The self-checkout is the final customer service representative.

Subtitle

After the staff disappears, the company's attitude remains on the screen

Introduction | In a store where people are gone, who speaks to the customer?

Enter the store.

Choose products.

Head to the register.

There is no clerk there.

Instead, there is a screen.

"Please scan your items"

"Please select a bag"

"Please choose a payment method"

"Please remove the item"

"Please call an attendant"

The words that humans once spoke are now displayed by machines instead.

There is no smile.

There is no tone of voice.

There is no reading of the customer's expression.

Even so, the customer finishes their shopping by following the screen's instructions.

If so, the self-checkout screen is not just a machine.

It is the final customer service representative left behind after the staff has disappeared.

Even if the staff is gone, customer service itself has not disappeared.

Guiding.

Confirming.

Informing of mistakes.

Asking to wait.

Helping troubled customers.

These roles, which were originally performed by people, have been transferred to screens, audio, and buttons.

Therefore, the ease of use of a self-checkout is not just a technical issue.

It reveals the store's attitude toward how it treats its customers.

In a store where people have disappeared, the company's attitude remains on the screen.

Chapter 1 | The cashier was not just processing payments

The cashier's job is not just to scan items and accept payment.

If a customer approaches the register, they notice their presence.

If they place items down, they process them in order.

They ask if a bag is needed.

They confirm the payment method.

If the customer is confused, they provide assistance.

If they drop an item, they pick it up.

If the machine stops, they explain why.

Sometimes, they talk about the weather.

Sometimes, they smile at a child.

Sometimes, they sense that a customer is in a hurry and speed up their movements.

In other words, the cashier was not just doing accounting.

They were absorbing the uncertainties that arise in the checkout process through human judgment.

Customer behavior is not the same every time.

Some people pay with cash.

Some people use cards.

Some people are not used to electronic money.

Some people are not good at bagging.

Some people cannot understand instructions the first time.

Some people have many items.

Some people are holding a child.

The cashier adjusts to those differences on the spot.

Human customer service is not about executing a set procedure.

It is also the work of bringing things that fall outside the procedure back into the flow.

What a self-checkout must replace is not just the accounting process.

It is this adjustment function itself.

Chapter 2 | Self-checkouts turn customers into "workers"

At a self-checkout, the customer scans the items.

They put them in a bag.

They choose a payment method.

They confirm the payment.

They receive a receipt.

The customer takes on some of the work that the clerk used to do.

Looking only at the structure, this is a transfer of labor.

However, many customers do not necessarily feel it is labor.

They can pay at their own pace.

They don't have to talk to a clerk.

They can choose their own payment method.

They don't have to have their items touched by others.

It is fast if it is not crowded.

This is because there are these advantages.

In other words, a self-checkout does not work just by transferring the store's work to the customer.

That transfer must be felt as:

freedom

speed

ease

the right to choose

The moment a customer feels they are being "made to work," the self-checkout fails.

Conversely, if the customer feels "it's convenient to do it myself," the transfer of work becomes an experience.

What is important here is the UI.

If the screen is easy to understand, the customer proceeds on their own.

If it is difficult to understand, the customer suddenly feels like they have been made an unpaid new clerk.

The design of a self-checkout is also a design that allows customers to handle the work without feeling it as a burden.

Chapter 3 | What tone of voice does the screen use to speak to the customer?

If it were a human clerk, they could change how they say the same thing.

"Please place the item down"

"Could you please place it here?"

"I'm sorry, but could you try that again?"

The impression received changes depending on the choice of words.

The screen is the same.

However, the machine's words are fixed.

That is precisely why the company's attitude is condensed into that one sentence.

For example,

Please remove the item

the display.

If they don't understand what the problem is, the customer feels like they are being blamed.

On the other hand, if it displays,

Checking the weight of the bagging area. Please return the moved item to its original position

the reason is understood.

Furthermore, if it says,

Could not read properly. Please scan the barcode again

it does not push the responsibility for the failure too much onto the customer.

Even for the same error,

a commanding screen

an explaining screen

a helping screen

the experience is different.

The screen has no facial expression.

Therefore, the choice of words becomes the expression itself.

The speed of the audio becomes the tone of voice.

The position of the buttons becomes the gestures.

The mechanism to recover from an error becomes the clerk's tolerance.

The UI of a self-checkout is not an expressionless screen.

It is the very tone of voice chosen by the company.

Chapter 4 | A kind UI assumes the customer will make mistakes

Good customer service does not require the customer to act perfectly the first time.

They may ask again.

They may mistake an item.

They may misunderstand the payment method.

They may skip selecting a bag.

People always get confused.

Therefore, a kind UI does not treat failure as an anomaly.

The back button is easy to understand.

Selections can be corrected.

The reason for the error is displayed.

What to do next is indicated.

