Abstract

This report includes the findings and analysis of three different beverage vending machines in
Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Each of the vending machines has their special characteristics with
pros and cons as well. Human interactions with the vending machines are recorded and evaluated
based on the basic operation of the vending machine namely; inserting payment, selecting drink
and collecting drink and change. The machines interface are also evaluated based on the layout
and visual display.

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Literature Review
Background Information
Vending machines are generally all around us whether in private buildings or public places.
These machines comes up different contents such as snack foods and drinks in addition to ice
cream and hot cups of coffee can be found dispensed out of many of them. In a general term,
vending machines refers to machines that vendor specific thing. A person who is prepared to
purchase the goods inside the vending machine is required to make payments by inserting coins
or even by adding paper bills. However there are limits as to the value of money that can be
inserted inside.
In the earlier days, consumers were hesitant to purchase goods from vending machines as they
suppose these machines do not offer healthy or fresh things. Furthermore, consumers had shown
a desire to read nutritional value labels before to purchase. That is one of the reasons why they
never trusted the freshness of vending machine items.
With time, simple vending machines turn into fresh vending machines offering fresh and healthy
food stuff for consumers. fresh vending machine meets the consumer demand for healthy and
fresh easy access food options. This is the reason most of these fresh vending machines are
found at places such as gyms, schools, shopping places, colleges and offices.

History
In late nineteenth century, commercialized vending machines first popped up. This was in fact
the peak time of continuous Industrial Revolution. Virtually all of these machines appeared
largely in the countries such as United Kingdom and United States.
The earliest vending machines were used at work place were in North America in 1946, and it
took the next ten years before the concept reached the United Kingdom. The first bill acceptor
for vending machines was created during 1965 by John Greenwick.
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In the beginning of the times, vending machines producers only supply drinks vending machine.
Therefore, drinks vending was very popular during that time and the creation of disposable cups
received a high ratings as they were used in coffee vending machines.
Types of vending machines
There are many different types of vending machines ranging from the usual beverage vending
machine to pizza vending machines in the United States. However, to differentiate those vending
machines, they were divided into several types such as

Cigarettes vending
Selling cigarettes and tobacco but is rarely seen due to the risk of selling to minor.

Full line vending

Vending machines that sell a wide range of products. Products may include candy,
cookies, chips, fresh fruit, milk, cold food, coffee and other hot drinks, bottles, cans of
soda, and even frozen products like ice cream

Specialized vending
Selling personal products such as female toiletries

Operation of beverage vending machines

All Beverage vending machines in Malaysia operates in a similar manner or process. The process
of purchasing is
1. Finding information on operating the vending machine
2. Making the payment whether in the form of coins or paper bills
3. Making the selection by pressing the buttons
4. Collecting the drinks and change if present.

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Case Study 1 : Tropicana Twister Vending Machine

Tropicana Twister Vending Machine

Located in Sri Rampai LRT station

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Inserting coins / paper bills

The coin slot and coin return lever is located together at

the same height as the paper bill slot. The return lever is
closed to the coin slot making the users easy to access it.
Not only that, there were also instructions given
regarding how to insert the coins and paper bills under
the coin slot. It is easy to refer but at an inappropriate
height for users to read.

In stage of purchasing drinks from vending machine, the user is

required to insert money into the machine. For this case, the user
inserted paper bills. Firstly the hand posture is called ulnar because
the wrist is bended backwards 45 degree and more. This caused the
user only able to use 75% of his strength. However, this posture only
consumed 25% or lesser than the total time taken to purchase drink
and the user does not require handling heavy materials. Therefore it
does not pose any harm to the user.
Next, the paper bill slot is 82cm above from ground. According to
the anthropometric data, the height of the slot from ground is lower
than the average elbow height of user. Thus, the arm posture not in
the power zone. Although the position of the slot is not very
suitable, it does not affect the people using the machine.

