ATM experience design

A financial service organisation in Australia had a vision to not only provide fast, convenient and secure access to cash through their ATM network, but to maintain their position as one of Australia’s largest bank ATM providers. CXCO was engaged to gather insight and provide direction for the experience for a new ATM fleet rollout. Informed by the bank’s strategy to provide enhanced distribution capabilities, CXCO generated insights and a direction on additional value added services that could be included in the new fleet of ATMs, the most widely used touchpoint for the organisation.

CXCO used participatory design co-creation sessions to understand the ideal experience, and to prototype and test concepts with customers and bank staff.  We also carried out contextual inquires with customers at the ATM, and in-depth follow up inquiries with a number of customers to understand more about their perceptions of language, labels and instructions available on the ATM interface. 

The organisation was focused on accessible and universal design, guiding our research to include blind and hearing-impaired customers, in addition to inclusion of customers from various regional and metro locations. This helped us understand the differing relationships customers have with the ATM, their expectations with regard to use and location, and the different factors they valued dependent on their context and scenario of use. The insight from the blind and hearing-impaired customers was invaluable as it provided insight into their tactical and sensory needs, their mental models, and what accessibility really meant to them. This insight highlighted the need to consider support touchpoints and channels, such as ATM search functions on the website, and ATM locators available through mobile apps and touch devices.

The outcome was a series of guidelines and principles on language, messaging, context, visual communication and signage that were used to inform vendor selection, copy writing, design and execution. The ideal end state experience was illustrated through experience flows, which are similar to process flows, but with additional detail on the interaction, the human emotion, and the key needs and expectations at each point of interaction. 

What were the key benefits?

  • Insight into customers’ mental models and modes of use helped inform design of the new fleet.
  • Guidelines and principles informed vendor selection, copy-writing, design and execution.
  • A clear direction on which services to include or excluded on the new fleet, helped the business save implementation time and costs by having functions prioritised based on value.

What were the key results?

  • The research activities allowed us to explore language and tone of the messaging, and it was discovered that what was plain English to bank staff was actually frustrating and hard to understand language for their customer.
  • Synthesis of the data led to creation of design guidelines and principles used to guide vendor selection, inform scenario and design activities, and guide the rollout of new functions informing the bank’s business strategy and implementation roadmap.

What was the approach?

A current state analysis, ad-hoc inquiries with customers at the ATM, contextual inquiries, and participatory co-creation sessions with customers and staff were used to understand and define the ideal end state experience. In addition, a future state analysis was completed to identify opportunities, explore the impact of a cashless society, and identify key trends that may impact the future viability and innovation requirements of ATMs.