Dana’s user experience blog

Over the weekend, I went to a grocery store local to my home. Normally grocery shopping is not something I consider a good experience, user or otherwise. I walk faster than the average person, and I don’t like crowds. I’m irritated by not being able to find anything, and the minute I can find everything the store seems to get rearranged (apparently this is to entice me to buy more when I see new and interesting products in the space where the stuff I was looking for was last week, but it doesn’t work — it often means I leave the store without things I had intended to buy because I couldn’t find them).

Over the weekend, though, I left the store with a bounce in my step, because they had introduced something that made my life easier, and got me out of the store faster (and that small improvement was enough to change the whole tone of the visit — being a user experience geek, improved user experience — and therefore things I can blog about — really make me happy).

The usual scenario at checkout is one of three, at most stores:

1. Stand in a feeder line for one of several express checkouts, where people have usually jammed far more than 15 things into a basket (rather than getting a trolley) to delude themselves that they are entitled to use the express checkout. Then they pay with cash, only it never occurred to them to get their wallets out at any point prior to actually having to pay, so keep waiting while they find their wallet in a large purse or backpack, or in one of their 50 pockets. Not usually so express.
2. Stand in line for a self checkout machine, and pack your groceries yourself (I spent a summer as a packer, and I can pack into my own backpack, so I actually like packing my own groceries). If you’re lucky the machine behaves for those in front of you (and you) so that you don’t have to wait for a shop assistant to come and make it scan items correctly or deliver the right change (this is risky, so I don’t usually use this line).
3. Find a non-express line where the person in front of you is nearly done, and check out through there. Even if the person still has 30 or so items, there is only one transaction (and thus one chance for a lost wallet), and it is only the same number of items as two express checkout customers. This is my preferred option at larger supermarkets.

Clearly a large part of my irritation with supermarkets is the time I waste standing in line (I know, I could read the magazines, but I don’t like the ones they have on display, and besides…it feels a bit wrong to read a magazine someone else will take home). So recently at my local Safeway, having taken option 3 and being ready to pay for my groceries with my credit card I looked down at the credit card terminal while I was waiting and noticed something new: I could pre-swipe my card. The screen read “Paying by card? swipe now”, and so I did. I then selected my account, and had my transaction pre-approved — all this while the cashier was still scanning my groceries. This saves a significant amount of time once the groceries are packed (especially, if like me, you can never figure out which way to swipe your card) — all the check out operator had to do was ask me if I wanted cash out, and then, unusually in Australia, the machine accepted the PIN I have on my credit card (instead of forcing me to sign).

This pre-swipe thing saves time in three ways:

1. Encouraging shoppers to have their cards out ahead of time
2. The check out operator not having to ask how you want to pay for your groceries (if you have already swiped your card — if you haven’t, they will still have to ask)
3. The time taken to swipe the card and select the account (not insignificant if the card is being temperamental and/or like me you can’t figure out which way to swipe it.

There is also a fourth advantage, in that it gives shoppers something to do in that awkward time where talking to the checkout operator might annoy them or slow them down, but not talking to them feels rude. The time saving is, admittedly, in the process of grocery shopping relatively small, however, it probably represents a large saving in the time-per-transaction for the cashier (and therefore a labour cost savings for the store). In situations of long lines where people pre-swipe, though, or for those who loathe grocery shopping, this small time saving (and awkwardness aversion) can make a big difference to their experience. This is a win-win user experience improvement — it will save the grocery store money, and may have an impact on consumer impression of the store — I know it has improved my perception, and will make me more likely to use the Safeway that has implemented the system than others that have not.

Probably I shouldn’t be writing this post right now, because I am in a fit of pique with Connex over a trip that should have taken 15 minutes and actually took an hour and a half (and finished with me walking the final ten minutes because it was easier than staying on the train). Nonetheless, Connex recently provided me with an opportunity to point out that usability is not just for computers — after all the tag line of this blog is ‘because life can be simpler’, not ‘because computers can be simpler’.

Connex recently spent no small amount of money (I would dearly love to know just how much) publishing and handing out a booklet at several stations, written by the fictional Martin Merton about train etiquette. The booklet is named There is no ‘I’ in Carriage, presumably in a dismal attempt to satirize the old management adage “there is no ‘I’ in team”, and you can download it here (warning, PDF). I was handed the booklet one morning last week as I cut through Glenferrie Station, in front of the gates, not boarding a train (which is a usability glitch all on its own, because surely those known to be using the trains are a better reader group than those who simply happen to be near a station).

This book made some good points about manners on the train, for example how reading a newspaper affects the person next to you (though I do wonder how the Connex sponsored mX fits into this advice), and how certain gents’ fellow passengers would appreciate it if they kept their legs closed, thereby taking up only their own seat. The book did raise some problems, though, that would be better fixed by fixing the cause of the problem rather than issuing expensive advertising:

• Blocking the aisle: The book comments that ‘on an uncrowded train there is no excuse to stand in the aisle’. Well, on the face of it this does not seem unreasonable, except that there is very little “hanging on” space anywhere in the trains, and if the bars near the door are taken, the only place to hang on is in the aisles (and there is little room between the seats to get out of the way). By adding handstraps near the doors, more passngers would be able to stand out of the way.
• Backpacks: The book directs that backpacks should be placed on your lap or at your feet. Now, I don’t know about the rest of you, but I often carry a backpack, and if I am riding a train full of footy fans the last place I am going to put my backpack is at my feet; after all, I actually want to keep the stuff inside it, and chances of becoming separated from it during the surge of fans toward the stadium are pretty high. If, on busy trains, more time was allowed for people to get on and off, and more “holding on” points were available so that those not getting off could stand further from the doors, then I would be happy to put my backpack on the floor (as it is I never carry a backpack on the footy trains anyway, and in fact I try never to be on them, but for many people that kind of crowding is an everyday reality).
• ‘Special needs’ seats, feet on seats, and littering: These problems are caused by rude people, for sure, but they are also listed as offences subject to fines on all trains, so one possible systemic solution is simply to have more train inspectors and issue more fines. Better still, though, would be to provide more seating on each train, not have seats facing each other (which also leads to other uncomfortable social situations) and providing rubbish bins on the trains near the doors.

Of course, you can do everything in the world to make it easy for people to do the right thing, and some people still aren’t going to do it, such is human nature. However, in any system (and trains are a system) your money is much better spent making it easy for people to to the right thing (or use the system correctly) than retrofitting documentation, signage, and penalties to prevent them doing the wrong thing. I wish Connex had spent the money they spent on this campaign adding handstraps to the trains, because I know for certain that would have made riding the train easier, but I have yet to see any difference as a result of the booklets. For a post about trains that have some nice usability features (though not in so many words), see Tony’s post about Japanese trains.