For the neck part, the user bends his neck more than 20degrees for
25-50% of the time. Depending on the total time of operating the
machine, it may create discomfort for the user. in this case, the user
only bends for several seconds so not bringing a big effect to him.
When operating the vending machine, the user stands straight for
the whole time. The ground is even with a lot of space to stand
comfortably. In this case, the user carried a bag pack therefore it
may affect his stability and burden his back if standing for a long
time.
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Selection making

Product display

For the product display layout, there are 3 rows of drinks menu with 3 rows of buttons for selection
below each row. From the ground, the height of the drinks menu is 147cm followed by 129cm and lower
row 111cm. According to the anthropometric data, the height of the drinks menu is proper and suitable.
Besides that, lights are present inside the machine making the drinks to be seen clearly during night
time. The brightness is bright enough to illuminate and not hurt users eyes.

Buttons layout
From the ground, the highest row of buttons is 138cm followed by middle row 120cm and the lower
row 101.5cm. The height of the buttons are suitable and in a comfortable height for users to operate
and select. Furthermore, the sizes of each buttons are 4cm wide and 1cm high and 3.1cm apart from
each other. This ease the users in selection as the buttons are big and far apart from each other so
lesser mistake of pressing the wrong button will occur. The surface of the buttons is smooth and not
painful to press.

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Price List
The price for each drink is located under the drinks itself. This is
convenient for the users to see and understand.

Graphics advertisement

The Tropicana Twister advertisement location is too low thus

being less appealing to the users. For those users that want to
see it clearly, they will need to bend their body and neck. This is
uncomfortable to them.
Besides that, the advertisement board is not big enough to
attract attention of people.

The picture on the left shows the user selecting his choice of drink.
His hand posture will not cause any significant health problem to
him even in long term.

Then, his arm posture is slightly above the power zone with no
support in the elbow. This does not affect his ability in drinks
selection since the buttons do not require big amount of energy to
press and there is no heavy material handling in this stage.
Moreover, he only maintains this posture for a very short time.
He is able to stand comfortably with enough space for his feet to
balance himself.

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Drinks collection

The drinks collection hole is place 28.5cm above the ground. This placement is very bad because it is too
low causing the user to bend his back more than 45degrees forward to collect his drink. Bending this
much forward makes the body less stable and brings stress to the back bone.
Besides that, the user needs to bend his wrist undergoing extension to collect his drink. There was no
contact stress with hard and sharp objects.

Size of the drink collection hole is 63cm wide and 18.5cm tall. It is big enough to put the whole hand
inside without resistance. The cover needs to be pull open before collecting drinks and this is not user
friendly and ergonomic. Many people faced difficulties in collecting their drinks.
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Coins collection

The collection hole is placed at the same height of the drinks collection hole. This means that the coins can
only be collected if the users bend their body more than 45degrees and neck downwards.

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Conclusion : Case Study 1

Firstly, the visual display and lighting of the vending machine is ergonomically suitable to be
used by many people. The way the drinks menu arranged and position with the selection buttons
and pricing is user-friendly. Furthermore, it is fairly easy to operate the machines as instructions
were given.

However, the coin and paper bill slot is not position well as it is too low. Therefore, it causes
discomfort to people inserting money into the machine. The same can be said for the drinks
collection hole and coin return hole as well. People need to bend downwards to collect the
drinks. It might harm the wellbeing of users.

Recommendation
1. Place the coin and paper bill slot higher at the power zone area.
2. Advertisement board can be bigger and place in a more obvious location
3. Coin return hole position nearer to the coin slot.
4. Drinks collection hole to be reposition higher so that people do not require to bend to
collect drinks.

