Team

1 Product Manager
1 Designer
3 Engineers
(Biometric Authentication Team at KFTC)

Timeline

Apr. ~ Aug. 2022 (5 months)

My Roles and Contributions

- Product Management: Stakeholder Management, Cross Collaboration, Discovery to Launch, Budget and Time Management
- User Research: Contextual Inquiries, User Interviews, Journey mapping

B.usiness Driven: Saved Employees' 15 minutes and 75% of Development Period
U.ser Focused: Discovered Key Pain Points through Qualitative Research
T.rustworthy: Featured at the Documentary Media as an Innovative Service

🧐 Background

People forgetting to take their cards when going to the cafeteria

Our workplace introduced a robotic, unmanned cafeteria to offer employees a relaxing break. However, many employees would head to the cafe only to return to their desks because they forgot to bring their cards, reducing time efficiency and causing frustration.

👀 Discovery

User Interviews!

Why do employees forget their cards? How do they feel?

I interviewed three employees who had forgotten their credit cards to the cafe.
- Cognitive Load: Carrying a wallet feels unnecessary due to mobile payments—except the in-house cafe doesn’t support it.
- Spontaneity: Unlike outdoor cafes, visiting the in-house cafe is often unplanned—users don’t consciously decide to go; they just “happen to get coffee.”
- Frustration: Spending an extra 15 minutes to get the credit card just for a coffee feels stressful, especially when worried about missing urgent calls at the desk. ‍

"I usually leave my wallet in my bag during office hours, so I was frustrated to discover I had forgotten it when I got to the cafeteria. I still needed my caffeine fix, and going back to get it felt cumbersome. I was lucky to have my co-worker next to me so that she could buy me a cup of coffee...."

Contextual Inquiry!

How many people forget their cards? Let's observe!

‍I observed the cafe during peak hours (3-4pm) for 5-day period. Around 10 people daily forgot their cards. Some returned to get them, others left without coffee, and a few owed a cup. I assumed that card-forgetting may occur more frequently throughout the day, causing unnecessary inconvenience and wasted time.

Journey mapping!

To visualize their frustrated experiences

I identified a key pain point: employees without their credit cards spent an additional 15 minutes. Since payment occurred after selecting drinks and employee discounts, forgetting a card required them to restart the entire process, ending up wasting unnecessary 15 minutes! ‍

In-House Cafeteria User Journey Map

❓ Research Questions

"How might we facilitate the payment at the cafe without people having to carry their cards?"

👀 Ideation

Pay with biometric data? No need to carry the cards!

I came up with an idea of leveraging palm vein and face recognition system to the cafeteria! Why palm vein and face? Palm vein was chosen due to its widespread use in Korean banks, ensuring familiarity. Facial recognition was selected as users are accustomed to it through mobile devices, despite its limited use in offline stores.

BUT.. Biometric solutions and traditional card payment channels were hard to integrate.

Integrating biometric recognition solutions with existing card payment channels seemed ideal. However, interviews with five major card companies revealed challenges involving technical constraints and financial policy changes. Implementing the two infrastructures would require years of investment—not worth it for an in-house system.

‍"Biometric recognition and existing payment channels are completely different. It might take several years..."
"Do we have to invest the time and work on system/policy changes just for your in-house cafe?"

How about applying an employee wage deduction system for Biometric pay?

Card Payment = Wage deduction!

Instead of using existing card systems, I proposed deducting coffee payments directly from wages when verified through the biometric system. This integration would take just one month, cutting both development period and costs. Standing from the employees' point of view, I have successfully collaborated with officers and engineers from payroll department, and also our biometric system engineers for implementation.

💡 Design

Implemented biometric sensors to the cafe digital kiosk

Biometric sensors for face and palm vein recognition were installed near the digital kiosk. Regarding the kiosk's height and width, I had to test the optimal location to install the sensors. Since most employees were right-handed, palm vein sensor was put right next to the kiosk.

New user flow of the cafeteria with Biopay

Biometric authentication system was incorporated to check the employee identity for drinks discount and wage deduction payment. Once registered their palm veins or faces, users did not have to worry about carrying their cards with them to go to the cafeteria!

Introduced a user-friendly guidance for new payment system.

This new payment system could reduce frustration but also bring another cognitive load due to unfamiliar transaction process. To help, our team added a visual signage at the registration booth, guiding users on sensor use and biometric payments.

😍 Impact

15 minutes Saved!!

Biometric Pay has streamlined the payment process and reduced the frustration, saving users up to 15 minutes per order. Eventually, over one-third of employees at the workplace registered for the service.

75% Development Period Saved!!

I significantly saved the development period from several years to only one month, reducing the estimated budget.

Introduced at the media!

[Special Feature] "Digital D.N.A." Part 2. Data.Network.AI. that makes money / YTN Science, YouTube Channel

‍Starting from: 18:27-Published: Nov, 2022
Media: YTN Science, Korea

(The image links to the YouTube video.)

🥹 Lessons learned

Accessible sensor locations could be considered.

Since the majority of employees at work were right-handed, we installed sensors on the right, making them feel at ease. However, when launching the system for broader users, we should also consider its accessibility towards minorities, especially those who are left-handed or physically disabled.

Focusing on core needs helped solve the problems.

A small tweak to the payment method significantly reduced both costs and implementation time. This experience reinforced the importance of taking a step back and viewing the problem holistically to find the most practical and impactful solution.

Biometric Pay: The Future of Fast & Secure Transactions