=Paper=
{{Paper
|id=Vol-2382/ICT4S2019_paper_32
|storemode=property
|title=The Interplay between Usability, Sustainability and Green Aspects: A Design Case Study from a Developing Country
|pdfUrl=https://ceur-ws.org/Vol-2382/ICT4S2019_paper_32.pdf
|volume=Vol-2382
|authors=Shola Oyedeji,Bilal Naqvi,Birgit Penzenstadler,Mikhail O. Adisa,Mariam Abdulkareem,Ahmed Seffah
|dblpUrl=https://dblp.org/rec/conf/ict4s/OyedejiNPAAS19
}}
==The Interplay between Usability, Sustainability and Green Aspects: A Design Case Study from a Developing Country==
https://ceur-ws.org/Vol-2382/ICT4S2019_paper_32.pdf
The Interplay between Usability, Sustainability and
Green Aspects: A Design Case Study from a
Developing Country
Shola Oyedeji Mikhail O. Adisa
LUT School of Engineering (LENS) IT Service Management Consultant
Lappeenranta University of Technology Abuja, Nigeria
Lappeenranta, Finland olamikhx@gmail.com
shola.oyedeji@lut.fi
Mariam Abdulkareem
Bilal Naqvi LUT School of Energy Systems (LES)
LUT School of Engineering (LENS) Lappeenranta University of Technology
Lappeenranta University of Technology Lappeenranta, Finland
Lappeenranta, Finland mariam.abdulkareem@lut.fi
syed.naqvi@lut.fi
Birgit Penzenstadler
Department of Computer Engineering and Computer
Science, California State University Long Beach Ahmed Seffah
Long Beach, USA
Green UX Design Thinking Associates
LUT School of Engineering (LENS)
Paris, France
Lappeenranta University of Technology
ahmed.seffah@green-design.com
Lappeenranta, Finland
birgit.penzenstadler@csulb.edu
Abstract— Sustainability and Green ICT are concepts that are
usually not engineered into the design and development of ICT I. INTRODUCTION
systems especially in the developing countries. This paper focuses Nigeria, a country with a dense population of over 190 mil-
on an interactive system, the Automated Teller Machine (ATM)
lion people [1] [2], has 53% of her populace with active bank
in Nigeria. Current research concerning ATMs does not consider
sustainability and green requirements in the design loop such as
accounts who make use of the Automated Teller Machine
how green awareness in design can help support, for example, the (ATM) [3]. According to the World Factbook (2018), the de-
reduction of energy consumption and paper wastage while reduc- mographic distribution of Nigerians aged between 55-64 years
ing the environmental impact resulting from human computer is 3.97% and those aged 65 years and above is 3.13% repre-
interaction. This paper considers the specific case of senior citi- senting a total of 7.1%, while the population within the age
zens accompanied with the general problems of adoption, and bracket of 15-54 years is 50.35% of the current total population
mastering of the ATM technology, while highlighting the inter- of over 190 million [2][4]. Based on these facts, it can be con-
play between usability, green aspects and sustainability of inter- strued that the country represents a wide number of ATM users
active services. The case study was carried out over a period of
demographically.
two months, using observations, interviews and time experiments
to support the findings. Key findings include: (1) poor ATM de- ATMs were introduced originally to allow financial institu-
sign affects usability and sustainability due to paper wastage as tions to render transactional services to their clients without
the consequence of redundant menu, (2) energy wastage is the directly interacting with bank representatives or tellers [5]. Be-
consequence of multiple iterations during withdrawals, visibility sides, banks in Nigeria have adopted the use of ATMs and
of the status of systems, menu labels, and inconsistency and, (3) strongly encourage their clients to use ATMs for ease of trans-
poor feedback, learnability and memorability, efficiency as well actions because Nigeria has yet to become a fully cashless
as aesthetics and user satisfaction resulted in a quest for a better society [6]. There is an on-going campaign to ease financial
ATM design in Nigeria. transactions through a ‘cashless policy’ and the ATM is ex-
Index Terms— Sustainability, Green awareness, Automated
pected to play a major role in that by encouraging more usage
Teller Machine, ICT, Usability, User experience, Interactive
system and decongesting the banking halls. ATMs deployed in Nigeria
provide cross-bank and cross-account services as well as per-
sonal services. They are aimed at improving service delivery
and diversifying financial services including but not limited to these issues have been quite challenging due to inadequate in-
cash deposits, withdrawals, funds transfer, bill payments and frastructure [9] [10] such as paper recycling facilities and effi-
mobile airtime top-up [7]. Veritably, ATMs are prone to many cient waste management facilities.
