Observation Project

 Observation Project

MTA MetroCard Kiosk

Context: 

The MetroCard kiosks I observe are located near the entrance to the Jay Street - MetroTech train station. They are used to purchase, refill, or check the balance of people's MetroCards. The machines have a touchscreen interface, allowing users to select their desired transaction, choose a language, and input payment information (cash, credit, or debit).

Assumptions: 

Before observing people use the MetroCard machine I assumed that most of the people that used it would already be familiar with how to use it and complete the transaction pretty quickly. From my own previous experiences I assumed that a problem people would have would be the responsiveness of the touchscreen. Since some machines only take cash and some take both cash and card, I also figured that some transactions might take longer than others because the machine may need to count bills and dispense change.

Observations:

I observed a set of these machines over about a 30 minutes period, and saw about 12 different people using them:

  • The interaction that I saw take the longest amount of time for most people was using the machines interface to actually select the transaction they wanted to do. 
  • The touchscreens responsiveness varied, as some people needed to press the screen multiple times just to select a single option.
  • Most people spent less than 2 minutes at the machine, but rarely did anyone go to the machine and finish their transaction in under a minute.
  • One person seemed very confused by the touchscreen and just left without making any transaction.
  • Some people needed to take multiple attempts for making payment with a credit card.
  • The people who were able to pay with a credit card in one attempt usually finished the transaction much faster than people who used cash.

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