University Assignment: Designing for Human Interaction - ATM Analysis

This report provides a detailed analysis of ATM design from a human interaction perspective. It begins by defining the ATM as an artifact and describes its purpose and user interface. The report then identifies different user types, develops user personas, and analyzes the context of ATM interactions, including physical, social, and organizational settings. It explores specific ATM activities through cognitive walkthroughs, examining user expectations and feelings. Furthermore, the report discusses the current technology used for ATM interactions and envisions future enhancements based on accessibility, usability, and acceptability principles. The enhancements are based on technological advancements such as biometrics, increased security, and improved user interfaces. This assignment is a comprehensive exploration of ATM design, user experience, and potential future improvements.

Running head: DESIGNING FOR HUMAN INTERACTION
Designing for Human Interaction
Name of the Student:
Name of the University:
Author’s Note:

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Executive summary
An artifact is an object that is made by the human beings themselves for the purpose of easing
their work. An artifact can be a piece of art or any cultural objects in any museum or it can
also refer to any home appliances. The artifact chosen here is ATMs or the ATM machines that
has been designed for the purpose of making the banking affairs and the monetary transactions
much easier. However there are some scientific technologies that help in the performance of the
ATMs but at the same time there are also some problems that are being faced by the customers
and they expect some or the other changes as well. This assignment will mainly focus on the
customer experience and the changes that they expect.

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Table of Contents
1. What is the artifact? Describe the purpose of the artifact, the purpose of the user interface and
how a human interacts with the artifact...........................................................................................4
2. Describe the typical users - are they all the same, or might there be different types of users?
Use clear definitions (referenced where appropriate) to describe and differentiate your user types
and explain WHY that differentiation is important. Develop at least two personas to represent
your user types.................................................................................................................................5
3. Describe the context/setting of the interaction(s) – elaborate in terms of physical environment,
social context, and organizational context.......................................................................................6
4. Give some specific examples of activities/functions – use your personas to illustrate a
cognitive walkthrough of these activities (e.g. why are they doing this, how do they feel about it,
what do they expect to happen, what else do they want to know)...................................................6
5. Describe the technology to interact with the artifact for your personas......................................7
6. Imagine this artifact in the future – what enhancements can you envisage to improve the
interaction with this artifact. Refer to the Accessibility, Usability, and Acceptability principles,
and consider how advances in technology may facilitate these improvements...............................7
References........................................................................................................................................9

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1. What is the artifact? Describe the purpose of the artifact, the purpose of the user
interface and how a human interacts with the artifact.
Answer to Question1
An artifact by definition refers to the different kinds of objects made by human beings. It
usually refers to any kind of object that is man made and that which will help in making some of
the other kinds of work much easier. The term Artifact is of Latin origin that. It is basically taken
from a Latin phrase are factum, where the word arte has been taken from ars that signifies skill
and factum from facere that signifies the act of making. So, the daily everyday projects that we
come across as home appliances (microwaves, fruit juicer, Air conditioners etc) ATMs,
Televisions and several other such objects. These artifacts are mainly designed for the purpose of
making the work easier. Speaking in this context, the artifact selected here is ATMs or the ATM
Machines (Rodriguez et al. 2017).
The purpose of this artifact is the facility of anytime money. In other words, this artifact
helps people make monetary transactions and also gives them the advantage of withdrawing
money from the ATM machines without going to the banks and standing in long queues for
hours. Human beings can interact with this machine by using their ATM cum debit cards.

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Figure1: ATM Machine, an artifact made by human beings
Source: (Betab and Sandhu 2014)
2. Describe the typical users - are they all the same, or might there be different types of
users? Use clear definitions (referenced where appropriate) to describe and differentiate
your user types and explain WHY that differentiation is important. Develop at least two
personas to represent your user types.
Answer to question2

