Half-Tide Designs

IBM

Throughput at IBM corporate cafeteria checkout stands was slow, and there was a concern with petty theft. People were hiding candy in areas the cashier could not see, and they were spending excess time counting change and putting it away before moving on.

Through detailed time and motion studies and system redesign, we improved cashier throughput at all IBM corporate cafeteria facilities by designing and integrating a new commercial point of sale workstation and checkout configuration.

Solutions to this problem involved user surveys, requirements definition, field analysis, time-line task analysis, detailed system design, and integrated system prototype fabrication and evaluation.

Life size models and prototypes of the workstation as well as all of the supporting equipment (keyboard, displays, printers, processors and change machines) were all fabricated to scale to simulate the actual working environment.
	Prototypes were also reviewed by field personnel to ensure that maintenance access and cable routing were designed to facilitate all routing maintenance activities.
Prototypes were tested in both the standing and seated work positions with a variety of potential seat choices to ensure the final dimensions of the workstations accommodated a full range of possible seating configurations without degrading the ability to see the entire tray area.