MT Joker
A new and modular UI for Eloma ovens
Eloma, a well-known German brand in the field of professional oven production, has turned to Studio Volpi for the realization of the UI of the new MT Joker oven line. The work focused on the analysis of the existing product line and on the user’s feedback in order to develop a versatile, modular and intuitive interface, which was easy to use, well readable and with improved usability from the navigation point of view.
Understanding the context
We conducted a preliminary UX analysis to understand what would be the impact of the interface on future users, taking into account the various contexts and modes of use. Based on this we established some parameters that it was essential to respect.
From the customer’s perspective, each tiny detail is part of the overall experience while from the operator’s one, it’s essential to be sure that everything keeps working fluidly. In addition, customers in these environments take part to the preparation process itself by seeing the open kitchen and may notice every inconsistency between what happens on their table and what behind the counter. On the other hand, operators must be able to freely rely on their equipment and while saving time throughout the entire service time.
Constraints, pain points and areas for improvement
While some functions and controls are clear and well organized some others have been added through time and the result is confusing, ending up with functions that occupy a significant portion of the screen but are completely ignored by the users. The more the product range expands, the more we need a common language for the UI in order to give a seamless experience through all the product line.
The very first issue that we had to tackle was the disposition of the module onto the oven’s chamber considering that the module front surface was placed a few centimetres behind the oven surface itself. This disposition was challenging not only for the need to design the interface in two different orientations but also because required a careful definition of the most frequent clickable areas according to this surfaces misalignment.
After mapping with a functional flow all the existing features inside the navigation we underlined different structural problems that were leading to inconsistencies and unnecessary repetitions that could make the usability over-complicated and misleading.
UX/UI development
After testing multiple times the interface logics with a simulator we identified that the main pain points from a visual standpoint where related to a general inconsistency among the assets used. In particular, we concentrated on the colour palette and the iconography, which according to previous users interviews, has been considered as “scary” and “confusing”.
We defined three main design pillars to guide us through the development and we drastically redesigned the interface flow, basing our visual concept on the “modularity” topic that was already a mandatory requirement derived from the constraints analysis.
We initially tried different layout, exploring the possibilities to arrange the features differently across the 7″ display. We knew that we needed to grant quick access both the main programs and food preparations and that was crucial to make each element stand out as much as possible. Interactions in a professional kitchen with a touch display are often challenged by different factors (gloves, dirty hands, distance, light conditions etc..) which makes the design phase a continuous iteration process in order to test the effectiveness of each proposal.
Joker MT
Bright and visible elements stand in front of a dark and simple background. The vibrant yet organized appearance of the interface makes the product friendlier while making no compromise in terms of readability. The iconography is simple and bold and the font type and size are chosen to always make sure that important information can be seen from the distance. Information is organized in a compact way and divided per groups in order to make them easy to be adjusted per the screen orientation.
Reliability and friendly intuitiveness
All the design choices have been made in order to maintain a safe balance between the operators and customers expectations. The efficiency is pursued through a familiar and straightforward visual language, that assign a clear meaning to each element of the interface. The modern and user-friendly look n’ feel enables the product to be easily integrated into an open kitchen environment.
A new common ground
As the last step we provided the client with a digital style guide so that could have been easy for him to eventually re-adapt the interface assets as per their needs (like the display orientation or a new product range) without losing the basic UX rules already defined.
Project info
Year: June 2019
Project duration: 4 months
Client: Eloma GmbH
Project lead: Nikola Mitrovic
My role: research & analysis / UX-UI / content production