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Are public touchscreens bad for the user’s health?
UX thoughts on health from the Covid-19 wave.
It’s almost impossible to get on any media or social media platform right now and not hear about the Coronavirus that is grabbing everyone’s attention.
I was recently at the Phoenix airport traveling home from vacation at the Grand Canyon. My husband and I had 20 minutes to get to our gate, so we decided to get lunch at a nearby fast food restaurant. We walked up to the counter and found that no one was taking orders. Instead there were multiple touchscreen menu stations that allowed customers to create their order and pay right there. This is definitely not the first time I’ve seen or used this as many restaurants nowadays are switching to this type of system.
Touchscreens are an incredible technology. They are everywhere: in our cars, homes, pockets, workplaces, etc. Everywhere. They allow designers to create excellent and intuitive experiences for customers, reduce lines and wait times, and help people avoid unwanted human interaction. They help businesses optimize their systems and save money on employees whose jobs can be done by the machine. But “the rise of the touchscreen means both new kinds of health hazards and more usage in risky scenarios.” (Source)
