Ary Tian  ·  IXD700
Coffee Bird
Your perfect cup helper
Tools
Figma
Type
App Design
Focus
UX Research · AI
Coffee Bird app screens showing home, Coffee GPT, stats, and brewing views
The Problem
what's the problem?
Coffee drinkers struggle to balance convenience, confidence, and personal needs (energy, flavor, or sensitivity), leading to inconsistent, stressful, or unsatisfying coffee experiences.
The Problem
Study Goal Interview
Insight
Coffee drinkers want coffee that fits their energy level, mood, and routine, but their confidence, time, and knowledge vary widely, making it difficult to choose or prepare the "right" cup consistently.
  • "When I feel too down, I want…more sweetness coffee, like caramel macchiato." —SungJu. Coffee choice motivated by mood.
  • "The most important thing…is its potency, which is why I mainly stick to black coffee…The two biggest things are cost and effect." —David, coffee choice is motivated by energy needs and affordability.
Need
A simple, reliable, and personalized coffee experience that matches their desired taste, caffeine level, and effort, without requiring expert skills.
  • "I prefer fresh coffee…if a coffee is roasted more than a month ago, I would just give it a pass." — Andrew, prioritizes freshly roasted and freshly ground beans.
  • "I'm not a barista… I just want it to be easy." — Sungju, prefers fast, simple preparation and dislikes complicated brewing steps.
Pain
Users struggle with complicated equipment, uncertainty about caffeine strength or brewing steps, and negative effects (jitters, anxiety, bad sleep), leading to frustration or avoidance.
  • "I have no confidence adjusting grind size." — David, prefer pre-ground or capsule-based solutions due to lack of confidence in grinding process.
  • "Too much caffeine makes me anxious or dizzy." "My machine broke and it was a terrible experience." — Sungju, pain with coffee due to side effects and frustration with machine issues.
Desire
To enjoy coffee in a way that feels easy, safe, and satisfying, whether that means energizing focus, comforting warmth, or playful flavor exploration.
  • "I love trying new flavors when the shop recommends them." — Andrew, coffee journey began with the surprise of discovering flavor diversity.
  • "I want coffee that actually helps me start my day." — Sungju, drinks coffee for energy, productivity, and motivation.
  • "In China many coffee shops add juice or soft drink in it." — Zi, values shops that offer experimental customization.
The Goal
Long Term Goal
People can enjoy coffee without frustration, anxiety, or exclusion.
Theme exploration of how to achieve the goal
Convenience & Confidence Caffeine Awareness & Safety Personalization & Joy

Convenience & Confidence

Across interviews, users consistently want coffee to be easy, fast, and low-effort, but many also lack confidence in brewing or choosing the "right" coffee.

Caffeine Awareness & Safety

Multiple users expressed struggles with caffeine sensitivity, anxious reactions, or not knowing how strong their coffee is.

Personalization & Joy

Users want coffee to match their mood, energy, taste preference, and emotional state — whether they want novelty, comfort, or exploration.

Ideats
Expert Research Interview Snapshot
Insight
Coffee drinkers want a cup that adapts to their time, mood, and confidence level, but their knowledge, tools, and routines vary widely. Users rely heavily on taste as an emotional anchor, and their trust in the process is shaped by predictability, convenience, and guidance.
  • "If the coffee doesn't taste good, it will actually ruin my day." —Andrew, taste is emotionally consequential.
  • "The lowest experience is instant coffee, no flavor, but no flaws." —Konglang, when reliability drops, users prefer predictability over quality.
  • "I need guidance when I'm unfamiliar with a type of coffee." —Shuang, exploration is appealing but requires clear, confidence-building support.
Need
Users need consistent, good-tasting coffee delivered with minimal effort, clear guidance, and enough flexibility to match their lifestyle and energy demands. Whether beginners or experts, they want a system that helps them succeed without stress.
  • "First it has to be rich but not too strong…and healthy." — Shuang, baseline taste and health requirements must be met every time.
  • "I'd want the machine to remember my taste—grind size, temperature." — Andrew, prefers fast, simple preparation.
  • "It shouldn't take too long." — Konglang, speed and simplicity are essential in daily routines.
Pain
Users struggle with inconsistent results, equipment issues, long wait times, and a lack of clarity when choosing or preparing coffee. These challenges create anxiety, frustration, or wasted effort.
  • "Stale beans are the most frustrating part." — Andrew, quality degrades quickly, creating unpredictable results.
  • "They made the wrong kind of coffee for me." — Shuang, ordering errors break trust in external coffee services.
  • "Cheap commercial coffee has too many flaws." — Konglang, low-quality options feel unpleasant and disappointing.
Desire
Users want a coffee experience that feels intuitive, enjoyable, and customizable, one that supports mood, energy levels, and personal rituals. They desire automation that removes friction, along with opportunities for exploration when they have time.
  • "I want a high-end automated machine so I don't have to hustle around the kitchen." —Shuang, automation reduces cognitive load.
  • "The machine should remember my preferences." — Andrew, long-term personalization deepens satisfaction.
  • "I study techniques to make it taste as good as possible." — Konglang, expert users desire tools that preserve control and precision.
Ideats
Sketches

This is a quick sketch to ideate one major feature of Coffee GPT, an AI model that helps the user with any question and request that are coffee related.

