25 ms·

Here in Switzerland, we have had those kiosks for a few years and they are great. * Much better product discoverability. * Better customization (like removing

by kuon 8y ago

Here in Switzerland, we have had those kiosks for a few years and they are great. * Much better product discoverability. * Better customization (like removing onion from the burger). * Easier to see the prices and compare them. * No more waiting in line, you just go to the kiosk and then pick a seat, they serve at the table. * I live in the French part of Switzerland and French is my native language, and while I have a good german level, understanding every swiss german dialect is really hard, I'm glad I can use the machine. This also applies to tourists as the kiosk is also in english.

renjimen 8y ago
This also saved my ass in Russia recently since I don't know any Russian and the staff didn't know any English. I do think it's nice to have the option to be served by a real person if you want to though, so hopefully McDonald's go with a combination of kiosks and cashiers.
- kuon 8y ago
  I didn't mention it, but here they kept two cashiers (at least at the restaurant near me).
- reustle 8y ago
  While I agree it's super helpful, I travel full time and trying to / learning to communicate with humans is half the fun! :)
majewsky 8y ago
> while I have a good german level, understanding every swiss german dialect is really hard I'm a native German, and I find that hard as well. I was in Switzerland once and I saw a news broadcast where the weather segment was spoken in the Zurich dialect of German. I only know that because my host told me; I didn't recognize it as German at all.
- Mediterraneo10 8y ago
  "Schweizerdeutsch ist keine Sprache, sondern eine Halskrankheit."
Tijdreiziger 8y ago
> No more waiting in line, you just go to the kiosk and then pick a seat, they serve at the table. McDonalds should introduce this in more countries. At the kiosks in the Netherlands, after you order, you still have to wait at the counter for your order to come up.
BonesJustice 8y ago
+1 for discoverability. I haven’t used the McDonald’s kiosks, but I’ve ordered many times using the Chick-Fil-A app, and it’s great. I discovered all sorts of options I didn’t even know existed. I can get pepper jack cheese on my spicy chicken sandwich? Hell yes, please. And so many sauces I didn’t know about. You can order an Arnold Palmer too, with either sweet or unsweetened tea. Very flexible. If done right, this could definitely be an improvement. On the other hand, they implemented a not so great kiosk-based system at my office cafeteria, and that transition wasn’t exactly smooth. The menu selections on the kiosks were much too rigid, and did not offer enough flexibility for customization.

by kuon 8y ago

renjimen 8y ago

This also saved my ass in Russia recently since I don't know any Russian and the staff didn't know any English. I do think it's nice to have the option to be served by a real person if you want to though, so hopefully McDonald's go with a combination of kiosks and cashiers.

kuon 8y ago
I didn't mention it, but here they kept two cashiers (at least at the restaurant near me).
reustle 8y ago
While I agree it's super helpful, I travel full time and trying to / learning to communicate with humans is half the fun! :)

majewsky 8y ago

> while I have a good german level, understanding every swiss german dialect is really hard I'm a native German, and I find that hard as well. I was in Switzerland once and I saw a news broadcast where the weather segment was spoken in the Zurich dialect of German. I only know that because my host told me; I didn't recognize it as German at all.

Mediterraneo10 8y ago
"Schweizerdeutsch ist keine Sprache, sondern eine Halskrankheit."

Tijdreiziger 8y ago

> No more waiting in line, you just go to the kiosk and then pick a seat, they serve at the table. McDonalds should introduce this in more countries. At the kiosks in the Netherlands, after you order, you still have to wait at the counter for your order to come up.

BonesJustice 8y ago

+1 for discoverability. I haven’t used the McDonald’s kiosks, but I’ve ordered many times using the Chick-Fil-A app, and it’s great. I discovered all sorts of options I didn’t even know existed. I can get pepper jack cheese on my spicy chicken sandwich? Hell yes, please. And so many sauces I didn’t know about. You can order an Arnold Palmer too, with either sweet or unsweetened tea. Very flexible. If done right, this could definitely be an improvement. On the other hand, they implemented a not so great kiosk-based system at my office cafeteria, and that transition wasn’t exactly smooth. The menu selections on the kiosks were much too rigid, and did not offer enough flexibility for customization.