A very touchy interaction
Wednesday, November 21, 2007 |
Recently I was asked to do some last minute consulting work on JetStar's e-ticket check-in kiosk. The kiosk was a bright orange box and incorporated two monitors and several peripherals; an infrared scanner (which uses new technology, invisible to the eye), the credit card reader and the printer. The on-screen graphics aimed to inform the confused traveller about which of these intimate interactions to use and what could be gained by such a romantic exchange of personal data. Simply put, most of my advice aimed to create a better visual relationship between the icons onscreen and the icons painted onto the kiosk (visible in screengrab above). Reducing the time it takes to self check-in literally saves money and an incremental decrease of 30 seconds is a really big deal. It was an interesting project which got me thinking more about how people use the device, their expectations and how important context is when designing interactions. For example;
These are just a few considerations. Every device is different and I am reminded of how important it is to consider design in a broader setting. I am often disappointed by the usability of ticket machines, ATM's and other devices. Often all it is is a poor marriage between the hardware and what's happening on screen. Maybe designers and engineers need to collaborate more often or maybe the world just needs more marriage guidance councillors? |
Tim Kotsiakos, Creative Director
Labels: Design and Usability, Reactive
