Project type: IoT Device // Client: Sazerac Distilleries // Employer: Peter Mayer Advertising
The device was offered as a POC for one of our clients, Sazerac Distilleries.
Tinkershot: Experimenting with IoT and Human-Centered Design
THE CHALLENGE
How might we explore new modes of interaction beyond the screen?
To push creativity, I helped plan and launch our team’s Innovation Lab (Tinker Lab) — a space where designers and developers could experiment with emerging tech and human-centered design methods from IDEO. It became a playground for rapid prototyping, collaboration, and unexpected ideas.
One of our favorite experiments to come out of it was Tinkershot, an IoT device that could pour a shot, snap a photo, and post it to Twitter automatically. Think of it as a social drinking robot that connected the digital and physical worlds. In hindsight, it was a little ahead of its time, perfect for remote celebrations in a pandemic world: contact-free, socially responsible, and a little bit cheeky.
MY ROLE
I led the hardware design and UX prototyping, collaborating closely with my software partner, the talented Keegan Brown.
My process included:
Discovery research to identify opportunities for playful, shareable tech experiences
Ideation workshops with our team using sketching, paper prototypes, and quick mockups
Product design and build, from wiring sensors to shaping the user flow
User testing (a lot of it!) to refine timing, interaction feedback, and the overall experience
The lab was an unused cubicle.
HOW IT WORKED
Here’s the magic behind the curtain:
A user tweets to the Tinkershot device
The Raspberry Pi receives the message and tells the Arduino to activate the pump
The shot glass fills with liquor
When the glass is lifted, a force sensor triggers the camera
The photo posts instantly to the user’s Twitter feed (complete with a branded watermark)
Tinkershot combined a Raspberry Pi, Arduino, camera module, peristaltic pump, force sensor, and Node.js with the Twitter API, a blend of hardware hacking and social interaction design.
TAKEAWAY
Tinkershot reminded me how valuable it is to experiment without constraints. It wasn’t about building a perfect product, it was about learning, collaborating, and using technology to create moments of connection and delight.
