Month: November 2020

Hello everyone! I hope you all are having a wonderful week.

My product journey has been somewhat of a roller-coaster ride. Starting with a smart bag pack idea to a simple chai maker and now a proper chai making machine; It has definitely evolved into a different product to what I had initially thought of. My product journey has been an incredible learning experience and I think after having another customer survey experience and getting more input, I have finally been able to create an attractive product.

I started off with an idea to create a simple chai making machine but the more I got the feedback from my customer and did my own evaluation, I realized I need to create a product that would give you more authentic chai drinking experience rather than another machine that uses flavor pods and is just a make-do option. After my last design i.e. V2 of my product, I have decided to go back to using open chai leaves than pods. The design screenshot is below:

 

 

On the right hand side is my final product of how it would look. The left hand side is the cross section of how the machine would actually work and give you the experience of authentic chai.

The user will put chai leaves inside the top container. The holder on the left is for water, which is connected to the center box through a pipe and the holder on the right is for milk. In the center is a screen through which users can choose the options for number of cups, if they need milk or not, do they want chai or just hot water.

An example of how it works: Let’s say a user wants one cup of chai. They would choose the option of chai from the screen and then press 1 cup. As soon as they press 1 cup, it will ask you what strength chai do you want i.e. light, medium or strong. The user will have to choose the strength using the blue dial and then just press the orange button. (This is assuming the chai leaves are already filled in the top container).

When they press the orange button, the process starts. Firstly, the water will enter the center box through the pipe. Now the algorithm of the machine will be set so that 1 cup of chai will required 8oz water. 8oz water will flow into the box and the heating process will start. As soon as the water reaches the boiling temperature, the red light inside will light up and the chai from the top will enter into the boiling water.

Temperature sensor circuit: https://www.tinkercad.com/things/j12UZisrTUP-copy-of-chai-completion-temperature-indicator/editel?sharecode=bJ1_XQPvwUs7tsgOney8ML5dH9Nyn_RXgI6cmyWVTPA

For the amount of chai, the system will be set. For 1 cup of chai on light strength, 1 tablespoon chai will enter the boiling water and cook for 4 minutes. For 1 cup on medium strength, 1.5 tablespoon of chai will enter the boiling water and cook for 7 minutes and for 1 cup cup on strong, 2 tablespoon chai will enter the boiling water and cook for 10 minutes.

Strength dial and cooking time sensor: https://www.tinkercad.com/things/4dmCMytf0OM-chai-completion-temperature-indicator/editel?sharecode=f5sO5ugDAFEdbYDvG_TiLWw64y2g0UrNDX2fHcThVHw

When the chai is ready, the green light will lit and the chai will pour through the blue nozzle. There is a mesh plate above the blue nozzle. All the chai leaves will accumulate on the plate which is detachable. The user can take out the mesh later to dispose the chai leaves.

Water level indicator: https://www.tinkercad.com/things/10XNDFZ0m11-chai-water-level-indicator/editel?sharecode=qhgymhDcFrKgMAudBTn_nnf47Llw-UMjrMi1QJncI3Y

This new and refined model is exactly the way most authentic chai’s are made. This will continue to use the open tea leaves as opposed to the pod idea I previously tried to incorporate. The advantage with open chai leaves is that every user prefers different brands just like a coffee drinker. It is also cost affective because you can make a lot of chai if you purchase a pack of chai leaves rather than buying pods all the time.

I think this idea is good as it brings a more authentic chai taste, it is not time or concentration intensive and everyone can have chai just the way its supposed to be!

Please leave your feedback! You know it is always valuable. Stay safe!

Hello everyone! Hope everyone is staying safe and healthy.

This last week was a little difficult for me to decide on how to move forward with my design and prototype. I decided to partner with Priscila Hudgens from our class as she also worked on something similar. We decided to partner up going forward so we can better refine the product and make it more attractive for our customer.

We decided to stick with chai making machine but obviously with changes to the previous model. We have updated the design by making a proper machine rather than a device. The main reason was based on the customer feedback I received in my previous interaction. One of the pain points I identified with the customer was time management and attention required to make the chai and also the disposing of the tea leaves after the process is completed.

I decided to update the model and make something that would be better suited for people who make chai regularly saving them time and especially very useful for people who do not know how to make chai and would be interested in a product like this.

 

Just to give an idea of the machine, there is a container at the top for adding tea leave pods, there is a blue dial that controls the strength of the tea i.e. light, medium or strong. There are two containers on either side; one is for water and the other is for milk. The orange button is a startup button and with the led lights indicating the process.

The way this machine would work is there is a an opening at the top. The tea leaves would be sold separately or in packs in different flavors as many users are particular about their flavors. The flavors for example would be, Cardamom, Masala, Cinnamon and etc. The tea pods can be seen in the second picture. They would just simply open by tearing the top part and inserted into the top container. (These pods are made up of recyclable material and can be recycled after the process is completed).

Once the pod is inserted, the user will have several options to choose from on the LCD screen. The user will have to choose if they want chai or just hot water from the machine. When they press chai, an option to select how much milk they want will appear. Once they select that, they will have to set the dial according to the strength they prefer and just press the initiation button to start brewing process.

It is a simple process but will give the users the flavor of actual tea leaves, it will save them time as they do not need to stand and wait for the water to boil and then watch while the chai is brewing and the pods are recyclable, saving the environment.

For the dial, I created an electronic circuit. When the dial is at light strength, the blue light will turn on indicating the process has started. The machine would run for 4 minutes and then the chai would come out with the LED turning green. Similarly for medium strength, the machine would run for 7 minutes and for the strong strength, the machine would run for 10 minutes but the user will have to insert 2 pods in the container instead of just one.

The potentiometer serves as the dial. Big shout to Will who helped through the coding for this as I was having trouble incorporating the potentiometer to the correct use.

 

 

I have another circuit that represents the water level indicator in the container holding water. The button in the circuit will serve as a limit switch and the lights indicate the water level, which will come up on the screen.

 

 

I showed the update model to my customer and they were more interested in the idea than before, especially since it catered to some of their concerns. But after talking to some other users, I believe this product will attract other users who do not know how to make the right chai more and will be better suited for them as well.

Please leave the valuable feedback!