usability problems such as interface design, unusual fonts and As a result, these paper wastes end up incinerated thereby
navigation menus, which may generate paper waste resulting causing air pollution, which, given that this usually happens in
from incessant receipt printing. Day to day practices revealed the form of mixed trash incineration, poses a serious health
that large heaps of paper wastes are generated from the ATMs hazard to the local population. In addition to inadequate infra-
by users’ transactions. Besides, it was observed that many of structure, there is a lack of social and environmental awareness
these receipts fill up trashcans and the litter is strewn all over among the citizens and general users of the ATMs. As a result,
the base of the ATMs. a social and environmental awareness program is required on
Most banks in Nigeria have a policy of limiting withdrawal the need to reduce waste (energy and paper waste) for both the
amount per transaction on their ATMs. In addition, more than customers and the banking institutions. This includes recogniz-
three transactions at the ATM of a different bank attract charg- ing the need for social and environmental sustainability which
es of N65.00 ($0.17). As a result, many of the ATMs across the brings the country closer to achieving the United Nations sus-
country are set to a maximum withdrawal of N10,000 ($28) per tainable development goals (SDGs) [11]. The following re-
transaction, which leads to more money for the banks (through search questions addressed in this paper were formulated con-
charges) especially from Fridays to Sundays. Thereby, forcing sidering the aforementioned issues of ATM:
customers to spend more time at the ATMs. For instance, a What are the usability concerns that senior citizens
customer withdrawing N100,000 (One hundred thousand naira) face when using an ATM?
will have to make the transaction 10 times instead of twice or How can green requirements and sustainability as-
thrice at a maximum. Thus, having to pay withdrawal charges pects be incorporated into ATM services design?
after the third withdrawal. This type of design is flawed and What are the relationships between the factors affect-
viewed by the customers as unfriendly and time-wasting espe- ing usability, green requirements and sustainability
cially to the senior citizens considering the long queues at most aspects of an interactive system such as an ATM?
of the ATMs due to the increased amount of time spent to per- What are the factors responsible for long queues at
form a large withdrawal. This practice is gradually affecting the most ATMs in Nigeria?
so-called ‘cashless policy’ as evident in declining usage by the
Can ATMs serve as a means of sustainability and
customers. This shows the lack of (social) sustainability con-
Green awareness?
sideration – where social sustainability can encourage positive
What are the sustainability issues of current ATM de-
contributions towards a user community’s well-being and satis-
sign in Nigeria?
faction [8]. Figure 1 summarizes the causes and issues of poor
The next section provides background information. Section
ATM design in Nigeria.
III presents current problems of ATM design in Nigeria. Sec-
tion IV describes the research design. Section V presents the
results. Section VI provides a summary of findings. Section VII
explains the design analysis. Section VIII covers discussion
and Section IX concludes the paper.
II. BACKGROUND
The development of an interactive system such as the ATM
should be user-centered. Some of the works from the HCI
community on social sustainability (usability and loneliness)
[12] are examples of how important user centeredness is in the
design of ICT systems looking at the case of ATMs. Integrating
social sustainability requirements into design can help improve
user experience during interaction with any software interface
which has a potential to induce sustainable behavior. Lack of a
proper guide for designers on how sustainability can be trans-
lated into interface design for the system has hindered the abil-
Fig 1. Fishbone Diagram of ATM Design and Usability Issues in Nigeria ity to have sustainability considered during systems design.
