portfolio : bookshop counter & kiosk
A small local book shop would like to improve their customer service to better compete with online shops.
Our task was to create a counter to increase the flow through the store, improve transactions between customers and workers, and incorporate a computer kiosk that could be accessed by both customers and staff.
Design process
- Hierarchical task analysis
- Scenarios and personas
- Link analysis
- Brainstorming
- 3D prototypes
- Fitting trials
Hierarchical task analysis
Used for both the staff and the customers to give us a broad understanding of the various tasks they might encounter in a bookshop environment.
This gave us the basis for the workspace requirements, for the user scenarios that were later created and to define our tasks for the fitting trials.
Scenarios and personas
We used the scenarios to clarify how the space would be utilised by customers and was key for link analysis and fitting trial criteria.
Personas were useful in the following ways:
- Claire, a mother, was helpful in highlighting the need for space for both a customer and a pram near the kiosk and through the counter checkout process.
- Stuart highlighted that the kiosk needs to be within easy access of the staff and to support two people viewing the screen simultaneously.
- Edna reminded us that there are those that are not interested in the kiosk and prefer to deal directly with the staff, so the kiosk needs to not interfere with her experience.
Link analysis
Basing a link analysis study on a real example from our field observations allowed us to consider more realistically the implications of customer flow through the store and how this relates to the tasks they perform. This resulted in the following:
- Better use of space
- If someone used the kiosk but wanted to pay at the counter their route was reduced
- The entrance and exit routes were simplified
- Customers would see the staff first, enhancing the personal touch of the local bookshop
- Customers would see more products on route to the checkout which may result in further purchases
Brainstorming
Having five people in a team can often result in five different opinions, so a successful way we tackled this was by getting together and writing the pros and cons of each suggestion in ergonomic terms.
We could then all see by the amount of green which was the more viable option. This helped us decide to make the computer terminal a standing operation and to use a touch screen over a keyboard/monitor system.
3D prototypes
Prototyping was used to help us understand what was comfortable and usable for our uses e.g. we learnt that task undertaken at the counter were more comfortable at a lower height than the anthropometric had previously suggested.
It was also useful for observing natural behaviour when tasls were being performed e.g, one participant moved the bag to the wheelchair counter space for ease of handling the bag, we could never have predicted this behaviour.
3D prototyping also helped the design in the following ways:
- Helped us to understand the amount of space the counter and kiosk would require
- Allowed us to see how customers would move through space
- Helped us determine what order to place elements based on customer and work flow. E.g., wheelchair user surface
Fitting trials
Using fitting trials helped us to determine a height and angle of use for the touch screen on the kiosk. This was difficult to do as we had to determine the height of the screen before we could determine the best angle. Best fit for height was established for each user and we then trialed the angle at the best fit height.
This demonstrated that it would be ideal for the touch screen height and angle to be adjustable, but there are obviously cost implications associated with this.
The fitting trial supported the research we did that highlighted a relationship between arm fatigue and touch screen inclination. The data and trial both suggested that the best trade-off is 30%. We would therefore, in this scenario, recommend an elbow support to reduce arm fatigue known as “gorilla arm”.
design
Hierarchical task analysis gave us the basis for the workspace requirements:
Link analysis helped us understand the movement through the shop:
Sketching our ideas helped us visualise the problem without assuming any solutions:
Brainstorming was essential for a large team to tackle problems:
Fitting trials were used to determine sightlines:
Fitting trials were also used to determine counter heights:
3D prototypes were constructed for the fitting trials:
