According to this ATM machine, I must specify a withdrawal amount in increments of $20.
Even so, I am allowed to press the the 1, 3, 5, 7, and 9 keys (for whatever reason) and must specify that I want "00" cents despite the inability of any ATM machine to dispense coins.
Machines that display presets of $20, $40, $60, $80, or $100 offer a single tap to achieve an effectively error-proof task. This machine requires unnecessary cognitive load and a gauntlet of error possibilities. Not to mention the Over-Zealous Capitalization In The Instruction Line.
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Comments
Pin number and deposits, but I get what you're saying. The ATM by my house has a "preferences" feature where you can set your own personal preferences for withdrawing money. It gave me the option to set a preference of receiving my money in $10 bills.... but the machine only holds $20s. FAIL.
No question the numbers are needed for various information but if the only option is multiples of $20, and the limit is $300, then 5, 7, and 9 serve no purposes in the dollar amount.
I did, however, ponder just last night the idea of being able to enter the number of $20s you want. Rather than a "dollar amount", it's more of a quantity of bills. Provided you could enter only 1 digit, this would limit the amount of damage one could do. :)
I tend to withdraw based on the amount they're charging me as a fee. If it's (rarely) $2.00, I might do $60. However, if they go with $4.85, I'm taking out $100+ just for spite.
As Kevin said you need the odd numbers for bigger numbers :) I think the daily limit is different in other countries.
I think it is totally ok to let users type in the amount the want as long as there is a good alternative in case the amount is not possible. For example: The user typed in $90. The next screen should show: "Not possible. Do you want to withdraw $80 or $100 instead?" + 2 Buttons with the options.
Have you stopped to consider it may be easier to logistically easier for the bank to manage it in only $20 increments? To be fair in the UK we have a lot of cash machines (especially Tesco ones) that give out £5, £10 too.
As far as the number pad goes, You need all those numbers to enter the PIN and if you are wanting to withdraw a large amount of cash, say $300, having odd numbers is also handy.
I've personally never had an issue with cashpoints. For me it's a forgettable experience, which it should be.
Agreed on all counts. Our exchange rate or "absolute dollar value" seems to hover around the $20.00 mark. In Las Vegas, if you ask for $100, you get a $100 bill which, of course, no one wants to take in case it's counterfeit.
I am, however, going to borrow your expression - "For me, (an interface of this kind) is a forgettable experience, which it should be." A good UI of this type should be utterly invisible.
Interesting image and caption, but like the other two posters, I think there are a number of situations where the keypad is required.
The account login is one (as EDot noted), but the other thing for me is specific usage.
For example, in Hong Kong (where I'm based) the denomination wouldnt work - it's too small. They use 6 hotkeys around the screen to indicate values: $100, $200, $400, $600, $800, $1000. Machines will only distribute in $100 multiples. But there are also variations in what the machine spits out. $1000, for example, gives you two $500 notes, and $600 gives you $100 and $500. So the hotkeys work for that kind of delivery. It's not clear from just looking at the above what actually comes out of the machines, since I don't know the currency distribution. So in your example, if I select $300, do I get three $100 bills, or 15 $20?
It's also not clear from the above (but possibly it's implied by your statements) whether this is a single function machine (it only allows withdrawls). In Hong Kong, machines are divided into 3 categories - those that only perform withdrawls or balance enquiries, those that allow cheque deposits and transfers, and those that provide all. In the latter two cases, you're going to need more than just the hotkeys to perform the task.
I agree with the general idea that you're putting forward, but I think it might be a little overkill to say every ATM should have reduced input mechanisms.
To Enter your Pin / Security Code
My guess is they want to allow people to withdraw $100, $300, $500, etc. -- thus the odd numbers. :)
There might be a good UX reason to include the cents: people may be accustomed to entering the extra 00. So if you enter the 00 for them and they make the mistake of pressing 00 out of habit, they'll withdraw 100x the amount they want -- a pretty big error. With the current design, users who make the corresponding error with zeros (of not entering the 00) make an error whose cost is much smaller -- 1/100th the amount.
I could be totally wrong with that explanation, but that's my hunch.
Oh, bugger. Good (and rather obvious in retrospect) catch Kevin. I hadn't considered the $100 factor. As for 3s, I'm trying to remember what the daily limit is on ATM withdrawals. ($300 might be at or above the typical limit.) I think 500 is too high. However, at best I think 1 and 3 should be limited to only the FIRST digit you enter.
As for the 00, another good point. In my much poorer days, I've inadvertently taken out $200 when I meant $20 which effectively emptied my account.
All things considered, I think the most common amounts ($20, $40, $60, $80, $100, $200) should be a single key with a confirmation.
Yeah, overall I agree that the buttons for common amounts are the best solution (along with one for a custom amount).