Design Research, Mechanical Engineering

SAP ENGAGE

SAP Engage is a side-by-side telepresence system designed for remote collaborative problem solving. As both a kiosk located in a customer's office and a workstation for SAP Support consultants, Engage is an experience which bridges the physical distance between customer and support, enabling each user to communicate in an natural manner and efficiently solve complex problems.

As SAP's consumer base expands, how should it's support department Active Global Support (AGS) evolve to meet the needs of the increasing amount of users?

For ME310 a 3-quarter sequence in Global Design and Innovation, our project sponsor was SAP, one of the leaders in enterprise software. Our project prompt was to design and create a physical product that would help its AGS department meet the needs of it expanding user-base.

When we first heard this prompt, our immediate thought was that this needed to be a digital solution. How may we build a physical product that will help AGS scale to such numbers?

Through need-finding research and interviews, we discovered the root of the problem was empathy and communication. We designed and fabricated SAP Engage, a fully functional prototype, to tackle this problem directly.

Key Findings

Current video calling and current telepresence technologies are formatted in a confrontational way versus the natural side-by-side orientation found in in-person tutoring/assistive scenarios. We literally put support at your side.

Face to Face

Side by Side

Unclear

Attention

Tracking

Clear Attention Cues

Knowing when you have someone's attention is key to feeling valued. We separated the person from the computer screen and positioned the camera at eye-level so that it's clear whether your partner is looking at you or the screen.

The size of the other person also had a key effect. Too large made people feel intimidated and too small made the other person seem lesser. We designed the projected image to accommodate the average human's height. In addition, we created a seamless transition into the projected workspace visually combining the two remote locations into the same space.

Large & Intimidating

Small & Lesser

Critical Components

Short-throw Projector: NEC U300X
- A standard projector would not work because the user's body would interfere with the projection.
- I designed and fabricated the custom mounting bracket out of 1/8" steel plate. The brackets was designed to hold the 15 lb projector safely and securely, upside-down and the appropriate distance from the wall.
Table-Tops: 3/4" Maple Plywood
- The table for Engage was cut out of 3/4” thick maple plywood. A 30” radius allowed enough space for the monitor to fit in the system while keeping it an ergonomic distance. A 32” height of the top of the table allowed more tolerance for users of different heights.
- I designed, shaped, and finished these parts.
10' x 10' Frame: 2x4 Wooden Structure
- A sturdy wooden frame that could be disassembled and reassembled.
Projection Screen: 1/8" Thick Styrene
- I sourced the Styrene due to it’s matte surface allowing light to be reflected without a harsh glare. Through testing and comparison styrene material also produced a brighter image than other comparable sturdy matte white surfaces. .
Wall Panels: 1/8" Frosted Acrylic
- Acrylic panels attached onto the wooden frame via velcro for easy disassembly and reassembly. I sourced the material and specified finish for its ability to bring out vivid colors from the projected image.
- I upholstered the lower half with a blue canvas to give it a more vibrant feel.
Camera: Microsoft LifeCam Studio
- We selected this camera because it has the same focal length as the human eye. The field of view of the video most closely resembles what a person would see sitting at a round table with someone next to them.
10-point touch monitor: A 21.5" Acer FT220HQL
- This was so the user can interact with the screen in the same way as sharing a physical document.

SAP Engage Demo Video

Skills Applied

Concept Visualization
Needfinding
Brainstorming
Rapid Prototyping
User-testing
Product Design
Experience Design
Project Management

Topics Covered

Telepresence technologies
Remote collaboration
Service and Support Industries
Human-centered Design
Collaborative Workspaces

Personal Takeaways

Accepting Ambiguity: I think the hardest part of this project was the early-stage processes of need-finding and problem definition. We were given a vague prompt with no specific user or problem in mind. When asking for clarification from the client, we would receive vague answers indicating they also did not really know what they were looking for. We could have gone in any direction we chose and we simply needed to trust our research and insights and go with it.

Go where your findings take you: As mechanical engineers, we were in the mindset that we wanted to build something cool and mechanically challenging. However, after numerous user-tests and interviews, our findings took us to a more experience-based direction. Rather than designing a new mechanical system, we combined a collection of existing technologies in a different way and created an entirely new experience. In a sense, that is exactly what innovation is; taking a look at what exists and applying it in a different way.

Over-Communicating > Under-Communicating: Working with a global team half-way across the world was tough. Aside from scheduling two different time-zones, communication was a common issue. Just when we thought we were both on the same page, a week later we would come back with completely different interpretations. Pictures, diagrams, and video conferencing were key in order to keep our team consistently on the same page. It became tedious at times but it was certainly necessary when working remotely.

Just do it: When you are on a tight schedule, you cannot simply sit on your butt and contemplate whether or not your idea is good. You need to get out there and TEST it! If you need a part, do not wait for the order, take what you can find and re-purpose them so that you can run quick and dirty tests while you wait for the right items to come in.

It's in the details: I used to be a big-picture type of person that doesn't sweat the small stuff. For telepresence, it really was in the details to make the experience feel real. The size of the person's image, how the camera needed to be eye-level to get that feeling of eye-contact, and how the edge of the desk appeared to blend in with the desk in the projection: These details are what took it from regular video-conferencing to making it feel like this person was really at your side, facilitating communication and empathy for each other as they worked on a solution for the consumer's problem.