Bad Design Can Make a Girl Cry

While at the store recently I took notice of the new carousel style of bagging that had replaced the regular conveyer belt at the check-out. I asked the cashier about the new system and how well it worked. “I hate it”, she replied, followed by a litany of specific complaints that included increased fatigue from spinning the monstrous contraption to customer dissatisfaction when items were left behind in stray bags. “The higher-ups say we check people out faster, so it stays”, she concluded.

On the way home, I wondered if the “higher-ups” the cashier alluded to had done any user testing on the carousel before implementing the new system. Having been a retail manager for nearly a decade, I understand and fully appreciate the drive to bring new technologies to the point-of-sale, ultimately increasing productivity and improving the bottom line. I’m certain that the carousel idea was pitched in a board meeting with a snappy marketing idea like “Spinning Profits!” or “Turning Dollars!”, complete with a photo of an exuberant cashier dutifully bagging circles around the poor schmuck on a traditional conveyer belt. What the board wasn’t presented during the pitch was the pitiful, tearful face of a disappointed girl when her mama told her that the Dora the Explorer soup was still in the carousel at the store. Bad design sure can make a girl cry.

Thanks xenophod!