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ATM has gained a widespread popularity in the present days. Almost all the people are
using the ATM machines in order to make sure that they can avail the anytime money facility
and it also saves them from the trouble to going to the banks every now and then. It is tough to
describe the kinds of users who use this facility because almost everyone nowadays is active in
using this facility. Different types of users who use this artefact are people who go to malls and
restaurants and can be in need of instant money very often. People who do not feel it safe to
carry any big amount of cash with them also rely largely on the usage of ATM cards. Office
goers and business person fall into the category of ATM users. Apart from them, there are also
the students who do not want to carry a huge amount of money with them and also do not have
time to go to the bank for withdrawing their money (Iberahim et al. 2016). Apart from them, the
elder generations of people, particularly the pension earners are also avid users of ATM
facilities. This is because it is often not possible for them to go to the bank every time. So, they
find it easier. Apart from the families who have a huge medical expense also believe in using the
ATM machines because they know that they can be in need of money every now and then.
However, it must be noted that the elder generation of people and the families of the patients
often get puzzled and are not able to wait for following so many different options that one has to
abide by while using the ATM machine. As different users are different, there is the need for
keeping different kinds of provisions for being used by different types of users. This
differentiation is important because there can be situations that an old and elderly person is
finding it really tough to deal with the so many options to take the money. It can also happen
that they have forgotten the pin. So, there must be some of the other options (Prasanthi et al.
2015)

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3. Describe the context/setting of the interaction(s) – elaborate in terms of physical
environment, social context, and organizational context
Answer to Question3
Physical environment
ATMs are usually set up in places like the localities where the users can easily use them.
Social Context
ATMs are usually set up in places where there is the physical presence of the human beings or
the users.
Organizational context-Real time and online transactions between the organizations that is the
banks and the clients or the customers take place.
4. Give some specific examples of activities/functions – use your personas to illustrate a
cognitive walkthrough of these activities (e.g. why are they doing this, how do they feel
about it, what do they expect to happen, what else do they want to know).
Answer to question4
One of the most important steps that the personas have to remember is to use the pin code
in order to carry on any and every transaction on the ATM. Some of the users may feel that this
is really a very safe and a secure method because the pin code is an entirely personal code that is
present with all the users and there is also no chance of theft. On the other hand, some users may
also feel that remembering the pin every time is difficult because many of the users own multiple

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bank accounts and also have multiple ATM cards each with their own pin codes. So, they feel
that there must be some other options as well (Betab and Sandhu 2014).
5. Describe the technology to interact with the artifact for your personas.
Currently, the personas only use the 4 digit pin code to do all kinds of transactions
through the ATMs. The technology helps in making the quick, real-time and online transactions
between the banks and the clients. As soon as the user or the clients enter the pin the bank
identifies it and allows the desired transaction of the user to be processed.
6. Imagine this artifact in the future – what enhancements can you envisage to improve the
interaction with this artifact. Refer to the Accessibility, Usability, and Acceptability
principles, and consider how advances in technology may facilitate these improvements.
Answer to question 6
In terms of usability, the number of ATM machines must be increased and the security
also has to be boosted to a great deal so that there are no chances of theft. There must be proper
security guards placed at each ATMs. Number of ATMs is to be set up in the remote and village
areas where people usually find it tough to come to the bank for any kind of transactions.
In terms of accessibility, more modifications and up gradations are to be brought. As users can
often forget the pin codes or can also be disabled, there can be some methods like security
questions, fingerprints, face recognition and other such methods (Hajare et al. 2018).

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In terms of Acceptability, the usage must be made more rationally acceptable. There must be
more facilities that the customers might get. There must be some guides present at every outlet
to make sure that people face no problem with the procedure of using the ATMs.

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References
Betab, G. and Sandhu, R.K., 2014. Fingerprints in Automated Teller Machine-A
Survey. International Journal of Engineering and Advanced Technology (IJEAT) ISSN:
2249, 8958.
Hajare, U., Mahajan, R., Jadhav, S., Pingale, N. and Salunke, S., 2018. Efficient Cash
Withdrawal from ATM machine using Mobile Banking.
Iberahim, H., Taufik, N.M., Adzmir, A.M. and Saharuddin, H., 2016. Customer satisfaction on
reliability and responsiveness of self service technology for retail banking services. Procedia
Economics and Finance, 37, pp.13-20.
Prasanthi, B.V., Hussain, S.M., Kanakam, P. and Chakravarthy, A.S.N., 2015. Palm Vein
Biometric Technology: An Approach to Upgrade Security in ATM Transactions. International
Journal of Computer Applications, 112(9).
Rodriguez, G., Pérez, J., Cueva, S. and Torres, R., 2017. A framework for improving web
accessibility and usability of Open Course Ware sites. Computers & Education, 109, pp.197-215.