With COVID-19 just reaching it's peak of the first wave, we may need to start rethinking and redesigning our public spaces- to encourage social distancing, to decrease contact with surfaces, and to make it as intuitive as possible for a quick and easy interaction. As a UX designer, I thought I could take a moment to zero on and focus on touch displays: more specifically the public ones that are used daily, like ATMs and public transport vending machines.
TThe obvious solution to touch display might be touchless displays - utilizing gesture tracking technology. However, the lack of tactile feedback is an impediment to usability, as well as the fact that installation and the device itself would be costly to replace. While touchless displays should be developed and designed further for use in the future, a cheaper and simpler alternative could be an app designed for the machines in question- but there is the issue of decreased security when dealing with sensitive information and cash money.
So which method would be more ideal for a touch-free display? Let's break it down to pros and cons.
Touchless Displays
Pros
If designed well and intuitively, users can seamlessly shift from touch screens to touchless displays. A lot of the gestures one uses in touch screens can be reused on touchless displays, for example. In addition, there wouldn't be much difference in design for the UI, or the user flow. As such, you wouldn't lose users who are used to using touch displays.
Cons
Touchless displays are pricey to install and buy- so it's difficult to justify the price when there are other public spaces to redesign and reconsider (unless a company is willing to install it for PR?)
The touchless displays currently available on market lack haptic feedback. Without haptic feedback, the best way for users to interact with touchless displays are with the fingers hovering right over the buttons- otherwise it becomes hard to control- which camera and sensor-wise is tricky, bordering on non-viable. Touchless displays with haptic feedback is still in the development stage, and not currently viable.
Due to habit, some people would still poke their finger on the screen- even with signs, because they're not looking.
Apps
Pros
A majority of the population would have a smartphone, and have the ability to download apps for their banks, or their transit authority. Hence, this would be a cheaper alternative to touchless displays, as all the suppliers would need to do is create or update their apps, and update the system their machines use. No need for installation costs.
Cons
A big problem is the percentage of the population who don't use apps, or are technologically inept. ATMs and transit machines should service and be usable by more than just a majority of the population.
Security is weakened when the machines in question are linked to every users' phones. One could simply only connect to the phone for the menu options, but still require the users to authenticate themselves with their cards.
Adding phones into the mix definitely complicates the user process- it's like having multiple popups, in that you have to take your attention away from the screen, to your phone, back to the phone etc.,
Conclusions
I cannot conclusively say which method would be better- and different methods would suit different companies, and there needs to be extensive testing before any conclusive decisions are made.
However, it is becoming more evident that our lives are changing- the way we interact in public spaces is changing. As we go forward, we need to redesign whatever we can and should for this new era in our lives.