Kem-Laurin [13] identified this challenge and proposed the
Apart from the flaws in the interactive ATM design indicat-
use of a Sustainability User Experience Framework to assist
ed from Figure 1, which may result in social problems, the
software designers.
amount of paper generated from incessant receipt printing gives
HCI plays a major role in creating green user awareness
rise to environmental problems. The lack of proper initiatives
through eco-feedback which is based on the work of Froehlich
to tackle the problem of paper waste generated from ATMs and
et al. [14] as a way of showing users their positive and negative
other sectors of the economy with paper waste in Nigeria has
habits, which in this context refers to printing receipts during
led to increased environmental issues in the country. Solving
the use of ATMs. Another role of HCI is to also provide a solu-
tion to the problem of obsolescence by considering interactions systems are designed, developed and applied badly without
between the device and its owner, the user experience and how sustainability consideration, it will have adverse effect such as
these two factors can affect the length of ownership for that abnormal increase in energy usage, accelerate climate change,
device, its usage and finally disposal [15]. This will provide worsen inequality for those who do not have access and in-
insightful solutions on the design of end user devices. Howev- crease pollution and resource use. The Global impact of ICT on
er, there is less research in the field of sustainable HCI on the CO2 emissions is 2% and accountable for approximately 8% of
application of sustainability by using a design framework into the European Union’s (EU) electricity consumption [27].
different design practices [16]. Spagnolli et al.’s [17] work on The pathway to a sustainable society is unclear since sus-
application of eco-feedback has shown a positive result for tainability means different things to different people [28]. Peo-
changing user behaviour towards sustainability. However, the ple’s different lifestyles, values and practices also affect how
major challenge for eco-feedback is the pattern and manner in sustainability is treated [29]. However, with proper design in-
which information is presented to the users. If the presentation spired by sustainability and green requirements, ICT can re-
from eco-feedback is not well structured, it can hinder the abil- duce the impact of other sectors by up to 16% [30]. Further-
ity to promote green awareness based on user interaction [18]. more, one of the major problems for software designers is that
Information from eco-feedback must be designed and tailored even with a systems approach, there are few existing tools that
to educate and encourage users to change their habits and be- wrap core principles of sustainability together[31]. Also, there
come greener. An example of such an eco-feedback can be are only few studies and suggestions about ‘what’ aspects of
seen from Quintal et al. [19] who provide user engagement sustainability to measure and ‘how’ to do it with regards to ICT
through art inspired tangible eco-feedback that engages users [32] that can be applied to the case of ATM.
emotionally. Adoption of green requirements for the design and devel-
Sustainability is not yet the core of HCI as a design disci- opment of ATMs has the potential to educate users during sys-
pline according to Fallman [20]. However, there are strong tem interaction. Oyedeji et al. [33] propose to incorporate sus-
supporters of sustainability in the HCI field, as seen in the work tainability and green requirements into the requirements gather-
of Eli Blevis [21] where it was indicated that sustainability ing process using the sustainable business goal metric approach
should be the core of HCI with the methods and reasoning be- (S-BGQM). Such requirements can lead to the addition of
hind the design and development of interactive systems. This green and sustainable criteria in the evaluation of user inter-
challenge has hindered the ability for designers of the interac- face. The work of Jeffries et al. [34], Stary et al. [35] and Wen-
tive system to evaluate the consequential positive and negative ham et al. [36] for user interface evaluation shows sustainabil-
effects of different choices which can either improve users’ ity or green requirements are not included as a criterion used in
green awareness or increase their negative habit as indicated by any of the techniques for user interface (UI) evaluation. Park et
Nicolas Makelberge [22]. A practical example is that the cur- al. [37] also proposed the use of the structured methodology for
rent ATM design in Nigeria, based on observation and interac- the evaluation of UI designs through usability criteria and
tions with bank staff, shows that a single ATM generates up to measure with a process consisting of two phases: prescreening
five big rolls of receipts on a weekly average. However, most phase (expert judgment-based approach) and the evaluation
of these receipts end up in the trashcan. This is in addition to phase (user-based approach). The proposed model has no crite-
the papers automatically printed as a ledger for the ATM cus- ria or measures though relating to sustainability and greenness.
todians (Bank) for every transaction performed on the machine. Kem-Laurin’s book “User Experience in the Age of Sus-
According to Bonanni et al. [23], sustainable HCI has a tainability” [13] highlights some of the design issues in the
huge potential to facilitate and support the design and devel- modern-day design of user experience with consideration of
opment of new interface design that can increase sustainability sustainability. Kem-Laurin proposed the use of a sustainability
awareness among users. This awareness can motivate positive user experience framework as a way to guide designers during
environmental impact through green awareness because user design and development of systems with a set of questions. The
interactions with these new interfaces can lead to new habits framework contains a product life cycle, user-centered data,
due to informed decisions on how a user’s action can affect the and list of methodologies that can be applied during design.
environment.
