Project proposal part 1
Problem space
Example of an ATM
An automated automated teller machine (ATM) is a convenient automated machine that allows the users to perform fast self-service money transactions such as deposits, cash withdrawals, account savings, and transfer money between accounts. To access these features, the user must be an account holder and have the debit or credit card of the corresponding bank that manages the ATMs. Commonly, the basic design of the ATM is the same. It includes the keypad, card reader, cash dispenser, screen, and printer. In terms of functionality, the keypad is used by the user to enter the information such as account number and personal identification number (PIN). Whereas the card reader is used to read the information of the users through their debit card. The instruction and information of the users is shown on the screen attached on the ATM. After the users have done all the instructions, the desired amount of money will be given through the cash dispenser, and the receipt is generated and printed out through the printer.
However, there are some issues that might cause poor user experience and bad usability especially for the beginners. The major problem of the ATM is the difficulty to understand the instructions of using the ATM. The user needs to always use the machine in order to become familiar with the operation provided by the ATM. The users also need to worry about the safety of using the ATM as it might suddenly break down or swallow the card of the users. Besides, the current ATM lacks interesting functionality. The ATM only provides several services such as withdrawing money, checking balance, updating PIN, and so on. It does not provide extra services such as converting big notes to small notes of money, converting cash money to coins, and other services which may benefit the users.
Therefore, to achieve the eighth goal of Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) which has mentioned that higher levels of economic productivity can be achieved by using technological upgrading and innovative products. Hence, several enhancements must be made on the ATM or creation of new products with same functionality as ATM but with advanced features are needed. In this project, our aim is to design an automated teller machine (ATM) likewise machine, but with more extra advanced features. The designing concept of this new machine is mainly based on the features and the functions of the ATM. However, the new designed machine will have more extra features instead of just simply performing withdrawal of cash money. The features include converting big notes to small notes of money, converting cash money into corresponding amounts of coins, and operation to top up Touch N Go. Before we start designing the new product, we need to fully understand the problems faced by the current ATM and provide a better solution to solve the problems. Hence, all the problems stated above will be fully discussed and the solution to overcome the problems will be suggested below.
Details of the problems
1. Poor description of instructions
Diagram above shows the user interface of an ATM
To use the ATM, the users need to understand the instructions shown on the screen. Based on the diagram above, if the users want to withdraw cash, they need to click on the button besides the option “cash withdrawal” which displays on the screen. Then, they can proceed to the next action by following the instructions given. However, from the diagram above, we can see that the description of the instructions is a little bit hard to understand and remember. Sometimes, the users do not understand the true meaning of the descriptions as the words used might be abstruse. This problem is very obvious when the users are beginners. For the beginners, they might have to try every instruction provided on the screen to understand the true function of the instructions given. This is because they do not have the manual guidelines on how to use the ATM. Besides, there is no image or animation illustration which can depict the consequence if the users select a particular action.
2. Security issue of using ATM
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The other issue that would affect the user experience is the security problem of ATMs. From the example above, we acknowledge that the user’s card was being swallowed by the machine unexpectedly. The user had tried to call for help from the authorities, but there was no response for them. At that moment, the user might worry about the safety of the card as the card may be broken or other people will try to steal the card by prising open the ATM. This would cause users’ bad experience, and the user might not want to use it again. However, even if the users manage to contact the maintenance man, they still need to waste their time to wait for the maintenance process. It will totally affect the user’s daily tasks and lead to bad user experience.
3. Lack of interesting features
The existing ATM provides several features such as withdrawal of cash, checking balance, updating PIN, and other useful features. By taking the first feature as example, the user can withdraw cash money form the ATM by using the debit card. By default, the ATM will give the users corresponding amounts of paper currency such as five RM100 for withdrawal of RM500. The user is not provided with the options to choose the types of paper currency. Besides, the ATM does not provide the features to exchange the big notes to small notes of money. This could be a problem for the user if the user wants to use small notes of money. The example of a user is a food hawker who needs small notes of money to find the changes to customers. Apart from that, the ATM does not provide the feature to exchange paper currency to coin. Hence, the lack of useful and interesting features of the ATM would limit the user’s ability and affect the satisfaction of the users in using this ATM.
Proposed solutions
After studying the information and the problems of the ATM, we intend to design a whole new machine that is able to solve the problems and at the same time, it provides new features for the users. This newly designed machine can be known as the multifunctional money interaction machine.
