Barista

“Barista” is one of our psychometric games. A lot of data can be collected in a short period of time with the use of gaming technology. This way, a psychological construct can be measured quickly but carefully. Playing the games is also fun and stimulating. Rather than taking a traditional test, the candidate serves customers beverages – just like a barista. 

“Barista” is based on facial expression recognition tasks often used in science to measure emotion recognition. Emotion recognition is the ability to observe and recognise emotions. Knowing how others are feeling is important in communicating with them. With that in mind, emotion recognition is a crucial building block of emotional intelligence. To be able to understand or even predict or influence other people’s way of thinking and behaviour through communication, we must first recognise their feelings and emotions. Not being able to understand how others feel could lead to miscommunication or even conflict.

“Barista” begins with a tutorial, before the game itself starts. During the game the candidate, as a barista, must serve customers the correct beverage as quickly as possible. The candidate needs to identify the customer’s emotion and grab the mug that belongs to that emotion. The beverage is then made and served. While there are just a few customers in the beginning, it gradually gets busier and busier. 

Application

“Barista” can be applied in all situations in which insight in emotion recognition is important, including employee selection and career advice scenarios. In communicating with others, being able to recognise others’ feelings is key. This means emotion recognition is crucial for positions that require working closely with colleagues or serving customers, such as sales or managerial positions or positions within social services.