The challenge of creating green awareness by incorporating III. CHALLENGES OF CURRENT ATM DESIGN IN NIGERIA
sustainability into the design of interactive systems such as Information available from the Nigerian Inter-Bank Settle-
ATMs is one of the root problems for designing better ICT ments System reveals that, as of June 2017, the total number of
systems with sustainability and green requirements. Design ATMs deployed in the Country stood at 17,712 (a figure ex-
based solutions can help improve ICT energy efficiency, pro- pected to have further risen to about 18,000 currently). Total
mote a low carbon economy and reduce the carbon footprint of Transaction volume from January to June 2017 was 336.77
ICT systems [24]. However, the challenge of integrating sus- Million and total transaction value (in Naira) from January to
tainability into ICT is because of the pervasive nature of cur- June 2017 was 3.05 Trillion [38], [39].
rent ICT systems and its advancement in power, performance Previous researches have shown that ATMs in the banking
and affordability. This can be improved through proper analy- industry have contributed immensely to customer satisfaction
sis of the first, second and third order effects of ICT systems through reliability and accessibility of services, privacy, con-
design [25]. Based on the research Madden et al. [26], if ICT venience, user-friendly services, which have improved satisfac-
tion significantly as noted by Al-Hawari and Ward, Mwaikali supplementary information about each participant’s personal
[40], [41]. However, recent findings revealed that the current characteristics and environment. It is important to state that
design of ATMs in Nigeria is flawed with many usability prob- sustainability dimensions are considered from the following
lems, as a result, making it very frustrating and disappointing to perspectives in the study design:
use [42]. A formerly attractive solution is fast becoming unac- Economic: This is about maintaining a cost-effective
ceptable and does not reflect the progress expected in the de- design solution for ATM design while reducing cost.
sign of such an interactive system. Thus, requiring an urgent Social: Covers the sustainability in terms of relational
need for improvement. Notable among these are poor network ties and trust among a community of users of ATMs.
quality, card locking [41], reflective display screen, redundant Individual: Refers to the ability of each user to com-
menus, inadequate profiling of card linked to account, small plete their task successfully with ease regardless of
withdrawal limit, inadequate feedback, repeated receipts print- their age (old or young).
ed for each transaction, machine breakdown, ATMs running Environment: Focus on how to reduce paper waste,
out of cash, insufficient number of ATMs in the metropolis, encourage recycling and create awareness among us-
and delay in the dispensation of cash [42]. ers for climate issues that can generate enough con-
In addition to the aforementioned problems, specific issues sciousness in users on how their actions and inactions
faced by adults aged 55 – 64; and senior citizens aged 65+ are affect natural resources through paper receipt wastage,
another major grey area. Akinnuwesi et al. [43] stress that the pollution, and energy consumptions.
addition of multi-lingual and multi-denomination features to Technical: Develop sound and easy to use solutions
the current ATM design is capable of enhancing the functional- for ATM design which can be deployed easily and
ities and robustness of the machine. Thus, providing services to maintained as requirements evolve.
users with less stress. Apart from elders, some users of ATM in
Table 1 defines the roles and responsibility of each author
Nigeria are also rural dwellers (who understand their local lan-
in the study. The authors initials are used in Table 1 in the
guage only – majorly Hausa, Igbo and Yoruba), having a ma-
following order: Shola Oyedeji (SO), Mikhail O. Adisa
chine that speaks their language will raise acceptability and
(MA), Bilal Naqvi (BN), Mariam Abdulkareem (MA),
users’ satisfaction among such a minority group. The lack of
Birgit Penzenstadler (BP) and Ahmed Seffah (AS).
localization in the usability of ATMs in the cities and especial-
ly in rural towns usually leads to an increase in printed receipts
TABLE I. ROLES AND RESPONSIBILITY
for each transaction by users which ends up as litter.
