S1 Teller provides a base set of transactions and core services necessary for fulfilling the rigorous requirements of today’s teller environment, including host communications, sharing and storing of information, cumulative totals, electronic journal, transaction security and approval, and balancing aids.
UX Design Research and Key Insights
Under my leadership of UX at S1, Enterprise Teller received the benefit of extensive ethnographic study of bank branch culture, including many depth interviews of Tellers and bank branch management. A number of banks, in different regions of the U.S. participated in these studies. Enterprise Teller also went through numerous iterations of prototyping, usability testing and design.
The "Master" Insight: The work of a teller requires effective interaction in a work environment that differs significantly from the work performed by users of consumer-oriented financial systems (e.g., web-based Personal Banking). Some of the key aspects of Teller's unique needs are:
- "Mouseless" and keypad-oriented interaction: Optimized for "mouseless" operation (keyboard-only operation has been shown over time to be optimal for use by tellers in a busy branch environment)
- "Heads-up" operation: Tellers can easily operate without having to look at a screen
- Discrete task-specific screens: Each screen gives Tellers all the information they need for a specific task...densely populated screens are essential rather than a detriment in the world of Teller.
- The system MUST work transparently when off-line: This means that when communication with host computers is "down", the system must continue to work as if nothing is wrong...Tellers cannot tell customers that "the computers are down."
- Efficiency is a critical factor for teller systems: Efficiency is used here both in terms of transaction speed (the time it takes for a teller to get the results of an action he or she takes) and extreme ease of learning (e.g., 'walk up and use' ), which will ensure the shortest end user training effort as possible.
- Consistency with current work practices, such as...
- Entry of numeric amounts should be "like a calculator" rather than like a web-based application.
- Compatibility with existing special purpose output devices, such as check printers, etc.
- No special input devices (e.g., special keyboards)
- No additional special hardware, such as higher-end computers.
The only part of Enterprise Teller that I can show is the screen shot shown here, as there is no demo available for public viewing (a policy decision of S1).
Click on the image for a larger view.
