Tag: JoeyNgZhiYu

Taking advantage of the field trip, I decided to make the moisturiser making workshop as part of my participation with practitioners exercise.
The workshop was organised by Rachel at the Singapore Visitor Centre.
It was hosted by the company called Theo10 and the founder, Theodore, was the one who was teaching us.

Process Documentation
The whole moisturiser making process was actually pretty easy.
1. Get a container
2. Fill it up to 10 drops of essential oils – can be mixed
3. Put warm aloe vera cream in
4. Stir & mix them together with glass rod
And you’re done!

Tools Used

Pain Points
It is a fairly simple activity that can be done within 15 minutes.
One possible challenge is perhaps the number of essential oils that are available. There was at least 15 bottles and they vary in size and shape.
It was also hard to get the oils from the smaller bottle as they do not have a dripper.
Another challenge could be having a big pot filled with warm water to warm and keep the aloe vera cream warm as it very bulky.
Other than these, once everything is set up, it is quite easy to get to the tools and use them.

BONUS
We also participated in making our own mosquito repellent.
Apparently their mosquito repellent has been featured on CNN etc. during the dengue outbreak. (pretty cool!)
The challenge was to mask the weird scent of their own trade-secret-formulated repellent. (it smelt like fish oil to me – wouldn’t want that scent to stay on your skin for 4-6 hours…)

Process Documentation

So we had to mix in lots and lost of essential oil.
But before we did that, we had to concoct the repellent first.
With the measuring cylinder, we had to pour in 10ml of water and 2ml of their repellent using a pipette.
Once that was done, we could begin to mix in our essential oils to create a better scent for the repellent.

Pain Points
It was quite tough to mask the smell of the mosquito repellent – it took at least 100 drops of essential oils according to Theo.
An obstruction was the volume of the spray bottle. With the repellent solution taking about half of the bottle, there was only so much room for the essential oils. For me, I filled the bottle close to the brim and luckily mine worked. (Smells ok.)
The solution also had to be very precise as Theo instructed that the proportions has to be accurate in order for the repellent to work well.

I think one cool way to bring all the essential oils around is to make a coat with many many pockets storing each oil in each pocket. (looking like doctor gadget) Also a hot pocket (pun intended) to keep the aloe vera cream warm.
As the activity is fairly simple, just involving pouring liquid, once the workspace is set up, everything should go well.

I went to participate in my friend’s work who is a Starbucks Barista at One-North. He has been working at Starbucks for close to 4 and a half years. 
I wanted to see how the usual Starbucks barista works around the many professional tools behind the counter, facing crowds and rushes.

Process Documentation
The space is quite spacious with about 3-4 staff working behind the counter each time. There is the oven section for heating food, the frappuccino area with the machine for frozen blend goodness, the sink area for washing, the cold brew area for their latest nitro coffee and of course the coffee machines area for brewing coffee. 

To make coffee, he would pick up the cup for the right size then make the coffee by using the fancy coffee machine. The machine will then dispense the coffee into small glasses – shots.
While this is happening, my friend would pump syrup (if needed) from the syrup bottles into the cup.
After this, coffee would be poured into the cup and topped off with more syrup/milk/milk foam/whipped cream. 

Tools Used
These are some of tools he usually use.

One really interesting “machine” or appliance the dispenser for the cold nitro brew coffee – it looks like a beer tap.
Also got to try it with the courtesy of my friend!
It tasted pretty sour and acidic to me – not a fan (hahah)
But the foam is pretty cool!

Pain Points
I think one main challenge was that tools and appliances were spread out over the counter.
If the space was contrainted or if there were too many people, it would be hard to get to the tools needed and may even cause an accident as the staff walk from the fridge/oven/food area to the cashier counter to the coffee area etc.

Another problem I observed is that there are extras of tools, such as extra chocolate/vanilla/caramel syrup in bottle and pump form and they can be all over the place at crowded times like the lunch or morning rush.
There is also 2 coffee machines although they only use one. Perhaps it is in the case where one might broken/spoilt/malfunctioning.

I think a Starbucks barista has to learn how to use a lot of tools and get comfortable and used to his/her space in order to work efficiently.
From the fridge, to the cashier machine, the oven, the coffee machine, the frappuccino machine, syrup bottles and pumps and cups, lids etc, it would be a challenge to come up with a wearable tool that can do the job of a Starbucks barista. 
Perhaps it would be more worthwhile to think of a specific function that can benefit with a wearable tool and make him/her more efficient.
I was thinking a portable/movable coffee machine or even a cafe would be really cool too! (Imagine carrying chairs and open them up for your customers and you make coffee on your body)
A portable coffee grinder might work although the quality might not be machine grade and the person would have to stand near a drain/grass to get rid of excess hot water and coffee grinds.