physical interface: Comments by Michael Beavers

Michael Beavers — Tue, 17 Jun 2008 14:52:06 GMT

Hi, Moria. You bring up a really important point that I hadn’t thought of: there are a lot of foreign visitors to the Bay Area and some of them may go on hikes.

I was reading the instruction panes like a western-style comic: (left-right-down-left-right…but some languages read right-to-left. I imagine the sign was designed before the area became such an international destination.

Michael Beavers — Tue, 08 Apr 2008 22:29:33 GMT

I definitely will! Thanks for your comments.

I’m curious, what are you looking for in a modular structure? What’s important to you? Is it design, layout, ease of assembly, cost? None of those? Something else?

Michael Beavers — Sat, 03 May 2008 00:04:30 GMT

Interesting. I would also want a crew if I were building a complete home, but would like to be able to assemble a freestanding extra room myself. I would definitely do a kitHAUS product if the price was cheaper and the pieces went together as easily as, say, the most complex piece of IKEA furniture. Mechanically speaking, of course.

Michael Beavers — Fri, 27 Jun 2008 13:29:59 GMT

Holger, thank you for this article. It is clear that the design team worked from from solid insights about users and built the system around their needs and concerns.

I do question Wells Fargo’s decision to change the overall color scheme to be more in line with the brand, especially given the need for high-contrast buttons, which the blue color scheme afforded users. That kind of thing really should have been addressed through the surround and point of sale graphics. Sometimes marketing and brand people don’t know when to leave a good design alone—”on brand” sometimes conflicts with usability. I don’t think users ever question that they are visiting a Wells Fargo ATM and not some other bank’s.

The other thing I find interesting is the left gutter feature that generates a button with frequent interactions, such as withdrawing $40 as a common task. The system sees that a user consistently withdraws a certain amount and then creates a simplified operation around that task.

The old way might have been through onerous “preferences” settings either within the ATM interface or through profile management tools on the Web. Your automated predictive approach is far more preferable!

Your design team did an amazing job with this product. I wish more interface designers were this considerate.

Michael Beavers — Tue, 24 Jun 2008 19:46:15 GMT

Silvia,

I think that’s an important point. This publication is about both the physical and representational (in this case, screen) realm of interface and product design. Perhaps this is an area where ATM manufacturers should take note.

Thanks for your comment,
Michael