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Friday, April 21, 2017

Rotate and Press, Rotate and Press


Weekends can be daunting for tourists in many parts of Europe. Most of the shops are shut down and there are too few people on the street. If you don't know the dominating local language (non-english mostly), you are up for a challenge.

On one such European trips, I visited few cities in France. On a chilly Saturday morning, I set out to explore the local attractions. When I visited the nearest train station, I spotted a ticketing kiosk (displayed below).


Key Challenges I faced
This ticketing kiosk supported only French. It was hard to distinguish between nuts/bolts, coin inserting area, button and the knob. On a chilly morning, struggling with a ticketing kiosk was the last thing I prepared myself for. I found myself seeking help from a fellow passenger, who I thought was magically dropped from heaven to help me. 

This is how the kiosk works:
1. Rotate the circular knob
2. Identify the ticket type 
3. Press the center of the knob

Need another ticket to a different place?
Rotate and press, rotate and press, rotate, rotate, press, rotate, rotate, press.

Can we fix this?
Can we have a touchscreen interface with options rather than the rotate and press circus?
Can we support English and switching from French to English?
Can we make it tourists friendly and not just citizen friendly?

Yes, We Can!



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