Designers
Designers
Designers
The Coffee Playlab
A simple, human way to make our daily coffee clearer, calmer, and more confident.
Key Words
Designers
Nanda Catalina Sanchez Avella
SUMMARY
The Coffee Playlab is a 90-minute, barista-led workshop for everyday people who treat coffee as a ritual but feel lost in the language. I started by looking at my own relationship with coffee, then interviewed 16 drinkers and observed cafés: about 90% wished they knew more and couldn’t describe what they like. I prototyped and tested a guided flow: context, tasting, mini-lexicon, sensory play, games. It matters because two-thirds of adults drink coffee daily; giving them words makes that daily ritual clearer, calmer, and more confident.
challenge
I identified three key gaps: people deeply value coffee as a ritual, yet about 90% of my interviewees felt unsure describing what they like; cafés offer inconsistent guidance; and the growing specialty market demands more consumer literacy. Through interviews, surveys, and shop observations, it became clear that the need isn’t “better coffee” but better confidence: a simple, welcoming way for drinkers to learn without disrupting the ritual they care about.
Outcome
The project became The Coffee Playlab: a 90-minute, barista-led workshop that teaches everyday drinkers to taste, name, and confidently choose what they like. Its guided flow (context, A-B-C tasting, mini lexicon, sensory play, and light testing) directly addresses the confidence gap I observed. It gives people clear language without disrupting the ritual they value, creating a calm, fun learning space that the current market and café experience don’t provide.
MEET THE Designers:
Nanda Catalina Sanchez Avella