Wells Fargo’s New ATM

Over two three years ago, I had written a post sharing my experiences on using Automated Teller Machines (ATM) and the inherent need for a fresh user interaction model for ATMs. Roughly around the same time, Well’s Fargo, a diversified financial services company headquartered at San Fransisco with worldwide operations, commissioned Pentagram to work on new User Interfaces for their 7000 ATMs.

Holger Struppek, an ex-Pentagrammer, shares some of their experiences on working on the interfaces. One of the features that I had envisioned back then was a single click cash dispensing option that suggests an amount based on the user’s transaction history. Its good to learn that this feature has been adopted in Pentagram’s work -

A great feature of the Wells Fargo ATM UI has always been the Quick Cash button. It allows you to quickly withdraw $40 from your checking account with the press of one button. There is no need to go through the steps of selecting an account, selecting an amount, and confirming the transaction. However, few people knew that this feature could be customized with a different amount and account.

The article talks about the research, decision on using grid-based visual design, color palette, user testing and other stuff that went in to redefining the ATM interface design paradigm.