|| What is a vending machine? || How it works? || Intended functions || Users and what do they want? || Problems || Improvements ||

Problems

(1) A snack vending machine only accepts money in form of coins or bills. If the users do not have enough cash in hand to buy their desired snack, then the vending machine fails to satisfy the users need and provides a bad experience.

(2) In the process of dispensation, the selected snack can sometimes get stuck inside the vending machine while falling in the dispense chute due to the design of the vending machine. The users do not receive the snack that they have already paid for. The vending machine fails to meet its primary function.

(3) Delicate products like chocolates or candy bars can get damaged when they fall from a height during the process of dispensation due to the impact of the fall. The vending machine provides the users with a bad quality snack and a terrible experience as it fails to maintain the quality of the snack.

(4) The vending machine fails to return change to the users when it runs out of small change of coins. The machine fails to meet its intended function of charging the correct price to the users and provide a disappointing experience to the user.

(5) The users have to move to left side of the machine to read the dispense code of the desired snack through a huge glass window. The users eventually have to move to the right side of the machine to enter the dispense code using the keypad. This prolongs the time taken the users to browse and select the snack and tests out users’ short-term memorizing ability. It often lead users to select the wrong snack due to human error. The vending machine fails to offer an efficient service with zero tolerance of human error.

(6) One of the major issue faced by the users is that particular snack is out of stock and not replenished until a certain period of time. The users cannot vend that particular snack when it is out of stock and hence, the vending machine fails to meet the users’ need.

(7) It is often very difficult for the users to locate a vending machine as they do not have any information on the location of the vending machine at their disposal

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