The sketch shows how the Coffee GPT is able to suggest a coffee choice based on user need, and is linked to a coffee machine to provide quick and easy brewing.

A perfect cup to wake a tired dog.

Coffee Bird sketch storyboard: tired dog requests Autumn Vibe coffee, brewing in progress, then enjoys the finished cup
Ideats
Storyboard

This is a more refined storyboard that ideates Coffee GPT.

The storyboard shows a more detailed process from a user's perspective.

Featuring how the Coffee GPT helps the user make decisions with their coffee choice, offering varied customization, and convenient and speedy brewing so they can enjoy their coffee.

Also showing the feature of saving the coffee customization and setting up an automatic brew.

Coffee Bird storyboard: from waking up tired through Coffee GPT suggestions, brewing, and scheduling tomorrow's brew
Prototype

Explore the prototype

Walkthrough the full Coffeebird experience for your perfect cup.

Prototype link
Coffee Bird prototype on phone: home screen with quick brew and today's picks
Coffee Bird home screen: quick brew, machine connected, and today's picks
Coffee Bird App Features
The start of a convenient and personal coffee experience
The home screen is where users start their coffee journey with Coffee Bird, offering stress free and instant brewing with one tap. Perfect for a busy morning.
Quick Brew
The highlighted quick brew button offers a quick and direct method for users who wanted their to-go coffee instantly in just one tap.
Today's Picks
Recommending different coffee selections to users who wanted something special based on time of day.
Coffee Bird App Features
User Statistics
A page that keeps track of your personal coffee journey.
Quick Brew
The quick brew offers a quick and direct method for users who wanted their coffee instantly in just one tap.
Today's Picks
Recommended for users who wanted something special based on time of day.
Coffee Bird statistics screen: today's overview and brewing timeline Coffee Bird statistics screen: calories, brew time, favorites, and mood stats
Coffee Bird brewing progress screen at 50% with machine status and coffee fact Coffee Bird brewing complete screen with save and brew another actions
Coffee Bird App Features
Brewing Progress
A page that keeps track of your coffee intake.
Progress bar
A color coded progress bar that offers a clear visualization of the brewing progress.
Timer countdown
Recommended for users who wanted something special based on time of day.
Random coffee fact
A coffee fact will show up when the coffee is brewing.
Coffee GPT screen with shortcuts and brewing tips conversation Coffee GPT screen with drink recommendations and brew now actions
Coffee Bird App Features
Coffee GPT
The core intelligence of Coffee Bird, an AI coffee expert designed to guide, educate, troubleshoot, and recommend the perfect cup based on the user's needs.
Personalized Recommendations
Suggests drinks based on time, mood, past preferences, and energy needs.
Quick Brew Integration
Converts AI recommendations into one-tap actions for instant brewing.
Brewing Tips
Offers step by step advice, from espresso extraction to milk steaming, making complex techniques approachable.
Coffee Knowledge
Users can explore bean types, roast levels, and drink varieties to learn at their own pace.
Troubleshooting Support
Helps diagnose machine issues or brewing mistakes with simple language and actionable solutions.
Coffee GPT recommending Apple Cinnamon Latte with brew now action Coffee customization screen with strength, sweetness, milk, and temperature controls
Coffee Bird App Features
Coffee Customization
Users desire coffee that matches their taste, mood, and curiosity, but exploration feels hard or overwhelming. We made it simple so the user is in full control confidently.
Slider
A percentage slider that offers immediate feedback on the precision of customization such as caffeine strength, sweetness etc.
Alternative Milk Options
Recommended for users who wanted something special based on time of day.
Key Learnings
What do I learn?
I learned that less is more — overwhelming users will just distract them from the important features.
Details matter — having a cohesive set of icons, color coding, etc., all contributes to how the user feels when using the product.
Designing for a domain you can't personally experience requires deeper reliance on research — and the outsider perspective often surfaces insights that insiders overlook.
Opportunity
Future Opportunities
Coffee Bird has a lot of potential. From what I learned with this case study, I'd love to branch out to different kinds of drinks to provide a wider variety of beverage experiences.
The community aspect was commonly brought up during interviews and testing — adding a community feature where people can share their coffee experiences and recipes would be a great enhancement to users' coffee experiences.