Description SO MA BN MA BP AS
IV. RESEARCH DESIGN Identify primary research * *
Define hypothesis * *
The research was conducted using observation methods and
Design interview questions * * * *
interviews. It was conducted in Abuja, the Federal Capital Ter- Background study * * * *
ritory (FCT), with a population of 2.44 million [4]. The major Review interview questions *
reason for choosing FCT as the sample population is because
Study evaluation * *
of its strategic importance, and it has at least a branch of all the
First internal validation *
banks in Nigeria and therefore provides the opportunity to cov-
er as many banks as possible. ATM usage habits were observed Second Internal validation *
across the FCT over a period of two months, focusing on all Write paper * * * * *
categories of ATM users. The exercise covered all banks across Review paper * *
the metropolis. Participants were selected by actually visiting
random ATM points within the city, and after a brief introduc- V. RESULTS
tion, some declined to be interviewed while others were excited The results of the study are categorized into demography,
that they have the opportunity to discuss challenges faced with Frequency of ATM usage, Ease of Use, Sustainability and
the current design and also take part in the questionnaire. There Green consideration.
were 500 participants. A. Demography: Age range was from 15-24, 25-34,
Observation method [44] was first used in data collection 35-44, 45-54, 55 and above. Out of the 500 partic-
from different ATM points within Abuja. This is to eliminate ipants, senior citizens aged 55 and above covers
any bias in order to find truly the cause of usability and sus- slightly above half, while the rest is somewhat
tainability problems of ATMs. Participant and non-participant evenly distributed among aged 15 – 54 respective-
observation was applied during the data collection to increase ly. At the same time, the highest responses came
the participant sample size. from the female participants at 59.3%. In addition,
Since the information from the observation is not able to a little above half of the participants had up to de-
provide insights such as participants’ background details, opin- gree level of education and one-fourth had a post-
ions, what features to improve and personal preferences in us- graduate degree. Overall, one-third of the partici-
ing the ATMs, a second method of short personal interviews pants earned over N200,000 (approx. $550) and
[45] was conducted to understand the personal usability and approximately one-fifth earned less than $140, re-
sustainability problems of each user. This also provides some spectively.
B. Frequency of usage: Two-third of the participants
had two or more ATM cards linked to their ac-
counts, with approximately half of them claiming
to have used their cards in the last one week.
While one quarter claimed to have used theirs
about three or more weeks ago.
C. Ease of use: 15.56% of the participants claimed
that it took them less than 2 minutes to complete a
N40,000 ($100) transaction, while 36.5% claimed Fig. 4. Frequency of queue at ATM
to have achieved the same within 4 minutes,
19.2% took 6 minutes. However, 28.7% were able
to achieve theirs in more than 6 minutes (Figure
2). This can be attributed to the limitation on the
maximum amount of cash that can be withdrawn
per each transaction from ATM.
Fig. 5. Percentage of user satisfaction with current ATM design and usability
Over 60% of users are dissatisfied with current ATM de-
sign and usability and less than 20% are satisfied (Figure 5).
Some of the issues for this level of dissatisfaction can be linked
to withdrawal limit of 10,000 per transaction from most banks,
Fig. 2. The amount of time required to complete withdrawal transaction of long queues, security feature of re-entering ATM pin after each
40,000 naira ($100) transaction. And over 50% of the users required one level of
assistance to complete their transaction (Figure 6) mainly be-
cause of screen resolution and language. Additionally, more
than 80% preferred to have a multi-lingual interface to ease
their transactions (Figure 7).
Fig. 3. Percentage of 40,000 naira ($100) withdrawal at once
In the same vein, 62% of the participants claimed to have
never been able to withdrawal N40,000 ($100) at once before Fig. 6. Percentage of users that required assistance for ATM Transaction
and only 8% claimed to have being able to do same before
(Figure 3). The ability to withdrawal N40,000 ($100) appealed
to more than 70% of participants, while 17% of them opted for
N20,000 and just 10% agreed with the status quo of N10,000
single withdrawals. This shows the problem of the ATM policy
from most banks that reduce maximum cash withdrawal to
10,000 naira per transaction. It explains one of the major rea-
sons for why most people spend more time in queue at most
ATMs as seen in responses from Figure 4.
