The machine at the 2025 Senior Show, Wheatley Center Gallery
Side detail — custom iridescent vinyl wrap with illustrated doodles
Back panel — each side features a different set of illustrated icons
UX/UI Case Study · 2024–2026
A vending machine that turns student art into a networking tool — designed from scratch, built end-to-end.
Academic Media Center (AMC) Experience Design Scholar → Transformative Creativity Fellow. A project that grew alongside its creator.
Overview
UX / Product Design
Visual & Brand Design
Web & Technical
Physical & Fabrication
Soft Skills & Process
01 — The Problem
At Robert Morris University, Media Arts students depend on real-world connections to launch their careers. But most don't start networking meaningfully until senior year — when they're already under pressure. The problem wasn't motivation. It was access, comfort, and opportunity.
The original scope was focused on Media Arts majors — but that changed quickly. Creativity isn't bound by major, skill level, or career path. The machine was opened to anyone on campus with something to share, because the barriers to networking and self-expression don't only affect one department. If you make things, this machine is for you.
Students had art but no low-pressure way to share it. Campus gallery shows had requirements many personal pieces didn't meet. There was no casual, ongoing platform for creative work.
Most students only began networking seriously in their final year — exactly when they had the least time and the most pressure. Connections made gradually are far more natural and lasting.
Many students hadn't thought about how to present themselves professionally. Business cards, social handles, a consistent artistic identity — these were abstract concepts, not practiced habits.
Networking felt like something for "later" — after graduation, after landing a job. The machine reframes networking as something you can do right now, with what you already have.
The original concept targeted Media Arts majors specifically — but it quickly became clear that creativity isn't confined to one department. The scope expanded to include any RMU-affiliated creator, because the need for a low-pressure platform to share work and make connections belongs to everyone who makes things.
02 — The Concept
The original pitch, "Art at Convenience," was presented to the AMC in March 2025 as a simple but powerful idea: put student art in a vending machine. What followed was two years of iteration, real-world testing, and a complete digital infrastructure built around the physical object.
A vending machine removes the social friction of networking. You don't have to approach anyone. You insert a token, push a button, and discover an artist — their work, their contact, their story.
The 2.5 × 3.5" trading card format was deliberate. It's familiar, collectible, and fits in your wallet. Art on the front. Social media, website, and QR code on the back.
Free to submit. Free to use. Custom 3D-printed tokens ensure access without cost being a barrier. Anyone affiliated with RMU can submit; anyone at all can receive.
Traditional art, digital work, photography, writing, cinematography — all accepted. The machine has no aesthetic gatekeeping. It just needs to be yours.
Fall 2024
Selected as AMC Experience Design Scholar. Original pitch: "Art at Convenience" — a sticker vending machine stocked with student art.
Early 2025
Machine purchased and set up at the Wheatley Center. First round of submissions collected. Concept begins expanding beyond a simple idea into a full system.
Spring 2025
Awarded continuation scholarship as Transformative Creativity Fellow. Project renamed Create + Connect. Custom submission portal development begins.
Fall 2025
Machine featured at the Senior Show / Gold Show at Wheatley Center Gallery with 50 limited holographic stickers. Portal fully operational.
2025–2026
Token dispenser designed in Rhino 3D, 3D printed, and built with Arduino and a servo motor. Fully functional standalone unit — solves the student worker dependency problem entirely.
2026 →
Transitioning to the RMU Design Network. Gallery page, social media, and coin dispenser in development. Foundation built to scale.
03 — The Build
Create + Connect isn't just a machine — it's a system. Every touchpoint, from the physical object to the submission portal to the printed card in your hand, was intentionally designed to create a cohesive, delightful experience.
Eagle Sticker & Tattoo Vending Machine, steel and plexiglass. Holds ~450 items across three columns. Wrapped in custom iridescent vinyl stickers on all sides. Houses an information panel with QR code and branding behind its plexiglass front.
Physical · Hardware
Standard 2.5 × 3.5" cards in cardboard sleeves. Art on front, social + QR code on back. Optional stickers (die-cut or kiss-cut via Cricut), business cards, and "goodies" — handwritten notes, fortune slips, mini prints — all fit inside one sleeve.
Print · Physical Design
Circular badge logo designed in Adobe Illustrator evoking authenticity and craft. Brand palette: Deep Purple (#6E4F93), Medium Purple (#836AA3), Light Blue (#ADD9F2). Typography: Fields Display for the wordmark, Montserrat for all interface and print work.
Branding · Identity
A single self-contained HTML file at createconnectvending.com. Built over 34 days across 9 sessions. Includes a card designer, sticker uploader, business card builder, PDF generator, QR code tool, crop interface, and Google Drive integration.
