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The problem
Everyone who experienced dealing with self-service banking terminals had faced difficulties, in one way or another, which somehow bothered such experience. Including:
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Unexpected flaws: such as: waiting in line for a non available service, without prior notice.
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Privacy concerns: forgetting the receipt or card, which might be collected by the next customer.
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Security Issues: being threatened by collecting cash in public, or even carry fair amount of cash for deposit.
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Time consuming: by waiting in line more than expectable.
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Confusing experience: older and novice people may spend more time in front of the machines to get to know how to complete their work.
To make things easier. It would be better, in addition to trying to fill the privacy/security gaps, to priorly arrange costumers tasks, to enhance the banking experience. This article will walkthrough a suggested model that would take into account important factors in improving the self service system design.
Previous works
Several works, found on the web, which trying to enhance the classic ATM interfaces (i.e. BBVA Model ).
Most of the works founded were trying to focus on provide a pleasurable user experiences, rather than a clear, simple, secure, private, and straightforward one. However, several key-valued ideas, which personally found to be effective, enriched in the suggested model, including:
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Privacy: designing the terminals to face the counter-direction of the waiting area/line. In such design, the customer won’t be bothered by people waiting behind, watching the transactions curiously.
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Simplicity: Minimise the input/output slots or methods, to be limited to a touch screen interface, in addition to one input or output slots, at maximum.
Proposed model: Pre-Assigning Self Service Banking
The proposed method would focus on redesigning the banking experience from two perspective: terminal(s) interaction design, and the system design as a whole.
The system would construct of one major (aka pre-assigning) terminal, and several banking terminals. The objective of the pre-assigning terminal is assign costumers to an appropriate terminal that would serve their needs in most efficient, safest and fastest way possible. In addition, both kinds of terminals (banking and pre-assigning terminal) should designed to be very simple; with only one slot, plus a touch screen interface. The features of the proposed model is discussed in the next sections.
Scenario
A customer inters the banking store, swipe his card on the pre-assigning terminal, inters his pin, and then requested to check what banking services he wants to do, in the desired order.
After that, he would receive a number to wait for his turn in one of the self-service banking terminal.
The customer would then listen and observe his number shown on one of the terminals signs. The terminal would ask again for his card pin number to double check. Then the customers would
be served as exact order he checked with the pre-assigning terminal.
Features
Chronology (timeliness)
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A major flaw costumers faced when dealing with self-service banking is how to arrange the tasks they want to do (withdraw, ask for receipt … etc ), at least in their minds. Which may put them in a confused, stressful moments. not to say how much time is wasted for the waited costumers. In the proposed model, such arrangement is left for the designed system.
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Take into account to check in advance if banking terminals had the requested services (withdraw amounts, ability to print receipt .. etc). For instance, majority of users don't check the balance before withdrawing, and those who have insufficient balance and ask for withdraw would be refused to served by the pre-assigning terminal. Moreover, no need for status indication on each banking terminal, with the pre-assigning terminal.
Perceived Privacy
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No ones knows anyone who’s doing: most of the customers are bothered by other curious customers knowing what they do exactly, not to mention security concerns. With the pre-assigned feature, the privacy is well preserved; there is no special terminal for withdrawal or deposit. It all depends on how the arrangement done according to the pre-assigning terminal.
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cash and receipt would be provided all together: customer more often forgot to take the receipt after a withdrawal request.
Enhanced security
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Quick, double authentication, the user would be requested to prove identity on each terminal in fastest way possible (e.g. swipe only authentication, Pin only authentication).
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A sensor would track the user movements. If the customer left the banking terminal for at least 5 seconds the transaction would end, to avoid situation where costumers may left a terminal with no ended task.
Less confusing and time consuming menu
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One slot only to receive and put cash.
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Save peoples time who are waiting by limiting the banking experience for what user chooses.
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If the service is not available (on the pre assigned terminal) , user notifies in advance rather than waiting for nothing.
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Good for novice and expert customers, experts will not be bothered by novice users, and vice versa.
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colourful Touch screen only, with large desecion choices and no physical buttons.
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Customer swipe their cards only once on the pre-assigning terminal. there is no chance for forgetting a card inserted in classic ATM machine(s).
Final thoughts: How can that be linked to HCI research?
This design perspective might be applied when human users need to access global/shared sensitive resource. (for example: a shared sensitive file (text document)), which preserved privacy, security and time management.
Inspiration
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http://freemindcorporation.com/franchise/kiosk-movies.html
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http://www.inass.org/share/2013033103.pdf
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http://www.ideo.com/work/redefining-self-service-banking-for-bbva/