Fig. 7. Users response to Multi-lingual feature in ATM
D. Sustainability and Green Consideration: More VI. SUMMARY OF ATM USABILITY, GREEN AND
than half of the participants (61.5%) were used to SUSTAINABILITY DESIGN ISSUES IN NIGERIA
frequently printing receipts after their ATM trans- Our findings reveal that many of the problems encountered
actions (Figure 8) and are unaware of the negative by users of ATMs in Nigeria can be eliminated if the users’
impact of such on the environment (Figure 9). expectation meets the design goal with consideration of envi-
ronmental, social and individual sustainability. As different
technologies are invented to better the life of users, usability
and users’ engagement studies should be periodically carried
out to understand their challenges and how best to reduce am-
biguity without having a negative impact on the environment.
The study outcome revealed that most ATM interfaces in
the country are not user-friendly. The fonts are either too tiny
or the interface screen used by some banks is reflective and not
friendly to the eyes (in this case, the customers have to adjust
and squint their eyes to see properly). No consideration of so-
cial and individual sustainability. Customers have to select
Fig. 8. Percentage for printing receipt after each transaction
account type out of three options (Savings, Current and Credit)
even when the card is linked to only one account number. Lack
of feedback about the unavailability of cash to dispense, as
customers had to insert and perform all the withdrawal steps
before getting to know that the ATM cannot dispense cash
(Time wastage). Most of these banks usually limit withdrawals
to a maximum of N10,000 per withdrawal as discussed in the
introduction and, thus, consuming more electrical and mechan-
ical energy to dispense larger sums (energy waste).
Another major observation is the amount of paper generat-
Fig. 9. Level of users’ awareness about impact of printed receipts on environ-
ed as receipts, as most users often drop the said receipt right at
ment the base of the ATMs. A typical ATM in the capital territory
In addition, more than half of the participants suggested that generated up to five rolls of receipt paper per week, most of
the banks should burn the receipts left in the trash can by the which ended up as waste. Expanding this sample to another
customers, while 10% are for recycling and 30% are for send- part of the country will reveal heavy loads of paper wastage.
ing the said receipts to a trash collector for proper disposal This shows lack of concern for environmental sustainability.
(Figure 10). Almost half of the participants also claimed to Table 2 summarizes all the design issues faced by different user
understand the meaning of sustainability, while 48.9% claimed groups along with the affected dimensions of sustainability.
they don't know the meaning, and less than 10% preferred not
to respond to the question (Figure 11). Overall, 97% are aware TABLE II. DESIGN ISSUES IN CURRENT ATM IN NIGERIA
of climate change according to the responses. No Design Issues Target Users Sustainability
Dimension
1. Font/Screen Resolution Elders/ Senior Individual,
Citizens Social
2. Reflective display screen All users Technical
3. Redundant menu (repeated- Users with a Technical, Envi-
ly select account type) single account ronment
4. Automatic receipt printing ATM Owner, Technical, Envi-
after a ‘fund transfer trans- All users ronment
action’
5. No choice of language All users Individual,
Fig. 10. Level of users’ awareness about air pollution and recycling selection Social
6. Withdrawal limit of All users, Technical, Envi-
N10,000 ATM owners ronment
7. No choice of currency notes All users Technical
selection
8. Incessant network failure All users, Technical, Indi-
without corresponding ATM owners vidual, Envi-
feedback from interface ronment
9. Feedback on card All users Technical, Indi-
jam/capture vidual, Social
10 No display of account bal- All users, Technical, Envi-
Fig. 11. Percentage of sustainability awareness among users ance after the transaction ATM owners ronment
The design issues summarized in Table 2 and results from avoid errors during transactions especially during
section five show the need to rethink the design of ATMs in currency/multi-lingual selection and when deciding to
print or not to print receipts
Nigeria in order to promote sustainability and reduce business Recognition rather Make objects and options visible for users, options of
costs. To fix the identified issues, analysis how usability heu- than recall green and sustainability must be clear enough to avoid
ristics can help improve the current interface design influenced making users recalling information from one part to
by the framework for sustainability of software system design another.
