As I stand in line at the checkout lane, shopping cart filled with groceries, I wait for the shopper in front of me to place down the distinct yellow bar behind her groceries as a definitive, nonverbal, mark that she is indeed finished unloading her groceries. It represents and ending and yet a beginning; it is now my turn to transfer all of my groceries to the conveyor. I consider it a race of consideration for my fellow shopper. I must keep up with the movement of the belt and I try to unload everything and stamp down my victory bar behind the Dr Skipper to trade off the never ending relay race of grocery shopping.
The checkout lane divider bars are possibly the simplest interaction one performs at the grocery store but perhaps the most important. The plain plastic bar segments off different buyers' goods, it interacts with the belt movement to halt motion while the previous person pays, and ensures that I don't have to pay for my neighbor's grapes. The bar continues in a seamless circular set of interactions:
1) I pickup my bar from its resting place
2) It rides along with my groceries until its position stops the belt
3) The cashier moves the bar back to its narrow track conveniently pushing its bar brothers further down the line
A perfect yellow bar that can even serve as advertising space, the checkout lane divider bar proves to be a simple yet effective design.
Justin,
ReplyDeleteFirst of all I thought this was clever and really well written! I love that you recognized the loading as kind of a race. Its almost like driving, having to plan your moves out as the belt moves to make the process as smooth as possible, frozen things together, fragile things last so they don't get crushed by the bagger, candy near easily identifiable products so they can be reached while driving home, etc. (perhaps a little over the top?)
In general I agree with you and think its a very important and simple interaction. There are, however, a few usage flaws that crossed my mind. Doesn't it seem like there are never enough bars to push "their brothers" down? And if the person in front of you isn't paying attention or isn't very considerate you are left having to reach awkwardly over their groceries to reach one. And if there is no bar available at all you have to wait for a substantial enough space so it is obvious to the checker that the person in front's order is complete. Also, not really a design issue, but how many grubby hands do you think touch those things between washings? My guess is a lot.