Nicotine Dispenser 🚭

Research
Firstly, for this project, I searched for inspiration into what I find important, or wrong in this world. And so I started my research into Big Tobacco. My design question became: "How can I make an unethical cigarette machine as an art piece?" 

This art piece would serve as a way for me to learn about the tobacco industry and how we get manipulated as users with certain products, smart tactics and psychology.

I looked into smoking sponsorships on old race cars, vending machines and 'designing addiction' for more inspiration.

Concept 1
For the first concept I designed an intricate data flow diagram. This way I could think about how and where the data should be stored and used.
Also I visualised how and where the device could be located, and see how it would look like in a certain space.

This resulted in a first prototype of cardboard, an ESP32 (minicomputer) and an NFC reader. Users would login with the reader, interact with the screen, and with a special sound effect imitating a slot machine, they would receive their nicotine products.

As support, I designed a potential UX in Figma, which was focussed on giving a clear and quick interaction with the user. 

Feedback
Much was not clear yet, especially on how users will be influenced by the machine. I needed to gain more insight into the target audience. 

Concept 2
For the second concept, I refined in what context the machine would exist. So how the economy in which this 'art piece' would look like. Also I made a plan on how the machine would save user data to manipulate them in coming back for more and more by creating 'artificial scarcity'. 

I wanted the second prototype to more closely assemble a finished product, which is why it is made of wood, with a large touchscreen attached. The screen showed custom pages depending on which user would 'login' with their museum ticket. There is a database which had information on the visitor, to give them their unique experience based on their nicotine behaviour. 

Reflection
This project really helped to develop my programming skills with data and internet. The end product, the second prototype, does not really show at all how much coding it needed and how much research I had done before. This is why I believe I reached my  main goal of learning about how users get manipulated.