Flexibility and The user interface should be designed to suit all
[46] was carried out. The framework shows the need, during efficiency of use categories of users. All unnecessary steps towards user
system design, to incorporate sustainability goals such as de- goal during usage should be avoided. (e.g. asking user
sign for sustainable efficiency, reusability, increased sustaina- to select account type when the card is linked to just
bility awareness among users, design for reuse, and localiza- one account which just increases the number of steps
in the transaction and increase energy used)
tion. It suggests using sustainability concepts such as cradle to Aesthetic and Information on the screen should be precise to make
cradle, biomimicry, life cycle sustainability assessment, social minimalist design users locate information easily. This will ensure users
return on investment, and sustainability awareness diagrams. are aware of their actions during each transaction and a
The ten usability heuristics for user interface design by structured information would help create green
awareness. (Avoid using a reflective screen that affects
Jakob Neilsen [47][48] were adapted for sustainability. Table 3 visibility of menus)
highlights the details of the green and sustainable guidelines Help users Error message should be in simple and plain language
based on Jakob Neilsen heuristics [48] used as a guide for the recognize, to express the problem and suggest solution. (e.g.
proposed new ATM design. diagnose, and information on Card Capture Resolution should be
recover from errors visible when such error occurs)
Help and There should an easy help function to guide and assist
TABLE III. GREEN AND SUSTAINABILITY HEURISTICS GUIDELINES documentation users whenever needed. This can also be a good
(BASED ON NIELSEN HEURISTICS)
avenue to propagate green awareness.
Name Description
Visibility of system The interface should not be reflective, so as to enhance VII. DESIGN ANALYSIS AND RECOMMENDATION
status readability. Green awareness should be made visible
from the UI through appropriate warnings within
This paper is proposing a redesign of the current ATMs in
reasonable time. Nigeria that will address all the aforementioned issues in Table
Match between The system should use phrases and terms that users are 2 and use the guidelines from Table 3 as a solution path. The
system and the real familiar with to pass the message of green awareness redesign will target all demographics including the Nigerian
world in a natural and logical order. This is supported with a elderly citizens (who complained mostly about the readability
multi-lingual option (to address the need of those that
speak mainly native language) of fonts, reflective display screen, time to perform single with-
User control and When users make the mistake of selecting to print drawal, and redundant menu), improve human-to-machine in-
freedom receipt and wants to cancel, there should be a clear teraction, encourage re-use and promote a greener and safer
way for users to undo the action without difficulty environment. With the current ATM usage statistics in Nigeria,
(without going through an extended dialogue)
Consistency and All screens should have consistency in order not to the technology could also serve as a focal point for the Green
standards confuse user, for example green awareness campaign Awareness Campaign. Table 4 summarizes the solutions and
message should be consistent in all transaction screen. the first, second, and third order impacts [49] [50] of these de-
Error prevention The user interface should be designed in a way to sign changes.
TABLE IV. SOLUTIONS AND OPPORTUNITIES FOR USER CENTERED ATM DESIGN
Issues Target Sustainability Solution/ First order Second order Third order Impact Opportunities
Users Dimension Expectation Impact Impact
Font/Screen Elders/ Individual, Profile user by Improve Increase usage by Reduce the amount of Acceptability,
Resolution Senior Social age and increase usability by senior citizens time spent on making improve usability
Citizens font size older users each ATM transaction for elders
and those which in turn will reduce
with vision the amount of energy
problem used
Automatic ATM Technical, Allow the user Reduce Reduce the Create awareness among Improve user
receipt Owner, Environment decide if printing amount of amount of paper user about sustainability, behavior
printing after All users is necessary after printed waste, Reduce reduce the amount of positively towards
a ‘fund fund transfer, receipts energy usage trees used in producing the environment
transfer show green overtime with less papers, educate users in and the bank
transaction’ campaign receipt printing the long run to use expenses on paper
message to resources judiciously in for printing
discourage their personal life receipts
wasteful printing
Lack of ATM Individual, Green awareness Dissuade Prompt user to Increase sustainability Improve usability,
option to owners, Social campaign by users from stop monthly, and green awareness, reduce energy
track each All users tracking monthly printing on all quarterly and create a society of usage which in
printed printing habit with transactions yearly paper educated users about turn reduce bank
receipt for message from ATM summary of sustainability and impact energy bill
transactions influenced from account on environment
biomimicry transaction
