Interface Design: TASK ANALYSIS: PERSONAS, GOALS AND SCENERIOS

The ATM (Automated Teller Machine) provides a convenient service of allowing users to access their bank account, in order to, make cash withdrawals, view their account balance or to transfer funds from one account to another. Users of the ATM need not waste time in long bank lines, fill withdrawal slips, nor deal with curious clerks. Even though the ATM eliminates such hindrances, it is not the ideal solution. The ATM is not and efficient system, which does not have a user-friendly interface, yet.

Each bank provides an ATM service, but do not exclusively house these systems. Gas stations, delis, supermarkets, restaurants, and numerous other locations house ATMs too, making these stand-alone machines more convenient over those in banks, despite that the ATMs in banks are better designed and therefore comparatively easy to use. The stand-alone ATM needs to improve its system and interface, far beyond that of bank ATMs, to become efficient, time-effective and user-friendly.

However, in order to improve any system, the problems have to be first identified. I shall conduct a usability test to understand the user and his/her tasks, and the context of their actions. To perform a usability test, a questionnaire must be developed.

Preliminary User Observation

In order to devise questions, I first observed current users interacting with a particular ATM, making note of the general experience. The information I gather will help design interview questions that the persona will be asked during the usability test. I choose to analyze a ATM located in a busy mid-town deli. In this preliminary observation, I noticed the following:

Certain users browse the store looking for the ATM.
Certain users look skeptically around them before beginning the transaction process.
Certain users, particularly the female users, take additional time retrieving their cards from their purses and wallets.
Certain users swipe their cards two to three times.
Certain users cancel their transaction once they learn that the fee was two dollars.
Certain users throw their receipts as soon as they receive it.
Certain users forget to end their transaction once they have withdrawn cash and the received the receipt.

Once the preliminary user observation is conducted, I choose a user to base the task analysis upon, and create their persona.

Persona

Name: Maxcely Xavier
Age: 20
Education: Junior architecture student, NYIT, Manhattan. Maxcely is a transfer student from India. She has been in USA for the last two years as an international student.
Job: As an international student, Maxcely can only work on-campus. She is working in the Student Affairs Office as a receptionist, and earns up to $200 weekly.
Major Responsibilities: Maxcely’s father funds her education, paying for her tuition from India. Maxcely is currently living with her Aunt and Uncle in New Jersey. She therefore does not have to pay rent or any bills, and uses her income solely for her needs. As an international student her only priority is school.
Family Status: Maxcely is from an upper-middle class family in India, however, due to the difference in currency-value between the Indian Rupee and the American Dollar, she is reluctant to spend and lives frugally.
Goals in Relation to Interface: Maxcely uses the ATM machine mostly to withdraw cash, and at times to check her account balance. However, she almost always tries to use her bank’s ATM, even if it means that she would need to walk a couple of blocks to her bank.
Tasks in Relation to Interface: Maxcely is accustomed to using the ATMs provided by her bank. She is now familiar with their process; where the card slot is located on the machine, the sequence of questions, the layout of each page. Even though the process Maxcely goes through in her bank’s ATM is not much different from that of a stand-alone ATM, she is not able to perform the tasks of the latter as effortlessly and efficiently.
Environment: Maxcely spends majority of her time at college, in the heart of New York City. This metropolitan area is densely populated, bringing together a range of demographics that influence global commerce, finance, media, culture, art, fashion, research, education, and entertainment.
Persona Priorities: “I always buy my lunch from the street carts because they are much cheaper, but this means that I always in the need of cash. I usually go to my bank to withdraw cash, but at sometimes I run short on time and will use the closest ATM”.

Usability Test

User-generated Tasks:

The user, Maxcely, needs to withdraw cash from her account using the ATM. The following steps reveal her process:

Looks around the store to ensure others around us are not observing her.
Points out the security camera dubiously positioned directly above the ATM.
Uncertain which card she may use in this particular ATM (debit card, credit card or ATM card), she decides to use her debit card.
Swipes card in the card slot.
Waits.
Reads the message that appears on the display, “Please insert and remove your card quickly”.
Swipes her card again, following the instructions she received.
Waits.
Card is read by the machine, and the display now asks her to choose a language from English, French and Spanish
Attempts to make a choice by hitting the options onscreen, when she realizes that it is not a touch screen display.
Using the buttons along the side of the display, she mistakenly chooses the incorrect language.
Unable to undo her action, she is forced to cancel her transaction and restart the process.
Once she is asked to choose a language again, she correctly chooses English.
ATM requires that she enter her PIN code.
Inputs her code using the dial pad.
Accepting her PIN code, the ATM asks her to choose an activity, “Withdrawal”, “Transfer” or “Balance”.
Chooses to “Withdraw”.
Reads through the service fee acceptance: “FEE NOTICE to U.S. cardholders: The owner of this terminal, MG charges a fee of …. $2 for CASH WITHDRAWALS. This fee is in addition to the fee your financial institution may charge. DO YOU WISH TO CONTINE?”
Accepting the $2 fee in dismay, she accepts.
ATM asks her to choose a “WITHDRAWAL TYPE”: “Checking”, “Saving” or “Credit Card”.
Chooses to withdraw from her savings.
ATM asks to select the amount she would like to withdraw: “$20”, “$40”, “$60”, “$80” or “$100”.
Forced to choose from the pre-determined amounts, she selects “$20.”
Waits.
ATM informs her that “NO ACCOUNT FOUND”.
Receipt prints ending the transaction without fulfilling her withdrawal request.
I explaining that perhaps it is because her savings account may not be accessible, she tries the again. Repeating the process, she chooses to access her “Checking” account this time around.
Again, she chooses to withdraw “$20”.
Display reads, “CONNECTING… PLEASE WAIT”.
Waits.
Display reads, “DISPENSING CASH”.
Waits. Frustration builds.
Retrieves cash dispensed.
Retrieves receipt printout.
Begins to leave assuming her transaction has ended, when I call after her, pointing out that she must hit “CANCEL” once she has completed her activity in order to end her transaction.
Hits “CANCEL” and ends transaction.

This entire process took the user four and a half minutes.

Pre-defined Tasks:

Once cash is successfully withdrawn, I ask the user to perform other activities the ATM offers, such as transfer funds between accounts, and check account balance. The user is unable to perform the former since she has access to one account, but attempts the latter task of checking her account balance. The following steps reveal her process:

Swipes debit card in the card slot.
Waits.
Machine reads card, and asks to choose a language from English, French or Spanish.
Using the buttons along the side of the display, she chooses English.
ATM requires that she enter her PIN code.
Inputs her code using the dial pad.
Accepting her PIN code, the ATM asks her to choose an activity: “Withdrawal”, “Transfer” or “Balance”.
Chooses to check “Balance”.
Waits.
Receives printout with a figure of the total amount of funds available in that account.
Hits “CANCEL” to end account activity.

This is the first time this user has performed this activity on an ATM; she usually checks her account balance through her bank’s website. In spite of the unfamiliar process, the user thought it was a comparative easy and quick task. Additionally, the user is pleased that she was not charged a service fee.

Goals:

The user, Maxcely, approaches the ATM knowing exactly what she wants to achieve:

Needs to withdraw cash from her account using her bankcard.
Needs to retrieve cash in the most time-efficient manner possible, which is why she chooses to use the ATM located closest to her (in the corner deli).

The user successfully accomplishes her goals, however because the transaction process was not quick as smooth, or time-efficient as she anticipated.

Tasks:

The following flow diagram illustrates the tasks a user performs to withdraw cash from his/her account using this particular ATM.