The method to call an attendant is easy to find.

Even if the operation stops midway, you don't have to start over from the beginning.

This is not just a convenient feature.

It is a design of reassurance that it is okay to fail.

Conversely, an unkind UI changes its attitude the moment the customer makes a mistake.

A warning sound goes off.

The screen turns red.

The operation stops.

The reason is not explained.

Nothing can be done until an attendant comes.

At that time, the customer feels like they have done something wrong, even though they are just using a machine.

This is unnatural when considered as customer service.

If a human clerk suddenly warned a customer in a loud voice about an operation mistake and stopped working in silence, their customer service attitude would be questioned.

However, when a machine does it, it is accepted as a specification.

It's a machine, so it can't be helped.

It is just thought of that way, but it is not permitted as customer service.

If the UI is the final customer service representative, it should not punish the customer's failure, but help them recover.

Chapter 5 | Whose responsibility does an intimidating UI hide?

When an error occurs at a self-checkout, the screen often directs attention to the customer.

Do not move the item.

The same item has been registered.

Please wait for an attendant.

However, the cause is not always with the customer.

The barcode is dirty.

The sensitivity of the scanner is poor.

The weight sensor is unstable.

The product information registration is wrong.

Payment communication is delayed.

The screen guidance is insufficient.

In other words, there are also problems on the system side.

Even so, the screen does not speak of its own defects.

It displays only the customer's operation as the problem.

Here, there is a bias in responsibility.

Between humans,

"I am sorry, this machine is not working well"

one can say.

But machines basically do not apologize.

Even if it is a defect on the company side, the customer is made to wait in front of the screen.

And until an attendant comes, they are placed in a position as if they did something wrong.

A good UI is a UI that does not doubt the customer.

At the very least, it does not blame the customer at a stage where the cause has not been determined.

Checking the process

It is taking time to read

We apologize for the inconvenience, an attendant will check

Such expressions have an attitude of not unilaterally pushing responsibility.

The words of the UI contain ethics regarding who is treated as the cause.

Chapter 6 | Can you feel "welcomed"?

When people enter a store, they are not necessarily looking for special treatment.

They just don't want to be treated as a nuisance.

They don't want to be rushed.

They don't want to be embarrassed by making a mistake.

They don't want to be blamed for not knowing something.

In other words, the minimum condition for customer service might be to feel that "it is okay to be here."

The same is required of self-checkouts.

Can read the text.

Can find the buttons.

Knows the next operation.

Not rushed by a time limit.

The audio is not too loud.

Can be operated by the elderly and children.

Can be used even if you have a physical disability.

There is an escape route for those who are not used to it.

These are issues of operability, but at the same time, they are designs of welcome.

Conversely,

The text is small.

The explanation is fast.

Cannot go back.

The warning sound is loud.

There is no way to call for help.

Such designs implicitly screen users.

You should be able to understand this much.

You should be able to keep up with this speed.

You should be able to operate it without making mistakes.

People who fall outside those assumptions are left behind in front of the screen.

It is said that machines do not discriminate.

But the premise for designing machines is not neutral.

Depending on who is assumed to be the standard user, it is divided into those who can use it and those who cannot.

The UI of a self-checkout quietly shows who is recognized as a customer.

Chapter 7 | Three types of self-checkouts

The attitude of self-checkouts can perhaps be divided into three main types.

1 | Self-checkouts placed as an excuse for labor shortages

There are not enough people.

So, machines are placed.

However, operability is not sufficiently considered.

Even if the customer is confused, they are left alone.

Every time an error occurs, they wait for an attendant.

While entrusting the work to the customer, there is no explanation or support for doing so.

This is not labor saving, but close to the abandonment of customer service.

Using the lack of people as a reason, even the adjustment functions that people were responsible for are disappearing.

2 | Self-checkouts to maintain prices

If labor costs are not kept down, product prices must be raised.

Self-checkout is introduced for that reason.

However, since the burden is being shifted to the customer, the screen must be designed with care.

Minimize operations.

Make explanations clear.

Provide immediate help when someone is in trouble.

In this case, self-checkout is not merely a cost-cutting measure.

It becomes a system where the customer and the store share the burden.

Human customer service decreases.

In its place, customer service through design increases.

3 | Self-checkout where the limits of the front line appear

There is no staff.

There is no budget.

There is no room to update the system.

Even if it breaks, it cannot be fixed.

There is no one to improve the UI.

Customers are troubled, but so are the staff on the front line.

In this case, an unfriendly UI cannot be explained solely by corporate arrogance.

It is the surfacing of structural exhaustion.

The age of the screen.

The slowness of the response.

Frequent errors.

These are a lack of corporate aesthetic sense, but also the screams of the front line.

Even for the same inconvenient self-checkout, the background is not just one thing.

Is it an excuse for labor shortages?

