Ninja Beverage Machines
Developing novel beverage products with a focus on user experience using research and prototyping in a fast paced environment
Skills: 3D product design, cross-functional collaboration, user testing, UI design, experimental design, technological invention, leadership, mentorship,
June 2021 - September 2022
The Ninja Thirsti
Overview
I worked on the Ninja Heated R&D Beverage team, spending over a year leading and developing the Ninja Thirsti technology which was released in Summer 2023.
Impact
The work focused on developing novel technologies, including receiving two patents, one as the first author for the novel method of carbonation (US11612865B1 and US12005404B2).
The Thirsti has ⭐️4.8 stars⭐️ after a year of being on the market and is making waves with the influencer market, scoring high profile reality TV stars including Lala Kent and Chrissy Teigan.
Early UI Development
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Initial Design
Required multiple presses of the same button dispense a drink
Hard to get started and difficult to learn
Designed to reduce the development and build time for testing
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Second Iteration
Embraced Ninja beverage’s design language
Recycle components from the Dual Brew coffee machine
This included capacitive touch buttons and a drink size dial
The Evolution of the Thirsti
Fizz User Acceptance Testing
Extensive collaboration with food science team resulted in a field trip to National Field & Focus, a reputable research facility, for user acceptance testing.
Participants were surveyed to gauge their acceptance of the Thirsti KPIs compared to other top selling carbonated beverages.
Users were unable to identify fizz differences between the Thirsti and other top performing competitors.
Ninja Pod & Grounds
Overview
During the development of Ninja Pods & Grounds Single-Serve unit, the team needed a more in depth perspective on the needs and wants of the diverse user group. Because the unit was geared toward a different market than some of the other coffee machines - younger individuals with limited kitchen space.
Having our co-op students join the hack allowed us valuable insight from the primary user group that was not previously considered by the engineering teams.
Seeing the impact in real life…
Students felt that their coffee machine was unstable when placed in their dormitories and didn’t have enough cable length to route it
Lights and sounds were particularly frustrating if one of the roommates liked to wake up earlier than the other
Storing accessories was difficult and annoying and led to people not using the unit
The primary age group wanted a no frills unit that could make hot water and coffee, with the option of adding fancy things later (accessories)
What I learned…
Working at SharkNinja provided great opportunities to grow as a leader, a product designer, and as an engineer.
Putting the user first: Identifying the user and valuing their voice over everything else. Having that beacon during development helped me make educated and thoughtful decisions
Effective and strong communication: Learning the value of my voice and expressing my opinions allowed me to advocate for the designs and solutions that I felt were best
Product ownership: Getting to have a product that was solely my own gave me the responsibility of becoming the company subject matter expert
Leadership: Managing a co-op and working closely with the executive level emphasized how the work I did fit into the bigger business picture of the project