1. Addition of icons and simple description of the instructions
To solve the poor description issue, we suggest simplifying the instructions by using simpler words and phases. We will decrease the amount of words used to describe the instructions as much as possible but at the same time, it can give the full meaning of the instructions to the user. We will also make sure the user interface is easier to be understood and memorized by the users by arranging the instructions properly with enough spacing. Apart from that, we will also add icons for every instruction in the user interface. The icons will show the action of the instructions. For example, an action of a hand picking money from the machine indicates the money withdrawal from the machine. Besides, the user interface will be updated by adding some useful figures such as the pictures of the paper currency, and sample pictures of the debit card. This will help to increase the understanding of the users on the operation performed by the machine.
2. Emergency button
To help the users deal with the malfunction of the machine, we suggest designing and plugging in a button on the machine which can be used as an emergency call. The users can press the button to call for help from the authorities whenever they face problems while using the machine. The benefit is that they do not need to waste time walking around to find someone to find them. By pressing the button, the person in charge will immediately find the user and lend a hand to solve their problem. For example, the beginners who need guidance to use the machine can just press the button and wait for the arrival of the administrator. If the users encounter malfunctions such as a debit card being swallowed, money withdrawal operation is not performed, and so on, the users can feel free to contact the administrator by pressing the button. To make sure the user can fully understand the function of the button, its description will be prompted out on the screen continuously and the position of the button will be placed at an eye-catching position such as the top of the machine.
3. Additional feature of exchanging big notes to small notes of money
Example of money converter
The feature of exchanging money from big notes to small notes does exist in our current society, but it is designed and implemented in a stand alone machine. However, that kind of machine is not implemented globally and most people prefer to manually exchange the paper currency with other people. This kind of operation can be implemented into our newly designed machine as it also involves the use of money. To perform this operation, we will add an extra option for the users in the user interface. The users only need to select the operation and put the amount of money they want to exchange into the slot prepared. The machine will automatically convert the big notes to its corresponding small notes of money. For example, the user will get back ten pieces of RM10 paper currency if 1 piece of RM100 is put into the machine for conversion. However, the types of small notes of money will depend on the selection of the user. The user can choose to convert to RM1, RM5, or RM10.
4. Additional feature of exchanging paper currency to coin
Apart from that, we will also implement the conversion of paper currency into coins. This concept is the same as the conversion of big notes to small notes of money, but the difference between them is the output. The users only need to select the conversion option and put the paper currency into the slot. Then, the user can collect the corresponding amount of coins from the specially prepared slot. Besides, they can choose the types of coins that they want as the output of the conversion such as 10 sen, 20 sen, and 50 sen. After the conversion is completed, the screen will display the total amount of coins discharged so that the user can check whether it is in the right amount.
5. Extra feature of top-up money
Next, the most special feature added into the new design machine is the ability to top-up money on certain financial applications. For example, the user can use this machine to top-up money into their Touch N Go through Identify Card (IC). This machine contains another function option that can perform this task. The user only needs to insert the Identity Card in a dedicated slot to perform the task. The machine will read on the chip on the Identity card and verify the identity of the user. The user can choose to top-up manually by putting the currency notes into the slot and then the machine will count the amount that the user wants to top-up. Besides, the user can top-up directly through their bank account by inserting the debit card and entering the amount of money to be transferred. Hence, the balance of money in the card will be increased depending how much the user has been inserted. After top up is done, the card will be discharged by the machine.
Target users
1. Students
Students such as university students really need this kind of converter machine to deal with their daily life. For example, in UTM, the water vending machines around the campus require coins as the input to run the operation. Some of the washing machines also require coins to operate. Hence, with the use of this machine, the students do not need to worry about the shortage of coins.
2. Shopkeepers
Shopkeepers need a huge amount of paper currency and coins to run their business. They need to return the changes to their customers by using small notes of money or coins.
3. Food hawkers
Food hawkers also need money to maintain their business. They need paper currency as well as coins to find changes to their customers.
References
Benyam T, Review Article on Impact of ATM Service on Customer Satisfaction. Trends Tech Sci Res. 2018; 2(1): 555577
Pooja Jaiswar(2019). Did a bank ATM just swallow your credit or debit card? Don't worry, just do this. Retrieved November 28, 2022, from https://www.zeebiz.com/personal-finance/news-bank-atm-credit-card-debit-card-stuck-in-machine-how-to-fix-this-bank-account-problem-102618
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