Limitations

Control Box Localization

Even though it initially looks like a negligible aspect, as product designers we know that the localization of product and product features relative to the environment of use is, indeed, an imperative design factor. Paying closer attention to the localization of the Tech-Cash control box within the laundry room, you would notice that it's at the point of least visual reference with regards to the laundry machines. This feature adds a great deal of limitation to the user. From personal experience and observations, the user would sometimes ignore or forget the machine number and had to leave the control box and relocate their machine to look for the number, all the while, the machine would restart if it took more than 10 seconds to dial the number, thus adding inefficiency-in-use to the design of the set-up.

Control Box Platform

The current control boxes for the Tech-Cash system represent a considerable impediment to the user experience. As mentioned by one of the interviewees, the Tech-Cash control boxes provide slow responses to the user inputs. Starting with the fact that it has an extremely small display system, the system implements horizontally-moving letters to communicate the full message to the user. Additionally, it currently takes around 5 messages and steps to finish the transaction to which I believe is considerably onerous compared to solely two steps required when using coins. Finally, it should be noted that the control boxes can solely fulfill the purposes of paying for laundry cycles while any additional transactions have to be completed through the Tech-Cash website, thus limiting their utility to one-degree, paying for your laundry.

Lack of Interactivity with User

One of the interviewees mentioned critical disadvantages to the current setup, all of which were related to the lack of interactivity of the system. Some of these features would be highly useful for users like: notices if your current balance drops after a certain amount, saving payments or billing details and automatic account refill. Despite the fact that the Tech-Cash website offers a quick and convenient way to refill your account balance, this is the only means to recharge your account and it doesn't provide any additional or the above mentioned user-interactivity features.