Redesigning an ATM Interface

Introduction
In order to evaluate the usability of a system always judge how it performs for a typical usage. A few months back I presented in an HCI workshop for the benefit of engineering college faculties of Hyderabad. Usability is now being introduced at the graduation level and this presentation was an introduction to usability for these teachers. In the presentation I evaluated many systems for them, including an ATM Machine.

The pattern of evaluation was like this-
1. Identify the Usage Pattern of the Device or System
2. Evaluate whether the system facilitates the Usage Pattern
3. If not, then suggest improvements in design


Applying this to the ATM Interface

1. Identify the Usage Pattern of the Device or System

• Instant Cash Anywhere Anytime
• Quick and Easy cash
• For anyone literate or illiterate
• Most of the time amount withdrawn is the same
• Language chosen is same everytime
• Account time for a card is the same.

2. Evaluate whether the system facilitates the Usage Pattern

• ATM does not identify the account - Once the user enters the pass-code the system asks the user to select an account. But to my knowledge a card can be linked to only one account.
• It does not remember things - The user specifies the same language everytime. Why does not the ATM get it once and for all.
• Does not consider the typical usage - The user is got the habit of withdrawing the same amount over 90% of the time, so it should allow for dispensing that amount(checking from transaction history) at the click of a single button rather than having the user to enter the amount again (3 or more keystrokes).
• No prior notice of money finishing - There is always a queue that shifts from one ATM to another when the money gets over. Instead if a prior warning is given then users can find alternate means to take out money instead of wasting time in the queue.
• Does not simplify things - I have seen in many ATMs that in order to withdraw money, the ATM asks you to enter the amount to 2 decimal points, like 500.00. Will the ATM take out 50 paise if I do fill it?

3. Improvements in Design

• Adapt to the common scenario - The longer the process the harder it is for the user. So ask only what you wouldn't know at that point.
• Ask one time preferences only once -Language is one such thing.
• Simplify the Process - Identify the usage pattern and keep it as the default settings

So here it is. There are many more things you can do once you sit and start thinking. These are only a few of them.

Actual Implementation
Wells Fargo has recently changed the design of their 7000 or so ATMs to make it more user friendly.

Read Wells Fargo ATM Redesign

Science of Interruption

A good article on this very different field of psychology that studies attention deficit problems in users.

"Information is no longer a scarce resource - attention is.... Computer-based interruptions fall into a sort of Heisenbergian uncertainty trap: it is difficult to know whether an e-mail message is worth interrupting your work for unless you open and read it - at which point you have, of course, interrupted yourself. Our software tools were essentially designed to compete with one another for our attention, like needy toddlers."

The Complete Article

Orkut vs.Facebook

Nice article comparing stats and user experience.
Read Here

Banking Exercise

Dear Visitor,

Please complete the exercise and add your valuable inputs to the design of banking sites. As part of this exercise, you have tell the suitable location of the following objects in the grid below. The grid is for saving account online. You see this screen first thing when you log into your account. The objects are -

1. Account Balance
2. My Recent Transactions
3. Reward Points Accumulated
4. Pending Transactions
5. New Offers and Schemes
6. Link to other related accounts
7. Ads
8. Local Navigation

The Grid -















Please write the location numbers again each item in the comments section of this entry.

Thanks for your help and time! :)

Remembering Passwords

Q)How does one remember something?
A) When the mental artifact shifts from the STM (Short Term Memory) to LTM (Long Term Memory).

How does this process happen? One of the ways is through mugging. Now all of us are not smart enough to mug all the time. So when we encounter the artifact again and again in our tasks it gets imprinted in our minds eventually.

For Instance, they teach you in school that the capital of France is Paris in grade 1. You may or may not remember it. Maybe you remember it for the tests but then you forget it. So in grade 2 you encounter the same piece of information again. And again in the third grade. So finally it registers in the mind that the capital of France is Paris.

Forgetting Password
Similarly with Passwords. For the Accounts that you check more regularly the passwords are easier to remember because you encounter that piece of information everyday and hence you 'Remember' it. For accounts that you do not access frequently, the passwords are not remembered. Specially the accounts that you check once in 2 months or more. More so because you have many accounts online each with different usernames and passwords.

As a result, users forget their passwords. Now comes the usability issue. What many sites do is generate a new one instead of sharing the old one on the pretext of more security. This means that the user has now to remember a new piece of information. So sending him a new password as initiated a new cycle of forgetfulness. It has not helped the user remember it. This is because the user does not encounter the same piece of information for him to remember. Instead he has the challenge of remembering an altogether new piece of information.

Remembering Password
Instead the user should help the user encounter the same piece of information to the user by either giving him hints or mailing him his password. This ensures that the user eventually remembers his password. The users can delete the main containing the password immediately after getting the password is security is such an issue.

A word of Caution
When user does not remember passwords, he tends to note it down somewhere which is again a huge security breach. Instead its best the user remembers the password. We should therefore take steps towards making the user remember his password.

Analysis of 2 rupee coin

The new 2 rupee coin glistened under the KFC lights and as I took a closer look at its over simplified imagery and smooth form it looked unlike any other Indian coin I ever saw. To test its unique design would be great fun.

And so it begins, the experiment to know how usable the new design was.
Me: So here's a bag that contains different coins and kindly pick up a 1 rupee coin in 5 sec.
Subject A: (Moving hands in the bag) Here it is.
Me: Thanks, who is next?

After testing with half a dozen subjects, the results showed that 1 rupee coin was taken out successfully only half of the time and the in the rest of the cases it was the brand new 2 rupee coin that took its place.

A similar experiment followed with a 5 rupee coin with 100% success rate.

As we analysed why it happened,
We realized that the subjects while hunting for the 1 rupee coin, felt for smooth texture, lighter weight and limited thickness.

The premise for conducting such an experiment was to enact the real life example of taking coin out in a jiffy say while paying back to the auto fellow who is dying to leave, a crowded supermarket where people behind you are waiting in the queue, in a bus where you cannot let go of the handle bars for too long to pay the money for the ticket, etc. Coins are always given in a hurry also pertaining to its low currency value. So then fundamental charcteristics of shape, texture, weight and volume come into play very significantly.

So we placed a 1 rupee, the new 2 rupee and old 2 rupee coins on my palm with their backs upside and asked people around to tell me the currency on each one of them. They all gave correct answers for the 1 rupee and the old 2 rupee coin and but but not for the new 2 rupee coin. Besides the reason that it was new and wasn't very familiar to people, the new 2 rupee coin was hardly distinguishable from the 1 rupee coin. Also how is a visually impaired person supposed to make it out from the old 1 rupee coin? How are the millions of illiterate people we have in our country supposed to make it out from the old 1 rupee coin ?

So what goes in while designing a good coin?
Very fundamental things like size, shape, color, texture, weight, etc. All the factors that identify it in less that a second. Things where people don't have to read the text on the coin. Something that is accessible to everyone.

So let's start making life simple starting with the small things in life.

scientifically correct experiment

In any scientific experiment, if you want to find out if something works you isolate it. You make sure that all other factors that may influence the outcome of the experiment are as predictable as possible. Thus any reaction to the experiment is a reaction to the one unknown factor you allow.

In web design terms, any user feedback on or statistics of the site as a whole should ideally reflect only on your new idea. All items other than your new idea should be well known, even a bit boring, so that your visitors will use them without thinking and won't comment on them.

Of course, web development is not an exact science--far from it. Truly scientific experiments cannot be performed on web sites, since even the simplest site contains far too many unknown factors.