Web · UX Design
Submissions auto-generate print-ready 12×18" PDFs at 300 DPI, tiling 12 cards per sheet. The card back uses html2canvas to screenshot the live preview — guaranteeing what prints matches exactly what the artist designed on screen.
Systems · Automation
Rather than using real quarters, custom tokens were designed and 3D printed specifically for this machine. Few people carry cash anymore, paying submitters fairly is impossible given usage probability across three columns, and handling payments introduces tax and legal complexity that contradicts the project's free and open mission. Tokens keep it simple, accessible, and equitable. A standalone Arduino-powered dispenser was also built from scratch to automate token access.
Hardware · Fabrication · Arduino
No acceptance/rejection process for most work. Clear guidelines around AI-generated imagery, explicit content, and copyright. Artists retain full ownership and can remove their work at any time. Every removal is handled in conversation, never silently.
Policy · Ethics
04 — The Portal
The submission portal needed to do something that didn't exist off-the-shelf: let any student — regardless of design experience — create a professional-looking artist trading card and submit it directly into a print pipeline. I directed every decision, from card dimensions to the personality of every loading message.
Building the portal required JavaScript expertise I didn't have. Rather than waiting to find a collaborator, I used Claude AI as the coding instrument — and directed every decision myself. The same distinction the machine draws about AI art applies here: the tool doesn't make the work. The person does.
"Claude did not build the submission portal. Sara Heston built the submission portal, using Claude as the coding instrument — the same way a designer uses software."
Design Decisions
Every constraint in this project produced a decision. Here are the moments where the problem was specific enough — and the reasoning clear enough — to be worth documenting.
Rather than using real quarters, custom tokens were 3D printed specifically for this machine. Tokens are distributed for free, removing the cash barrier entirely. Anyone can use the machine regardless of whether they have change in their pocket.
This also decouples the machine from real currency — no coin counting, no cash handling, no financial liability. A standalone Arduino-powered token dispenser was later built to automate distribution and remove the dependency on student workers being present.
Accessibility · Physical Design · HardwareThe machine has three columns. Humans naturally gravitate toward symmetry — the center slot gets used disproportionately more than the outer ones. If artists were paid per use, the payout would be inequitable by design, with no way to guarantee fair distribution.
Making the machine completely free to use — and submissions free to make — eliminates this problem entirely. Every artist participates on equal footing. The value isn't a transaction; it's visibility, networking, and the experience of seeing your work in the world.
Equity · Ethics · Systems ThinkingIndependent projects that handle money need contracts, payment processing, tax documentation, and ongoing administrative work that a student-run project simply cannot sustain. Being non-profit isn't just idealistic — it's practical. It keeps the project lean, legal, and focused on its actual mission.
Free is easy. Non-profit is harder. But it's the right structure for a project designed to serve a community rather than extract value from it.
Non-Profit Design · Sustainability · CommunityRather than waiting indefinitely for a computer science collaborator, Claude AI was used as the coding instrument — with every design decision, feature spec, and judgment call directed by Sara. The tool accelerated execution without replacing the human authorship behind it.
This decision was made deliberately and transparently, and it directly mirrors the machine's own AI art policy: using AI as a tool is acceptable; letting AI replace your creative authorship is not. The same line applies here.
AI-Assisted Development · Ethics · TransparencyEarly in the project it became clear that the barriers to networking and self-expression — social friction, lack of a casual platform, not knowing how to start — weren't unique to one department. Creativity isn't bound by major, skill level, or career path.
The scope was expanded to include any RMU-affiliated creator. This made the machine more useful, more representative, and more aligned with its core mission: giving anyone who makes things a place to share them.
Inclusive Design · Community-Centered · Scope05 — Demo Day
The project was presented at a live Demo Day where I walked an audience through the full submission process — from opening the portal to generating a print-ready card. Afterwards, attendees could try the machine themselves in a one-on-one format.
Demonstrated the full portal flow in real time — uploading artwork, filling in social information, using the crop tool, and generating a finished trading card — communicating design decisions to a live audience.
After the presentation, viewers could try the physical machine themselves. This created a real-time usability moment — watching someone use the machine for the first time, observing where it worked and where questions arose.
Demo Day required translating two years of design thinking into a clear, compelling story for an audience who hadn't followed the process. Articulating problem, solution, and system coherently is itself a core UX skill.
06 — Outcome & Reflection
"This project changed how I think about problem-solving. I didn't set out to build a web portal, a print system, or a brand identity — I set out to help students share their art. Every piece of the system exists because a real need required it."
— Sara Heston, Project FounderAward
Presented by the Robert Morris University School of Communication and Media in recognition of the project's impact on supporting the creative community on campus.
