For my observation study, I decided to choose a common device that millions of people use in New York daily — the MTA ticket machine.
The MTA ticket machine handles dispensing new subway ticket cards, card renewals, and checking ticket balances. My observation took place at the R/Q/W train stop on NYU/8th St. Around 5PM, I saw a small mix of mostly New Yorkers with a tourist or two.
Most interactions appeared to be New Yorkers buying new cards. The tourists also appeared to buy new cards. I stayed about 5-10 feet away to be unobtrusive so I wasn’t able to see which type of cards were bought.
After selecting the language screen, most users punch which type of card to get. The regular subway riders took about 10 seconds to finish a transaction when it came to selecting a new card, paying, and retrieving a fresh MTA subway card. This is with the understanding that most purchase the 1-Month, MTA card since the other cards seem to cater to visitors rather then residents. So, if you were a tourist or a new resident and wanted an unlimited pass (whether for 1-day, 7-day, or for a month) where would you go? There’s no real indication on the main page, above. You just have to click on METROCARD above where you see below your options.
Still can’t find that 30-day, 7-day, 14-day unlimited ride pass? If you select, Get New Card, you are asked to select among 1-Day card, 7-Day, 14-Day or 30-Day Unlimited Ride MetroCard. Why is this buried? The few tourists I did see hesitate when looking at this selection. Why does the first page on the MetroCard kiosk offer: Pay $8, Get 4 Rides Free, MetroCard, or Single Fare? What does Pay $8, Get 4 Rides Free mean to the average tourist who probably is unaware of a single fare?
Based on the massive amount of New York tourism, it makes sense to make the first screen offer: Single Ride, 1-Day card, 7-Day, 14-Day or 30-Day Unlimited Ride MetroCard. On a smaller button, they should offer sub-services like refill cards, etc. While the MetroCard kiosk offers a variety of payment options, the physical payment interface is color coded separately for credit/debit payment (coded in blue) vs. money payment (coded in green). Why the separation? The payment information should be located in the same vicinity to avoid confusion. The tourists added on their transaction times by about 30-40 seconds more, taking time to read, double check purchase information, and confirm their cards before walking away.
Under a sub-menu, you can chose to add credits to your existing MetroCard. So far, I have not and still haven’t seen anyone use that feature intentionally. The person photographed at the top mistakenly selected this feature and pressed back to the main menu. Furthermore, there’s no indication on the Refill MetroCard on how much money generates how many fare trips the passenger can take. It would be helpful if a diagram (on the outside) or on the screen indicates: $20 = 10 Rides. $10 = 5 Rides, etc. Also, the machine assumes you know where to insert your card to refill. Some people could spend time searching where. A helpful color-coded (yellow for MTA card) arrow pointing in the general direction could help.
Overall, I think the physical interface for the MetroCard kiosk does a good job of communicating certain areas for ticket buyers with color coding. However, I think the screen interface for the MetroCard system needs a redesign so that purchase ticket times can be reduced.
