I recently used a Wells Fargo ATM and I have to say it was the best ATM user experience I have ever encountered.

As with most people in the user experience business, I tend to be irritated by poor interfaces more than the average person. My observation of ATM's goes back a long time because they are some of the worst high usage consumer applications out there.

Features that top the list of ATM design annoyances include:

• Using hardware based buttons for input on the side of the screen. Often the hard buttons do not align well with the screen option they represent. The user ends up bending over or stepping back because they are having difficulty targeting their chosen option.
• Displaying static and active advertisements while the user is attempting to perform a task such as withdrawing money. This is a situation where marketing activity disrupts a user's primary task, withdrawing money, and interferes with a key benefit of using an ATM which is that it should be faster than going into the bank and using a teller.
  
• Poor feedback that does not clearly indicate when a banking session is complete. This leads to people waiting in front of the ATM until they are positive their account cannot be accessed by the next customer.

The Wells Fargo ATM I used recently did a nice job in avoiding these problems and provided a clean and quick user experience.



The welcome screen provided clear feedback about the system state and instructed me on how to initiate a session.




After inserting your card, the task of entering your PIN was made very simple. The "OK" and "Clear" buttons were large, easily targeted by the user's finger, and color coded for emphasis.

I also appreciated the "Change Language" option being available but not intrusive.The color palette for this page was attractive and professional. The Wells Fargo stage coach branding across the bottom was clear and did not interfere with the user's task.




On this screen, the user selects an account to access. The targets were large and clear.



This page provided a simple, clean display of the account balance. The path forward was labeled "Continue," and was positioned in the middle of the screen and highlighted in green.




The primary tasks were displayed in the middle of the screen with shortcuts on the left.




Selecting a withdrawal amount. I liked that the amounts were displayed in the upper left corner of their respective buttons. As a result, the numbers were not obscured by the customer's finger.

I also received feedback about my selected account and transaction on the left.




On this sceen the user chooses whether to receive a receipt.




The system does a good job providing the user with feedback about the system state.




The system instructed the user to remove their card to receive their cash and the interaction ends.

The whole experience was expedient and error free. Kudos Wells Fargo Design Team.

On a related note, I happened to chat with a senior UE designer from Bank of America last nite. I suggested that there was little financial incentive for a bank to improve their ATM user experience. I do not think people are choosing a bank based on the user experience of the bank's ATM's. He pointed out that banks actually were incented to improve their ATM UE because a good ATM experience could reduce the number of customers that go inside the bank and require a teller's assistance.

Labels: ue design, user experience