I’m a regular Sainsbury’s shopper and an occasional Waitrose one. In both supermarkets, I use their handheld scanners to do my shop and then point the scanner at the self-checkout screen to set the check-out process rolling. Sainsbury’s call this system their Smart Shop. I don’t remember the Waitrose name – but I’m sure they have one.
Before I go deeper into this story, I should point out that my more regular visits to Sainsbury’s may mean I’m just more comfortable and familiar with their system and this could colour my overall judgement of the two systems.
However, even factoring that possibility into the equation, I have to say that in my experience using the Sainsbury’s Smart Shop is smoother and more intuitive than the Waitrose one.
I tell you all this because as an end user of multiple systems and pieces of software, I feel the pain when a user experience (UX) is, as they say, less than optimal.
At the time of writing this, the user journey and the user interface design (UID) of PerformaGo is in its infancy. So, I can write these fine words safe in the knowledge that I haven’t yet created a UID/UX horror show!
By the way, when the PerformaGo interface becomes available for public consumption, if you think I have managed to oversee the design of a truly awful user interface or user journey, please, please tell me. I will want to know.
Anyway, back to my Sainsbury’s versus Waitrose story because there is a point to it. A common user irritation with interface design is pointless, unnecessary clicks. And Waitrose have an example of what seems to me to be a pointless click in their version of the check-out process. And it really irritates me – every time.
It’s right at the start. After triggering the check-out process by pointing your handled scanner at the on-screen QR-code, you are presented with a ‘Continue’ button. Maybe I’m missing something here. Perhaps there is a really legit reason for having this button and asking the customer to confirm their desire to go to the next step. But for the life of me, I can’t see it.
At this point you may be thinking to yourself, “Andrew, for goodness’ sake get a life. It’s only a button.” And, yes, I get it. This is a small thing to highlight. But from a user interface design perspective there is an important point.
And that relates to the purpose of the software and who the uses it. First, you are not likely to get a broader cross-section of the population using a piece of software, than here. And second, because of this you should be creating one of the fastest, simplest user experiences ever.
Yet here we are with a seemingly unnecessary step/button woven in.
So, instead of thinking that maybe I need to get a life, I hope you’ll understand that I really am serious about the frustration of poor interface design and poor user journey planning. That the human factor is paramount. That one of my many goals in building this software tool is to simplify the user experience by eliminating as much friction as possible, without compromising the power of the tool.
Until next time…
