Systematic study for obtaining design specifications of an automatic post machine

This study is concerned with encouraging people to use post system in Iran. In fact, it tries to find the design specifications of a post machine as an interacting system for improving post system. A machine that can provide facilities for posting parcels and selling envelops and stamps. In Iran, post system is an obsolete system and cannot satisfy the users completely. In order to explore the reasons, which led to dissatisfaction, a study was performed and 40 people were interviewed. The result of the study showed that there were some shortcomings in post system such as; weak services of post organization and consumers’ lack of knowledge about the post services. Also the most important reason for reluctance of using post service in Iran is concerned with the necessity of using the central post office. This is due to the lack of post boxes around the cities and size limitation of post boxes that makes it impossible to put a parcel. In order to make the post available to people in most places and persuade them to use post services, it was decided to develop a post machine. Obviously when the operator is replaced with a machine, the relations are changed and people face new problems. Therefore, there is a need for considering the relation between user and product. For this aim, Interaction Design approach was used to improve the quality of users’ interacts with the post machine. Interaction design is the creation of dialogue between a person and a product, service or system. This dialogue is usually found in the world of behavior. In particular, it is about creating user experiences that enhance and extend the way people work, communicate and interact. In order to identify problems in current system and survey ideal conditions for using a post machine and interaction between users and machine, Scenario Based Design was applied. Three kinds of scenarios were used; problem scenario for identifying problems, activity scenario for visualizing the ideal conditions and interaction scenario for recognizing design interaction between users and machine. The result of three scenarios was used in next step, which is Quality Function Deployment (QFD). QFD is a systematic method for translating voice of costumer to design specifications. It starts with the identification of the customers and of their own views of their requirements and desired product attributes. In order to obtain voice of customer, forty people (23 women and 17 men) between 23 to 45 years old were chosen randomly among post users. The users were asked to fill a questionnaire about the post system. The result showed user’s needs and problems of current system. This information used in Relationship Matrix of QFD method. The result shows that the most important part of a post machine is the software that is used to interact between users and machine. The results could be use for designing a post machine.