Changing Paradigms in Our Interactions with Self-Service Kiosks

Abstract

Human-computer interaction and holistic user experiences are considered crucial concepts in the design of interactive products, where interactive self-service kiosks require special attention, as they are different than any other type of consumer and personal products. The public nature of self-service kiosks suggests that social context may have an important role in understanding the experience of users when interacting with such products. Yet, this is hardly reflected in the development of self-service kiosks in which usefulness and functionality are still the basic, and usually the only, concerns. This limited discussion hinders innovation when redesigning this type of product. This chapter firstly studies the major factors affecting users' interactions with self-service kiosks, followed by the influence of presence or absence of other people on user experience with interactive self-service kiosks looking at the relationships between different social contexts, feelings, and task performances; it then elaborates on task performances. The studies conducted to explore these relations reveal that interactions with interactive self-service kiosks are specialized according to different task qualities that these kiosks serve as well as the social context, which highlights the necessity to take into account the inseparable context during the design of these self-service kiosks. They emphasize that not only the product interface but also other product features, product body, and context should be shaped by these task qualities and the social context. Hence, suggested design implications go beyond traditional usability and technical issues, considering social context as a key issue to address innovative self-service kiosk designs.