Picture My World

I went shopping during my Seattle trip in [Lynnwood](http://maps.google.com/maps?q=lynnwood%2C%20WA) at an [Albertsons](http://www.albertsons.com) grocery store. They have 4 automated checkout stands where you can scan your purchases and pay (almost) all by yourself. I was happy to get the chance to try out these devices. I didn’t take the time to observe anyone else using the system and am only reporting on my own experience.

The first thing I noticed was the store employee standing at a workstation in the middle of the four self-checkout kiosks. He had a computer screen and was obviously monitoring everyone using the system. I also noticed a pole above each kiosk that had a red, amber, and green light. I immediately envisioned myself making a mistake and triggering a flashing red light (and maybe a siren, too). I was a little nervous as I approached the kiosk.

However, I had seen the grocery checkout process thousands of times — I was confident I could scan my items in and pay with my credit card with little trouble. The checkout area had a small LCD display, a scanner area, and a bagging area with a card reader above that. The screen said something, but I didn’t read it and just scanned my first item. The system then started talking at me. For *every* scanned item, the voice mail lady reported the price and any savings. Isn’t it enough to display the item and price on the LCD screen? Do human cashiers in the US yell the prices at you as they scan items? In addition, it asked me if I had a frequent shopper card more than once in between scans. I don’t remember a single quiet period.

So far, it felt like I was just dealing with a rude cashier. Then, I made a mistake. I swiped an item and started placing it in the bag, but the item hadn’t scanned. A male, authoritative voice starts instructing me to remove the item from the bagging area. I immediately do so and try to scan it again, but the system still doesn’t see it. This guy is still shouting at me and I’m sure the entire store is staring at me now. Finally, the store’s attendant comes over and presses a button on the LCD that convinces Robocop that I’ve complied with his order.

The rest of the checkout experience was a mixture of annoying price announcements punctuated by the occasional verbal assault. Finally, I’m done and ready to pay and the LCD displays about 20 payment options. Each option has an generic credit/debit card graphic with some text description making it difficult to pick out the correct entry. I finally find the one for credit cards, swipe my card, and get my receipt. I walked away vowing never to go through that experience again.

I hope the next automated checkout experience is more like that IBM ad where your groceries are scanned instantaneously using [RFID](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RFID) technology and you just have to grab the receipt.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, February 22nd, 2005 at 9:22 pm and is filed under Technology, Usability. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.