[IxDA Discuss] ATM interaction design

[Trip O'Dell]

One of my favorite gripes of all time! For as much as ATMs are  
utilized, the design is AWFUL (don't even get me started on automated  
checkout systems). I agree with almost everything you're saying, but....

> -My ATM makes me indicate that I would like to continue in English. I
> live near Chinatown and Little Italy in San Francisco and I do think
> they should offer at least Chinese and Italian and Spanish in my
> neighborhood, but they shouldn't make English speakers press a button
> to continue in English. They should just assume that I want to
> continue in English (by saying "Enter your PIN" in the English
> language) and at the bottom of that page have the language options.

I disagree, the bank should know your preferred language when you  
sign up for an ATM card. (or at least give you the option to note it  
either on the application or change it online).


>
> -Wording. It asks me two questions before it lets me get my cash--
> whether I want a receipt and whether I want to see my balance first.
> These seem like reasonable things to ask, but my choices for answers
> are 'Sure' and 'No, thanks'. What's wrong with 'Yes' and 'No'? I just
> want my money. I don't need the machine to try and be friendly. I see
> all the metal. I'm not fooled. If my choices were words like 'Yes'
> and 'No', then I think that the whole process would go more quickly.
> I'd be tempted to not even ask questions and just present the user
> with pairs of buttons: 'Receipt' and 'No receipt', and (on the next
> screen) 'See Balance' and 'No'.

This one is a toss up for me. I bet (no research here, just a hunch)  
that the majority of users don't check the balance before  
withdrawing, and those that would choose that option first will just  
as easily select that option from the first menu (if the bank doesn't  
bury it on the second screen). I've seen some machines ask after the  
withdraw is submitted if I want to see my balance on the receipt - I  
suppose this is a privacy/security measure, but it seems like one  
more unnecessary choice to confuse a user.

>
> -It would be great if my ATM could remember what I usually do. I
> usually ask for $100 from checking, no receipt, no balance. If I
> entered my card and then my PIN and then saw a button that said '$100
> from checking - no receipt', that would be great. That would be my
> favorite button. And then it could just offer me the other options if
> I needed them.

Agreed - but I would take it a step further. I would allow users to  
configure their own atm options on the bank website. Including the  
ability to enforce a personal limit on how much can be withdrawn in a  
single transaction, or even where the card can be used (in the case  
of a debit card). This would be a tremendous benefit to the customer  
in terms of allowing them to control their own security, as well as a  
value add for the bank. If my bank allowed me to define my own ATM  
setup on their in-system machines, I would be far less likely to go  
out of system (fees aside).  Banks talk a lot about bricks and  
clicks, but most banking sites don't do much more than speed up the  
same-old pre-internet/pre cashless consumer transactions. My wife and  
I almost never use cash, but I recognize that with the current  
system, its only a matter of time before someone gets ahold of my  
card, or worse yet, good credit. The security focus has been on  
making the technology "smart" to defend people from themselves -  
which never works.  I think they should focus on giving the user the  
tools to defend themselves.


>
> -I saw this really cool keypad in Germany as I was entering my
> friend's apartment building--the keys were clear and plasticky and
> numbers on the keypad were generated digitally underneath and the
> positions of the numbers changed. This means that the top row wasn't
> always 1 2 3 and the second row wasn't always 4 5 6. They might have
> been 7 4 3 and 9 1 6. This (I assume) was so that people looking at
> you from far away watching where your fingers moved wouldn't be able
> to deduce your access code. I'd like one of those on my ATM. :)
>
That's pretty cool, but I don't think that would pass muster under  
the ADA (unless the keys also support dynamic braille). I also think  
it would cause many users difficulty (myself included). I'm  
dyslexic.  So I can't always count on "seeing" correctly. I use other  
means to remember passwords - pneumonic, chunking, patterns. If I had  
to rely on remembering the correct numbers in the correct order  
without the use of these contextual cues, I'd be one broke dude.


Trip