Reflective All users Technical Non-reflective Improve Reduce time on Improve user satisfaction Positive feedback
display display screen usability performing from user and
screen transactions increase in
patronization
Redundant Users Technical, Automatic Reduce time Reduce energy Improve usability, user Save time,
menu with a Environment account type to complete usage satisfaction, reduce conserve energy,
(repeatedly single identifier transaction queue thereby prompting Improve usability
select account quick transaction
account type)
Withdrawal All users, Technical, Increase limit to Reduce time Improve user Increase the amount of Improve usability,
limit of ATM Environment *40 of currency to complete satisfaction transaction Save time
N10,000 owners note (N40,000 for cash because of shorter
N 1,000 and N withdrawal time to withdraw
20,000 for N 500) transaction cash
No choice of All users Technical Display currency Increase time Increase Increase satisfaction Improve
currency note available and for acceptability acceptability and
notes allow the user to transaction usability
selection choose either due to added
N1,000 or N500 menu for
currency
selection
Incessant and All users, Technical, Automatically Reduce time Reduce energy Increase satisfaction Promote cashless
un-inform ATM Individual, display network wastage usage by ensuring policy with more
network owners Environment error on the screen user doesn’t have users willing to do
/ATM failure before user insert to start a other transactions
their card transaction to see (pay school fees,
the ATM has utility bill, fund
problem or unable transfer) via ATM
to dispense cash
Feedback on All users Technical, Display Make users Reduce bank Improve satisfaction Improve
Card Individual, appropriate steps less worried queue for Jammed Interactivity and
Jam/capture Social for resolution because of / Retained card in usability
informed bank premises
decision
based on
displayed
information
No display of All users, Technical, Automatic display Reduce time Reduce paper Reduce energy usage Improve
account ATM Environment of account balance used for waste because and paper receipt satisfaction as
balance after owners after the final transaction user don’t have to printing user does not need
the final transaction select option of to re-enter PIN to
transaction print receipt after view account
transaction balance
Furthermore, with regards to sustainability, it is surprising
VIII. DISCUSSION that 43.3% of the participants were aware of sustainability and
The study has shown some of the problems and challenges 97.8% claimed to have heard of climate change, yet 60.3%
of ATM users in Nigeria. Based on the results from the obser- (Figure 10) of the participants suggested that the trashed re-
vation and interviews, the frequency of ATM card usage and ceipts should be burnt while only 9.6% suggested recycling.
the number of ATM cards owned by participants shows that Burning in itself will lead to environmental pollution which is
ATM usage is high in Nigeria, and as a developing country hazardous to human health. In addition, over 60% of partici-
where cashless policy is still in its infancy, ATMs serve as a pants who always printed receipts at the end of each transaction
major source of making transactions. One of the biggest chal- are not aware that the trashed receipts have a negative impact
lenges in the current ATM design is the lack of consideration on the environment. This is because usually most receipts end
for the older age groups (individual and social sustainability). up in a landfill, where they will be burnt, or conversely, they
This has also impacted negatively on the environment because are thrown into the drainage thereby causing blockage.
a majority of the participants spend more time trying to com- It is therefore important to look at ways of improving sus-
plete smaller transactions due to small fonts, reflective display tainability and green awareness among ATM users in a devel-
screen, network failure and card jams which in turn lead to oping country like Nigeria in order to promote social, individu-
frequent incessant queues. Almost three-quarter of the study al and environmental sustainability. The first step will be pre-
participants claimed to have experienced long queues during senting the result of these findings to some of the banks where
their transaction with two-thirds among them experiencing a the observations and interviews were conducted to explain the
long queue very frequently. Only one-tenth claimed to have advantage and benefits of incorporating sustainability and
never experienced a long queue. green requirements into ATM design. Table 4 can serve as a
way of presenting the first, second and third order impacts with
opportunities that can be derived from re-thinking the design of user experience design help to design software prod-
current ATMs. The second step will be creating sustainability ucts that are sustainability-centric?
and green awareness for example: Perform a larger observational study and describe the
1. Add a tag message “Track your commitment to a greener experiences and feelings of users about the sustaina-
environment, do no print receipt except if necessary” on all bility of interactive system. How do people interact
screen during ATM transactions with systems while being more aware of their impacts
2. On the screen to print receipt, display of a tag message on the environment?
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