Middleby

Originally, ICON was brought on to design a POS system for the FRYBOT—but the client got a whole lot more than they expected. I was the idea guy and Creative Director on the project, working alongside a Senior UI Designer to bring the experience to life. And let’s just say... we came back with some delightfully unexpected ideas.

One of the standout concepts? Letting in-store customers control the robot’s movements. Yep—heads definitely exploded. While the feature wasn’t developed (at least not yet), the idea was to let customers at XYZ Burger Chain use the XYZ app to send a custom “robot dance move” to the FRYBOT. Not while it was cooking, of course—but once idle, imagine it breaking into a little routine. The robot doing the robot? Instant brand moment.

During research, I noticed that most fast food operators planned to put the FRYBOT behind glass to show it off to customers. So we leaned into that and pitched interactive features as a way to boost customer engagement.

We also extended this thinking to the staff experience. One pitch involved letting crew members play games like rock-paper-scissors with the robot to build a sense of connection—making it feel less like a machine and more like a teammate. It was about blending automation with personality, and making the FRYBOT something people could connect with—not just watch.