In a world where technology is rapidly developing and where new machines are created in the service industry, one such company has learnt to successfully design a machine centred on user-experience. If you are thinking about the Mac, that’s a good choice but I am not referring to it at this point of time.
Together with IDEO and manufacturing partners (NCR and Futjisu), Spanish Banks BBVA group built a customer-designer ATM that outlined a strategy of innovations around the self-service channel and allowed banking transactions to be simple, flexible and intuitive.
The customer-designer ATM is:
Images collated from ideo.com
- Private – Knowing that it feels scary to have that ominous feeling as to whether someone behind you was going to rob you, the new ATM allows customers to stand at 90 degrees to anyone else who may be waiting, shielded by a frosted panel.
- Simple – All operations, including PIN entry, are completed on a 19-inch touch screen that displays only information relevant to the transaction at hand. All cash, statements and receipts are handled in and out through a single slot.
- Personalized – The system recognizes the user and suggest shortcuts based on previous transactions, allowing you to save time.
- Tangible – Your transitions can also be visualized. For example, when you draw out a 50-dollar note, the system can show you the different bills (a 30-dollar, 20-dollar, 10-dollar etc.) you’ll be getting before it is withdrawn.
- Delightful – The whole experience is personalized, interactive and entertaining. Someone can “walk” you through the experience.
Images taken from fastcodesign.com
Once again, just like any project that involves design thinking and innovation, the process is much more important. Indeed, the team used two important techniques: interviewing and observing. The design team interviewed and observed ATM users at BBVA and other bank branches in Spain, Mexico, and the United States. The team also examined analog self-service experiences, such as those at gas pumps, supermarket checkouts, and train-ticket kiosks.
At the end of the day, successful product designing comes from being able to have empathy for your customers and taking a further step to generate interesting insights from that.
Check out the ‘customer-designed ATM’ video below!