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Case Study 2 : WADI Smart Vending Machine

WADI Smart Vending Machine

Located at UTM Menara Razak 2nd floor

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Inserting coins / paper bills

The coin slot on the machine is not explained and no

sign posted. Nevertheless, users familiarity and memory
of this payment method meant that no issues were
founded here. The coin return lever is situated on the left
of the coin slot. Users can obtain the money back before
making selection of the drinks eventhough they have
paid for the drinks.
The main instructions for the machine are placed to the left of the display screen and consist of red text
on a black background. Users can locate and use the vending machine effectively as the instructions
themselves are easily understandable.
The instructions display on the LCD screen on the unit, the information is presented in English
languages.

Instructions for the payment method are also present. Yet these
instructions only go as far as to inform the user which paper
notes denomination the machine accepts.
The paper note acceptor is located 135cm from the ground. User
were recorded the upper limb move with steady motion with
regular pauses. The ulnar deviation of the wrist when inserting
the paper notes is about 40 degree and it can exert about 75% of
strength. It shows the acceptable reach for a person to insert the
paper bill. The user standing stationary when inserting the coin,
there are no bending of torso. The bill acceptor work station
heights is suitable for standing work. The neck of the user is not
bended or at any uncomfortable position.

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Selection making

Product Display
Majority of users surveyed revealed that they found the large product display screen helpful. The
product display screen is large and placed at an average eye level, users can locate directions visually
with ease. The readability of text is good as the text on the vending machine is large. The vending
machine has reality can beverage representation of product selection and visual categorization through
use of colour.
Buttons layout
Adequate button size for users fingers to make selection. The measurement of the button features on
the menu are 2cm tall and 4.5cm wide, the size is average and user-friendly. The buttons in this
machine were install with light to indicates the drinks availability. There are no contact stress to the
finger of the user when pressing the selection button. The user extend her hands about 40 degree and
be able to exert force to press the menu selection button. The user twisting the neck forward slightly to
look at the menu selection button as the button was out of the vision arc.

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Price List

The price list for the specific drink is positioned on top of the actual
selection buttons, as stated above. This listing system is clear to the the
users, as most of them were aware of pricing while using the machine.
Most of them can read the price details easily.

Graphics
It was determined that visual consistency in the text and graphic layout
was nicely designed. Users can read the actual selection menu and prices
easily.

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Drink Collection

The measurement of the drink collection hole is 98cm tall and 147cm wide.
The drink collection hole is positioned at the bottom of the vending machine. It is placed too low down
on the machine, users have to bending down or squat down to collect the beverage product. The user
also bending their neck forward to look at the beverage product and their wrist flex slightly to collect
the beverage product. The arm posture is acceptable for a person who has to grasp an object.

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Coin Collection

The coin collection point on this machine is positioned at the bottom right hand corner. It is 55cm
from the ground. The user twist the neck slightly and have mild side bending of torso in order to
retrieve the change.Users were recorded bending down drastically or squatting to retrieve their change
for 25% to 50% of time. This aspect proved that the coin collection point is positioned at a very
impractical vantage point.

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Conclusion : Case Study 2

This beverage vending machine complies with the standard layout of conventional vending machines
where the coin input slot and menu interface are positioned at the top of the machine. The drink
collection hole and coin collection slot are positioned at the bottom of the unit. This vending machine
is user friendly with good interface.
The usability studies and photographic references show the product usability is good. However, a
number of ergonomic issues where identified with this vending machine.
1. Users have to squat down to retrieve selected beverage.
2. This squatting aspect also occurred when retrieving change from the change collection point.

Recommendation
1. Reposition the drink collection hole and coin collection hole so that users need not squat or
bend to colect their drink.
2. Slightly reduce the height of the coin and paper bill slot.

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Case Study 3 : F&N Seasons Vending Machine

F&N Seasons Vending Machine

Located in UTM (Near CICT)

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Inserting coins / paper bills

The coin slot on the machine is given an unclear sign posted. The user need to be very observant
to find out the coin slot located on the vending machine. The instructions and explanations on
using note payment slot provided in this machine very clearly. The user can use it wisely after
reading the instruction. The flaw of the payment feature in this vending machine is not
positioned at an ergonomically comfortable level. Bending of users body posture always
involved when the user using the machine.

