I have loved and used a single serve coffee maker for years and enjoy the versatility of the pods. However, I also have visited specialty coffee shops that only package their ground coffee in bags and didn't want to mess around with packing ground coffee into reusable pods. I was intrigued by this coffee maker that would allow me to do both! The single serve side was easy enough to use and very similar to other pod style makers as was the 12 cup side. The instruction booklet had clear, easy to understand instructions which I appreciated when programming but honestly could have figured it out without them.