I chose to examine the machine that students can use to pay for laundry with a credit card. Using this machine, a student can swipe their credit card, choose a washer or dryer that they would like to pay for, then go use the machine. It is convenient since it eliminates the need to carry around lots of quarters. Also, the machine will not let you pay for a washer or dryer that is already in use, and if the student does not proceed to use the washer or dryer that they paid for within thirty minutes, the transaction will be cancelled, and the credit card will not be charged. This machine does have some issues though. For example, both of the times I have used it to pay for laundry, I instinctively click on the screen to get the transaction started, which is actually incorrect. Instead, one must swipe their credit card to get started; clicking on the screen before swiping will bring you to the “help” section. Also, since many students will leave their laundry in the washer or dryer after the cycle has ended, you could pay for a machine that is still full of someone else’s clothes, so you have to check to make sure that the machine is actually available before you pay for it before though the machine attempts to make this feature built-in.
I would want to improve this machine by getting rid of the confusion as to whether one must swipe their credit card or tap the screen to get started. Also, I would create a feature for the washers or dryers to still be shown as “in use” until the door is opened again, which hopefully will indicate that the previous user has emptied it, instead of just when the cycle is over.