The main instructions for the machine are placed to the

upper right corner of the vending machine and consist of
black text on a yellow background. The instructions
themselves are easily understandable. Users are hardly to
find the instruction is due to the position of size of the
instruction is only 10.5cm x 10.5cm. On the instructions,
the information is only presented in Malay language. This
is not a good way to giving instruction because foreigner
will not able to read and understand Malay language.

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To purchase a beverage drinks from vending machine, the user need to insert money into the
coin slot and paper bill slot. The user have to bend their wrist backwards about 45 degree and
above to insert the coins and paper bills into coin slot and paper slot. This situation happens due
to the location of coin slot and paper bill slot are design not ergonomically.
On the other hands, the users have to bend their neck more than 20 degree and this will make the
user feel uncomfortably.
Besides that, the users have to stands straight for the whole time when using the vending
machine. When the users have to carry a bag pack when using the vending machine, he or she
needs to bend their wrist, neck and back for a long time. This situation will affect his or her
stability as well.

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Selection making

Adult male and female anthropometrics figures do not comply with the height of the button
features on the menu. The users have to bend their back to press the button for choosing the
beverage from vending machine. Thus, this will hurt the backbone of the user with this posture.
Besides, the button measurements are considerably accepted which is 2cm of diameter for userfriendly usage. User can press the button easily due to the size of the button are considerably big
for them.

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Graphics

The graphic or the advertisement of this vending machine was taking up a large proportion
display system of vending machine. The user can understand the brand of beverage selling in this
vending machine but they are unable to read the price and menu due to the size display is too
small compared to the graphic or advertisement placing In terms of consumer graphic navigation,
this machine rated very low. In this vending machine, the company logo and advertisement easy
to see by the user compare to the actual selection menu and prices. It is needless to say that this
type of design concept is very mediocre and hindering in the usage of the interface.

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Drink collection

The distribution point of beverage located at the lowest part of the

vending machine which is 40cm from the ground. The user needs to
bend down the body to take out the beverage from distribution
point. The hand need to use much strength to take out the beverage
because the body strength will distribute to body and hand.
Distribution area placed too low down on the machine, disabling
user to visualize what was occurring. User can only visualize it after
listening to the sound of beverage drop on it.

Coin collection
The coin collection point on this machine is
positioned at the bottom right hand corner. The users
need to bend down their body drastically to retrieve
their change. The coin collection point is positioned at
a very impractical vantage point in ergonomically
aspect and this will bring bad effect toward the users
body posture.

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Conclusion : Case Study 3

There are a number of ergonomic issues identified in this vending machine such as
1. The user had to bend down to retrieve selected beverage.
2. This bending down aspect also occurred when retrieving change from the coin collection
hole.
3. The user could not visualize what was occurring in the distribution area.
4. The insert coin facility also proved to be very unergonomic.
5. Visual instruction could not give a clear instruction and explanations to user.

Recommendation
1. Use a large touch screen menu to incorporate menu selection
2. Coin and paper bill slot position in height where no bending is involved.
3. Payment method instructions displayed on the touch screen interaction menu.

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References
http://inventors.about.com/od/uvstartinventions/a/vending.htm
http://www.freshvending.com/
http://vendingfresh.wordpress.com/2010/09/22/background-and-evolution-of-vending-machine/
http://royalvendors.com/about-us/
http://www.iaei.org/blogpost/890108/178044/Vending-Machines
http://www.isoandagent.com/news/Apriva-Urges-ISOs-To-Take-On-Vending-Machines3015673-1.html?ET=isoandagent:e17934:
http://www.fnbm.com.my/content.php?pagename=Vending+Machines&id=34
http://www.humanefficiency.nl/public/decision_making_vending_machine_users.shtml
http://www.westomatic.com/index.cfm/vending_machines/cPages.showPage/pageID/128
http://www.silkron.com/smart_vending_machine_retrofit

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APPENDIX

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