Overview
Arnie was a vending machine installed in the Arnold Worldwide office that dispensed beer to employees who scanned their badge — but only if their timesheet was up to date. We gave the machine its own identity, "Arnie," paired with a touchscreen interface full of playful interactions, turning a compliance mechanism into one of the most-loved fixtures in the office.Problem
Timesheet compliance is a perennial headache at agencies, and the usual tools — email reminders, manager nagging — rarely change behavior. At the same time, Arnold wanted something that boosted morale and gave the office a bit of personality. The challenge was finding one idea that could solve both problems at once, without feeling punitive.
Role and Responsibilities
I led the experience design for Arnie, from giving the machine a name and personality to designing the touchscreen interactions people saw when they walked up to it.
Solution
We tied the reward — a free beer — directly to a badge scan that checked timesheet status in real time. If your timesheet was current, Arnie poured you a drink and greeted you with a bit of personality on the touchscreen. If it wasn't, you got a friendly nudge instead.
Key Challenges
Designing a "personality" for a machine that was, underneath, enforcing a compliance rule — the goal was to make the interaction feel like a fun perk, not a gate or a punishment. Tying a physical kiosk experience to live HR/timesheet data in a way that felt instant and reliable was also a real engineering and UX challenge.
Results and Impact
Arnie became a genuine morale booster and a talked-about piece of office culture — people looked forward to using it, and it gave timesheet compliance a positive association instead of a negative one.
[We don't have exact compliance numbers, but anecdotally it noticeably increased on-time submissions.]
Reflection
Arnie is one of my favorite examples of solving a boring operational problem with personality and delight instead of more nagging.
Sometimes the best UX solution to a compliance problem isn't a better reminder — it's a better reward.