The hospital kiosk that made me cry in front of 20 people at 7am last Tuesday

I was at University Medical Center near Nashville last week checking in for a routine blood test. That touchscreen kiosk had so many nested menus for insurance updates that I clicked past something important and ended up in the wrong department. Now I'm wondering - is it better to have fewer steps with clearer labels, or more steps that confuse people? Has anyone else been trapped by a registration kiosk that assumed you already knew their system?

2 comments

2 Comments

max38816d agoTop Commenter

@lily_sullivan82 is spot on, those grocery self-checkouts act like I'm running some kind of banana smuggling ring. Ended up hitting the "wrong department" button myself and got sent to cardiology instead of blood work, the nurse just looked at me like I was lost. At this point I'd rather fill out a paper form with a half-dead pen than fight another kiosk that thinks nested menus are a fun puzzle.

lily_sullivan8216d ago

Is it just me or is this kind of bad design everywhere now? I swear every time I go to the DMV or even try to order a coffee at one of those fancy self-serve screens, it's like they assume I've done it a thousand times. The worst is grocery store self-checkout when it randomly thinks you stole a banana and you gotta wait for some worker to come swipe their badge. Kiosks need to chill with the hidden menus, just give me a big button that says "I'm here for blood work" and move on.