[Eisenstein]

> I know that someday, I won't have a choice (Home Depot only has cashiers for contractors, nowadays, so I'm forced to use the auto-checkout), but, where one is given, I take the human.

Just hit the 'I need help' button on the self-checkout and an employee will show up and you can ask them to ring up your items.

[ChrisMarshallNY]

Yeah, I wouldn't do that. The self-checkout actually works fairly well.

The reason that I insist on using the manned lanes, has nothing to do with being uncomfortable with the automated process (I know that it may seem that way, with my gray pompadour, but I'm actually fairly comfortable with tech). It's just because I know that the reason the store uses them, is to fire cashiers, and it's sort of a "stay with them until the end" kind of thing, in my mind.

Like I said, not really the way people think, these days. We tend to be extremely selfish. I participate in an organization that encourages us to adopt a mindset that takes other peoples' existence into account. It's really just symbolic, I know, but I do it for myself; not for others. I feel that symbols are important.

[michaelmrose]

Home Depot self checkouts are large touch screens with a nice wireless gun. It doesn't even check weight. It is one of the least shitty SCO experiences unless you have a bunch of bolts and shit in which case why are you even in self checkout when they always have at least one physical register open?

I don't understand why people do this.

[ChrisMarshallNY]

Agree. Home Depot ones are quite effective. The only sand in the gears, is that, if I use my business card, it always asks me for a job number. It's possible that this is something that contractors appreciate, but they have separate, manned, lanes for them.

The ones that truly suck (in my area) are the CVS ones. They have a glass jaw, and it's quite easy to make a mistake that requires the exasperated attendant to come over, and get it unstuck.

That has nothing at all to do with the person using the machine, and everything to do with the geeks that wrote the software. Whenever I see someone (regardless of their age or "digital native" status) struggling with tech, I blame the designers; not the user.

In my experience, if we want to design stuff to be used by humans, then it starts with getting comfortable with our own humanity. Empathy is useful, when designing stuff.

If we don't like people, then we're unlikely to design stuff that people like to use.

For those who might be curious, The Design of Everyday Things, by Don Norman, is an excellent book for getting in touch with empathetic design.

[michaelmrose]

Designing things that people like to use is a mechanical skill that has little to do with liking others but much to do with understanding others

[ChrisMarshallNY]

I'm not so sure about that.

It really depends on what we are designing, and who we are designing for.

> little to do with liking others

Sounds pretty bleak. I've come to understand what a profound disadvantage misanthropy is.

[michaelmrose]

I am absolutely sure. If you are a good cook you can apply your skills to feed those who you esteem as easily as those who you hate. Imaging the target audience makes a difference requires magical thinking. In fact understanding people is liable to be negativity correlated with liking them.

[ChrisMarshallNY]

Yeah, I am constantly seeing "dead" software.

Software that is "correct," but not something that people "like" using. A "necessary evil."

Heck, I've written it myself. I have two shipping apps that basically do the same type of thing; but one is an app that I use, regularly, and the other, is to server those that want a different approach. That one is actually a lot more "powerful" than the one I use.

It's also a lot less popular. It's 100% "correct," and dead as a doornail.

Don Norman wrote a sequel to DOET, called Emotional Design, where he talks about this kind of thing.

Human emotions can't really be measured, and HN is full of "Inspector 34" types. They just can't grok emotions.

Ah, well... more for me to play with...

Have a great day!

[ralferoo]

We don't have home depot, but most self-checkout tills in the UK have scales and a separate bag weighing area. You can usually do everything at the till, but they also have scales and barcode printers around the loose fruit and veg areas too (and you have to print a barcode to scan if you're using the portable scan gun thing I mentioned earlier).

[michaelmrose]

Why would you need a barcode printer? either it has one or it doesn't in which case you look it up and it's added negating any need to print