared to the resources they are able to save would be very interesting. Also, they’d be affordable -- a sensor for a box of produce could be as cheap as $0.25, and an RF-ID chip that could communicated with a hand-held device to display ethylene levels would add just $0.75 more. Gas Chromatography and Mass Spectroscopy http://www.agilent.com/en-us/products/gas-chromatography/ gc-systems Cost: Very expensive Gas chromatography systems (also known as GC systems, and gas chromatography), use either packed or capillary columns to separate mixtures into individual components that can then be measured. GC in combination with mass spectrometry (MS) further enhances selectivity and compound identification. Improvements in today’s GC systems reflect the constant advances seen in the technique’s areas of application, including environmental testing, forensics, food safety, and biodiesel analysis.
http://news.mit.edu/2012/fruit-spoilage-sensor-0430 Fruit distributors try to slow this process by keeping ethylene levels very low in their warehouses. Such warehouses employ monitors that use gas chromatography or mass spectroscopy, which can separate gases and analyze their composition. Those systems cost around $1,200 each. http://www.sinclair-intl.com/images/info_page/sinclair_iq_articles/ innovations_in_food_tech.pdf tests food by firmness sensing device, used for high volume avocado testing very expensive.
Scale used in Wegman’s http://us.mt.com/us/en/home/products/retail-weighing-scales/ counter_scales/Impact_Line.html