From bean to honest bar: a showroom chocolate vending machine
Course · 1 quartile · Collaborators: Jacco Bleyen, Peter Corvers, Daan Heijsters, Rosa van Koningsbruggen, Shanna de Lang, Lara Leijtens
In today’s consumer economy, we buy goods in big quantities for little money. We keep consuming, but at what cost? An example of an industry where a small price for the end often means unfair trade, bad working conditions and a negative impact on the environment is the chocolate industry. We investigated consumer choices around chocolate through an experiment and interviews. We made a fictional vending machine that combined gamification and “showroom” research (Koskinen, 2013) with visual footage to confront consumers about the reality of the production chain while purchasing a chocolate bar. In the game decisions were made by the participants who thereby produced a chocolate bar with a specific price, working conditions, and environmental characteristics. After the game, a video was shown with real footage of the dark facets of the chocolate industry. In the end participants were able to choose another chocolate bar with different characteristics. 30% of the participants changed their first chocolate bar for a fair trade option, though the experiment was not meant to be strictly scientific or reliable.
I was largely responsible for the concept development and design of the vending machine, while the technical execution was handled by others. This meant that I had to develop a style that attracted attention and was appropriate for a debate-inciting game. I applied my skills in graphic design and developed the concept of this “serious” game together with my teammates.
References
Koskinen, I., Zimmerman, J., Binder, T., Redstrom, J., & Wensveen, S. (2013). Design research through practice: From the lab, field, and showroom. IEEE Transactions on Professional Communication, 56(3), 262-263.