ZC100/300 Series ID Card Printer 2017-2018

Designers: Zebra Innovation & Design Team, Zebra Technologies, Holtsville, New York, USA
Manufacturer: Zebra Technologies, Holtsville, New York, USA

What is it?

The ZC100 and ZC300 are specialized card printers designed to securely print a wide range of identification, payment and membership cards used in retail, finance, hospitality, and educational markets. The design addresses key end-user needs with user interface simplicity, self-aligning media and intuitiveness of card loading & removal. It is designed to be slimmest in the industry, taking up less desktop space and presenting the user with only the essential interaction points.

Challenge Faced

Predecessor to ZC100/300 Card Printer had best in class technical performance, print quality, reliability and throughput addressing historical Enterprise purchasing criteria. Today, in addition to superb performance, customers seek solutions that also focus on ease of use and intuitive set- up. The challenge of this program was to identify design opportunities across all possible touch points, strive to create user focused simplicity, ergonomics, ease- of- use and increased fit to the business environment. In our initial research and studies of existing products, our design team discovered 21 potential areas for improvements leading us to a user experience driven design activity, challenging formerly established technical assumptions in favor of user driven insights.

Unique Design

ZC100/300 offers slimmest footprint in the industry to minimize the limited desk space. The side panels are designed to visually slim and focus the user on the essential interaction areas. As the covers come forward, they narrow towards the card media to reduce the frontal area and minimize the overall perception of size.

It is the only printer in its class that can accept any card thickness, eliminating the need for the user to manually set for thickness. Simply put, you open the hopper door, insert the cards and close the door. Surprisingly obvious, yet technically challenging. A challenge identified as essential based on our user research.

With the unique “Saloon” style doors users can remove a single or stack of cards (or any amount) without concern for the rest falling out. Other printers have doors or trays that offer only single or full- tray removal.

• The main top cover is designed for “one handed – one step” media access. Other printers require multiple steps and change of hand positions. Once opened, our intuitive ribbon cartridge grip is prominently presented to the user and easily removed. Extensive human factors studies and mock- ups led to the intuitive grip, insertion and removal experience.
• The flipper module for dual sided card printing is designed to be recessive in the back to reduce visual bulk. However, if visible, we created the top enclosure translucent to celebrate the mechanical actions.

User Experience

ZC100/300 is completely redesigned to improve touch points including setting up, configuring, designing the cards, printing and handling the media. The following are examples of how we delivered delight for our target audience:

Common sales channels go through resellers where they demo products showcasing attributes and value propositions. The ZC100/300 stands out by its streamlined stance and slimness grab immediate attention at first sight. The second moment of truth is that demos must go flawlessly. The new design delights by its simplicity, intuitiveness of handling medias and design refinements that is hard to go unnoticed inside and out.

• Enterprise customers are delighted to learn that side panels are customizable to enable the promotion of their brand. The set- up experience is also significantly simplified to enhance the initial product experience.

For the operator, delight is delivered by simplicity of use, thoughtful ergonomics and Form Factor.