Most of us have become familiar with ATMs of varying styles and sizes. Drive- thru, stand-up, kiosk-style, standalone ATM structure, part of a bank wall or lobbythese machines are everywhere. One can go to another bank and pay a fee if he or she needs cash right away. An individual can travel the world and get cash in the local currency just by inserting his or her ATM/debit card, enter- ing the PIN, and making a few choices, hopefully in a language that the user understands. Many ATMs have multi-lingual options now. Many banking mobile apps allow for many of the same transactions that an ATM provides except getting cash. So, lets limit this case study to just physical ATMs, an example of which appears as Fig. 6.1.

As for any device, the user interface for ATMs has evolved, from a more prim- itive electronic keypad to a magnificent, immersive experience of touchscreen displays with animated advertisements, tones signaling completion of task steps or key presses, color and font choices to improve the appearance while remain- ing consistent with the bank brand, and the latest security features such as small mirrors to see behind the customer, security cameras recording the customers presence for safety, copious lighting at night, and card entry points that hinder skimming or copying of ATM cards by thieves and fraudsters.

When learning about usability of the user interface for an ATM, after reviewing Chapters 15 of this text, go visit the nearest ATM. (Disclaimer: The authors cer- tainly understand it takes more than a few minutes to understand usability meth- ods and techniques, but please read on regarding this usability experiment.)

Designers could run a stopwatch as the user withdraws a specified amount at multiple ATMs, record their movements, watch them move from keypad for PIN entry to touchscreen for the withdrawal step(s) with prompting for receipt the experienced user is like a one-person band playing multiple instrumentsto get that end result (cash in hand, with or without receipt, ATM card returned, account updated, quickly and safely). Visualize the statistical data that can be captured from this usability experiment:

TimetocompletealltasksoverastatisticallysignificantsetofATMs

TimeexpendedfortheseATMstepsorsubtasks:

Entrance into ATM (approach ATM, read instructions to get started, insert card, enter PIN, continue following prompted instructions)

Enter commands to make withdrawal

Receive cash, optional receipt, and card returned (with the preferred goal

of leaving a positive balance in the account)

Objectiveandsubjectiveuserfeedbackandcontextualobservationregarding user performance of the above ATM steps

To complicate things, lets add an eye-tracker, key-logging tool to record key- board and/or touchscreen data entries, record any errors, document navigation steps taken, and have the user enunciate steps taken with commentary in a think-aloud protocolfor example, I am now going to insert my ATM card into the machine. Consider having a team record this event in a video to analyze later as is done in user experience labs. An excellent set of guiding principles for user experience appears in Hartson and Pyla (2012).

The amount of data to analyze is growing! The previous chapter (Chapter 5) discusses how to structure this usability evaluation to make this process practi- cal and finite.

Designers who study neighborhood ATMs and review current literature from ATM developers or other vendors can develop a useful competitive fea- ture analysis. One intriguing design for an ATM kiosk in developing countries is discussed in Birnie (2011). Numerous ATM screenshot examples and ATM designs can be found by a quick web search, illustrating style alternatives world- wide of current ATM machine design.

Look at the ATM design for accessibility, i.e., universal usability (see Chapter 2). Consider some of the guidelines, principles, and theories that drive the design (Chapter 3), often resulting in a style guide that merges these concepts with product branding to ensure an end result that fits the business objective for the ATM. Of course, manage the design process in an organized, well-defined, user- centered, iterative fashion (Chapter 4).

Once this usability experimentation and literature search is complete, design- ers could enter the next life-cycle (design) phase. Think of this as an incremental continuous improvement. The data collected can be analyzed to arrive at con- crete, data-driven design interventions that may improve the user experience. These alternative designs can then be sketched and prototyped as discussed in Buxton (2007) and Greenberg et al. (2011). Make sure to review Chapters 45 of this book for design and evaluation processes.

Designs can then be documented, tradeoffs between alternative designs evalu- ated, and specifications written for an improved ATM design. Iterative design is the best approach here, with design prototypes developed, evaluated, and improved. Again, striving to make this process complete yet finite is the challenge. Typically, a delivery deadline will drive the depth and fidelity of any prototyping effortfor example, the next-generation prototype ATM needs to appear and be operational at a trade show on a specific date and location. Some clients require capability dem- onstrations, where the increasing fidelity of the prototype is shown in proof of concept demonstrations following a planned, incremental development strategy.

Sales commitments are made, final implementation continues, ATMs built, delivered, and fitted into a physical structure and integrated into the banking network, bank personnel are trained, customers are notified, and so on, to bring these products online.

Observations

Does the analysis of the usability of the newly installed ATM stop here? Certainly not. Continue gathering feedback from customers and monitoring implementation success. Consider rolling out test sites (e.g., beta testing) to first ensure new designs are accepted on a smaller scale. These business decisions are tightly coupled to the design and usability results discussed here. Ultimately, as in many user-interface designs, the success of a product is often judged by the user interface.

At this point in the life cycle of the ATM case study, the following possible scenario could occur: In the ideal situation, everything works perfectly and the bank clients love the new design. System performance is terrific, cost per trans- action drops, profits are up, and customers flock to the bank to use the new ATMs.

Realistically, some changes may need to be made. There could be numerous unanticipated user transition and acceptance issues. The bank could hire someone to independently develop an alternative user experience. The bank captures data from the deployed systems to methodically (like a software upgrade) roll out improvements to the ATM network. The feedback loop continues.

The remainder of this chapter focuses on two specific design case studies and how the organizations approached their user-interface challenges.

Need summary of above case.