I have to use this keypad to enter in a zip code or a pin number. The problem with this input method is the feedback. There is no tactile feedback. Most buttons are 3D so I can feel the button being pressed for sure. With this keypad, I am never sure if I pressed it too soft or maybe even too hard. Sometimes I worry if I press it too hard that the neighboring numbers will also register. I am also not sure if I am pressing the number in the exact right spot. Additionally, there is usually an attempt at auditory feedback, but the beep that occurs when I press a button is too quiet to be heard at a gas station. I can look at the screen after each number I enter, but that is annoying and can be hard outside with the sun. I like the keypads below where there is plenty of tactile feedback. I understand why gas stations use the first technique though because customers have dirty hands and things might get in the buttons causing them to be sticky or malfunction. An ideal solution would be a 3D keypad with a good button protector.
I definitely agree with your observation here. Before I became a student at Furman, I lived in Kingsport, Tennessee where most of the gas stations are in desperate need of remodeling. Most of these stations contain keypads that do not illicit any kind of feedback, often requiring me to press multiple times in order to ensure proper registration. Also, I would like to mention that many of these terminals display prompts in an odd order. The QuikTrip on the way to downtown asked me this morning if I wanted a receipt before I even purchased the gas, which I thought was very odd.
ReplyDeleteI concur. Besides being too quiet, these sounds can often be delayed just enough that it would be difficult to label them as good feedback, even if they could be heard. Also, you are absolutely right - the flat nature of the buttons, giving little to no tactile feedback when pushed, seems to be an unnecessarily annoying design flaw. As your second image shows, a fix to this problem would definitely not be difficult - it might require a little extra plastic for each pump, but in the long wrong, it would definitely be worth it. The buttons in the bottom image provide tactile feedback, which in my opinion is a very crucial aspect of human computer interaction, and which is why I still have trouble with touchscreen keyboards on phones/tablets or trackpads on a laptop.
ReplyDeletei totally agree! it is really hard to tell and it seems like (at least at hickory point) a lot of times that some gas pumps are not functioning at that particular time so i can't ever tell if i've entered something wrong or if the gas pump is at fault. this violates a heuristic about helping users recover from errors and that is just really sad! i already hate pumping gas so gas pump maker people should definitely try to make the experience the least amount of terrible as possible!
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