What does the waiter do with the monitor?
When Richard Gatarski and his friends wanted to have dinner in the Swedish city of Norrköping a few weeks ago, they booked a table in a decent Italian restaurant in the city center.
Upon arrival, the head waiter greeted them and asked if they had reserved a table. Richard confirmed - and the head waiter looked at the computer screen.
- Gatarsky? Hmm, let's see ... here's your reservation. Welcome!
')
Then he took something that Richard first took for some new kind of touch stylus - and ran it across the screen. Richard is a technically savvy Internet entrepreneur , so he wondered what kind of gadget they used in this restaurant. He leaned a little closer ...
The headwaiter marks the arriving guests on the screen - the usual marker! (click to enlarge). Photo: Richard Gatarski
... and suddenly I realized that this is a completely ordinary marker for the board. The headwaiter simply put a cross over the armor, right on the screen!
"Very interesting. Why are you doing this? ”Richard asked.
“Well, you know,” the head waiter sighed heavily. - Those guys who create such systems ... they have something to say ... well, you can not do everything as you like . You can check the reservation in the system with the mouse, but this is at least four clicks from this screen. And it is not clear whether the guests sat at a table or were waiting at the bar. So much easier to just draw on the screen. (And when the evening is over, just wipe the screen with a rag). We are very busy here, and it works great. "
The food, by the way, was great.
* * *
So what does this real story tell us?
What it is: I am a Swedish UX designer and author specializing in systems that are used at work. This blog is about my latest book, which describes how such poorly designed systems become the main cause of stress (and ultimately lead to health problems). You can read a little more about this in English here . I'm on twitter @jonas_blind_hen .
Crosses and notes on the screen. Photo: Richard Gatarski
(By the way, the book is quite successful here; tops the list of bestsellers in its category).
If you like the story, maybe you will find another real example from the health care system interesting: a doctor who shakes his mouse (September 24, 2012).
Many thanks to Richard for sharing this! :)
Upon arrival, the head waiter greeted them and asked if they had reserved a table. Richard confirmed - and the head waiter looked at the computer screen.
- Gatarsky? Hmm, let's see ... here's your reservation. Welcome!
')
Then he took something that Richard first took for some new kind of touch stylus - and ran it across the screen. Richard is a technically savvy Internet entrepreneur , so he wondered what kind of gadget they used in this restaurant. He leaned a little closer ...
The headwaiter marks the arriving guests on the screen - the usual marker! (click to enlarge). Photo: Richard Gatarski
... and suddenly I realized that this is a completely ordinary marker for the board. The headwaiter simply put a cross over the armor, right on the screen!
"Very interesting. Why are you doing this? ”Richard asked.
“Well, you know,” the head waiter sighed heavily. - Those guys who create such systems ... they have something to say ... well, you can not do everything as you like . You can check the reservation in the system with the mouse, but this is at least four clicks from this screen. And it is not clear whether the guests sat at a table or were waiting at the bar. So much easier to just draw on the screen. (And when the evening is over, just wipe the screen with a rag). We are very busy here, and it works great. "
The food, by the way, was great.
* * *
So what does this real story tell us?
- Computer systems are not always used as intended by the developers.
- People are creative. If possible, they will find a way to simplify everyday tasks.
- "We are very busy . " Users have a lot more important things to do at work. Instead of spending time exploring things with an unobvious value, they would rather spend it on what they consider more important (for example, making the best sauce the customer has ever tried).
- Are there any extra costs for an electronic reservation system? A plain small board is probably simpler and cheaper.
- There is a possibility that a computer reservation system (unlike a real blackboard) may generate some statistics: the number of visitors per month, the typical booking profile during the week, the percentage of occupied tables for any period ... And computer system vendors (of all types, in many companies) As a rule, these functions are presented as great advantages. But are they worth the effort? In many cases, the headwaiter is likely to know most of the really important information by experience or empirically. So you probably shouldn’t be exaggerated with a lot of clicks just to generate this data .
- And finally, to really understand what is important for users and how the system is actually used, you need to observe real users at work.
What it is: I am a Swedish UX designer and author specializing in systems that are used at work. This blog is about my latest book, which describes how such poorly designed systems become the main cause of stress (and ultimately lead to health problems). You can read a little more about this in English here . I'm on twitter @jonas_blind_hen .
Crosses and notes on the screen. Photo: Richard Gatarski
(By the way, the book is quite successful here; tops the list of bestsellers in its category).
If you like the story, maybe you will find another real example from the health care system interesting: a doctor who shakes his mouse (September 24, 2012).
Many thanks to Richard for sharing this! :)
Source: https://habr.com/ru/post/358476/
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