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A project to make businesses more aware of their customer experience, and how to fix it. By Mark Hurst. |
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Previous: Envision LCD monitor | Main | Next: Comcast Internet automated help
April 25, 2006 12:03 AM
Broken: Parking meter
I was amused by this parking meter, whose awful design optimistically invites a "smart card" (see upper left).
Note all the instructions and some bonus graffiti.
If I was near that, I'd tear off the taped on instructions and put up fake ones, dooming the customer with false information.
I think I'm broken because I actually understand the directions. Maybe I just didn't get enough sleep last night.
> Exactly what is broken here?
Somebody had to tape 4 pieces of paper with instructions to this machine because, straight out of the box, people must not have been able to figure out how to use it.
Because it shouldn't be necessary to need to tape things on to what's supposed to be a relativly easy-to-use machine.
"So it's already been fixed? Then why is it even posted?"
Something shouldn't need four or more taped instructions all over it to figure out. It's just a parking meter, and should be simple to use so as not to waste people's time. Still Broken due to bad customer experience, unless you are looking for broken things to take pictures of.
It's hard to tell from the picture but it seems as if the machine originally just had an "icons only" interface which needed some explanatory text to clarify.
Broken as designed.
Oh, I agree the original design was broken, though it was likely meant for multilingual use. But the business that owns the meter has already tried to correct the problem. If the meter by itself had been posted, someone would have said "At least they could tape up some better instructions."
As for the original instructions, anyone who knows a simple way to covey ideas across numerous language barriers without resorting to pictographs, please it share with the rest of the world. We'd really appreciate it.
Wow - 40 cents an hour. Can't park anywhere in San Diego for less than $2.00 per HALF hour. Now THAT'S broken!
As for this submission, broken - shouldn't need all those signs.
Ok, everyone has seen the "continue reading..." link by now. I think that it's like these online newspapers that have a "continue article below" link above an ad on the page. Maybe Mark is thinking of placing ads in the page?
And the continue reading link is broken too.. it goes nowhere....Ohh no Thisisbroken is broken once again?
Screw pictographs. Learn english. My ancestors did, and so should the current lot of immigrants (and native born illiterates). Next they'll want pictograph street name signs for the lazy, no english reading ding-a-lings.
I agree with Paul. If I were going to move to Mexico I would learn Spanish. If I were going to move to Germany I'd learn German. I wouldn't expect those countries to accommodate me if I were too lazy or stupid to learn the language of the country I was in.
There would be no need to confuse 99% of the people trying to figure out what the little pictures mean just to accommodate the 1% that can't speak the language...
The original design is broken, and if it is in an English speaking nation it should have been in English to begin with.
I agree about the icons. Icon-only is overdone and wrong. Icons + text is great. Text only is good. Icon only is bad.
About English, I agree with what my great grandmother said, "Ve ist in America now, so ve vill speaked ze inklish."
We have some machines like this near where i live. They are so broken that at times when the parking lot is getting a lot of use (plays, sporting events, concerts), they hire parking attendants to take your money, put the correct tokens in the machine and hand you your ticket. What is wrong with having that big metal box that you shove money into? If someone is going to check your ticket, its just as easy to check the box, too.
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Posted by: gmangw at April 25, 2006 12:13 AM