Is it an effort to maintain prices?

Is there no longer any capacity to improve?

One cannot judge everything just by looking at the screen.

However, the screen is what the customer touches.

Whatever the circumstances, the company's attitude is conveyed through the experience.

Chapter 8 | UI is more honest than corporate philosophy

Companies proclaim philosophies.

Customer first.

Safety and trust.

Close to the community.

Services easy for everyone to use.

However, whether that philosophy is true cannot be known from a declaration alone.

Touching a self-checkout reveals it more directly.

Is it designed to help those who are lost?

Does it avoid wasting the customer's time?

Does it avoid blaming the customer for errors?

Can choices be redone?

Is it designed with the elderly and people with disabilities in mind?

Is it easy to connect to a staff member?

That is where how the company truly views its customers appears.

Philosophy statements can be written by the PR department.

But UI appears as the result of accumulated budget, development time, management decisions, front-line requests, and customer understanding.

That is why UI is more honest than corporate philosophy.

If a company trusts its customers, it gives them choices.

If it understands that customers make mistakes, it allows them to go back.

If it values the customer's time, it reduces unnecessary operations.

If it views customers only as a cost, it forces tasks upon them, skips explanations, and makes them bear the responsibility for failures.

The screen is silent.

But in that silence, the company's judgment remains.

Chapter 9 | Even if people disappear, customer service does not

As automation progresses, people disappear.

Staff decreases.

Reception desks disappear.

Inquiries become chatbots.

Orders become apps.

However, just because people have disappeared does not mean that human consideration is no longer needed.

Rather, precisely because there are no people, the responsibility of design becomes greater.

A human staff member can supplement explanations on the spot.

Even if the screen text is hard to understand, they can teach you right next to you.

If a customer is in trouble, they can speak to them.

But with complete automation, that cannot be done.

Only what is designed supports the customer.

In other words, automation is not about eliminating customer service.

It is about embedding customer service into the design in advance.

What words to display.

In what order to have them operate.

How many seconds to wait.

Where to confirm.

How to recover from failure.

At what stage to connect to a human.

The judgments that people made on the front line are turned into a system in advance.

That is automated customer service.

That is why the designer's imagination is tested more in an automated store.

Can you imagine in advance the person who will be troubled in front of the screen?

Can you imagine someone who operates at a different speed than you?

Can you imagine someone who cannot read the instructions?

Can you imagine someone who is hurried, tired, or using it for the first time?

The kindness of a UI is not just technical skill.

It is the power to imagine the unseen other.

Chapter 10 | What do you ask of the final customer service representative?

You cannot fully expect human warmth from a self-checkout.

Machines do not smile.

They do not sense the other person's feelings.

They do not notice that you are tired today.

However, that does not mean it is okay to be rude.

Even if it cannot replace a human,

Do not confuse them.

Do not rush them.

Do not blame them.

Allow them to go back.

Explain the reason.

Allow them to call for help.

These things can be designed.

Rather, precisely because it is a machine, it can maintain a certain level of politeness toward everyone.

It is not swayed by the staff's mood.

It does not change its attitude based on the customer's appearance.

It provides the same guidance even when busy.

With kind design, a machine can become a stable customer service representative.

The problem is not that the machine has no heart.

It is whether the consideration that replaces a heart is designed into it.

Final Chapter | UI is the customer service attitude the company left behind

Stand in front of the self-checkout.

Scan the products.

The screen shows the next operation.

Finish the payment.

The receipt comes out.

At first glance, it is just a payment process.

However, in that short time, the customer is interacting with the company.

Is the screen easy to understand?

Can you go back if you make a mistake?

Is the reason for being kept waiting explained?

Can you ask for help when you are in trouble?

Do you feel respected as a customer?

In the era when staff were present, customer service attitude appeared in people's faces and voices.

Now that staff have decreased, it is shifting to the screen.

The position of the buttons.

The tone of the text.

The volume of the warning sound.

The order of operations.

How to recover from errors.

The company's face remains there.

Self-checkout is not just a device for cutting labor costs.

It is a device that tests how far a company can transfer human customer service into design.

In a store where people have disappeared, the screen is the last thing to speak to the customer.

That is precisely why that screen is questioned.

Do you rush the customer?

Do you doubt them?

Do you force tasks on them?

Or do you tell them that it is okay to be lost?

UI is the customer service attitude that the company left behind.

And that attitude is conveyed to the customer from the moment they touch the screen.

Related Articles

Invisible Costs and the Entertainmentization of Consumption

What Remains in Stores Where Humans Are Disappearing?

A Company with a Philosophy and a Company Where the Philosophy Functions Are Completely Different Things

Why Are Item Shops in RPGs Comfortable?

Looks Pretty but 'Incomprehensible'? ~A Talk About What 'Ease of Understanding' Is Really Needed Now~