I was at the NTUC supermarket queuing up to pay.
There was a customer in his eighties making payment.
He had no wallet and was counting his notes and coins.
He inserted the notes into the cash machine and subsequently dropped some coins into the slot.
However, the machine didn’t register the coins. The cashier was flustered as there was a line behind him. He was frustrated too and he couldn’t understand why there’s a need to use a machine. Isn’t it simpler in the past when the cashier just take the cash?
The problem was that the old man inserted the coins into the ‘notes’ slot instead of the ‘coins’ slot. The coins were thus stuck.
Most customers wouldn’t have a problem with the cash machine but the adoption of technology in our lives has showed that some people have struggled to keep up. It is increasingly a world where they no longer understand or appreciate.
I believe we should be a more inclusive society while pursuing innovation and change. The solution should be using the UX approach – be more empathetic to a wide range of users rather than just the majority. Constant iteration is necessary to improve the ease of use of technological interfaces.