How to Design a System that Everybody Hates

By Kevin Scoresby


Over the past couple of years, I’ve had a chance to interview many cashiers and evaluate many Point of Sale (POS) systems for usability. In the course of those studies, I’ve seen problems that companies should avoid when designing or redesigning employee POS systems. Below, I present a few common themes from my research.

The problems I describe are specific to POS installations—though the underlying principles can be applied to any computer system. Also, the examples I give relate to Quick Serve Restaurant (QSR) situations, since that is where the majority of my experience has been thus far.

1. FAILING TO CONSIDER THE END USER
When I’m hired to design a Point of Sale system, I always start with Field Studies—visits to actual sites where the cashiering system will be used. I nearly always find that the system doesn’t match employee processes, and that the employees have developed ways to “get around” the system and/or make up for system limitations.

Observing employees and conducting interviews at representative business sites are a critical first step in designing a quick and efficient POS system that reduces both errors and training time. Site visits also help ensure a redesign that considers the employee environment, including physical space constraints, distractions, etc.

2. CREATING CONFLICTS WITH THE REAL WORLD
Employees’ perceptions and expectations are shaped by a lot more than the computer system they use at work. Unfortunately, corporate development groups typically work in isolation and don’t adequately consider other inputs the cashier receives. The way menu boards talk about products, how training sheets are organized, etc. should all provide a consistent message to the user.

When I conduct Field Studies, I always analyze the way customers order so I can design the new system in a way that supports “conversation ordering”—one that matches the way customers order in the real world. Matching the system design to customer ordering patterns allows employees to work in more natural ways, make more eye contact with the customer, and interrupt less.

3. CLUTTERING THE SCREEN WITH UNNECESSARY OPTIONS
Far too often, cashiering systems offer options that don’t make sense in a particular context. Littering the display with discontinued products or products not carried at a particular location are obvious blunders. Less obvious are options that don’t fit with what the user is currently doing—like offering a “Dine In” option for cashiers at a Quick Serve Restaurant (QSR) Drive-Thru, or making condiment buttons available when the user has just ordered a large coke.

Clutter also happens when every option is presented at the same “volume”—when all buttons are the same size, brightness, etc. POS designers should identify options that are needed less frequently and make them less prominent, or move them out of the main flow all together. The “Pay by Check” button is a good example. Since credit card and cash payments are much more common in most situations, these options should proportionally more prominent than the “Pay by Check” option.

Associated Link: Full article: How to design a system that everybody hates

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