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I don't get why US gas pumps are so complicated at all. Here, I drive up to the pump, grab the right nozzle, fill up, go inside to the cash register and pay. Th

I don't get why US gas pumps are so complicated at all. Here, I drive up to the pump, grab the right nozzle, fill up, go inside to the cash register and pay. There are literally bo buttons on the pumps. Fiddling with the pump UI in the US has always been a slower process for me.

close04 7y ago
Well you're talking about UX and the article is mostly about UI (touches on the experience here and there). Arguing that the pictures themselves look amateurish. In Europe most pumps are a lot simpler and the only screen is the segment LCD giving you the price and liters. Sometimes you'll have a couple of buttons on the pump like "30E", "50E". You'd press one and then do exactly what you described with the difference that the pump stops at the preset mount. Other unattended pumps will ask you to put the card in, authorize a payment, the fill up and they will charge based on that authorization and all this using the regular ATM style keypad unit with a tiny LCD (the kind you'd see at any parking, or automatic ticket dispenser). They are all very straight forward in their usage even when you don't understand a word from the written instructions. Very simple UI that's shared across industries to make sure people have some familiarity. With the downside that the UI looks very '90s, should anyone see that as a problem (Jalopnik probably would).
threeseed 7y ago
Not sure if it's across all of the US but I know in Hawaii I had to pay before I was allowed to put fuel in. Which made for this weird situation where I had to try and mathematically calculate how much fuel I needed. And of course no tap/pay like the rest of the world.
- beowulfey 7y ago
  You can always preauthorize with a card, or if you pay cash get the change. The latter is more annoying though.
- jasonpeacock 7y ago
  You can get refunds for un-spent monies after pumping. Tell the clerk you want $50 of gas, then pump ~$40 and go back inside to get the leftover.
kube-system 7y ago
> Here, I drive up to the pump, grab the right nozzle, fill up, go inside to the cash register and pay. That was exactly how it worked in the US until about 20 years ago. But then stations started to require prepayment because there were a number of people skipping that important final step.
wpearse 7y ago
At our (NZ) BP pumps we drive up, open the “BPMe” app, choose our pump number, enter a 4-digit PIN, fill up, replace the nozzle and drive off. Another retailer (Z Energy) has a new “Fastlane” service where you drive up, fill up, then drive off. It uses a camera pointed at your vehicle’s licence plate to figure out who to charge. (I haven’t used this, though. I’m a staunch BP customer.)
JoeAltmaier 7y ago
Go in and stand in line? How is that convenient? If I have to physically enter a gas station, I never return. I want my gas, and then I'm out of there.
HeyLaughingBoy 7y ago
You can still do that, but no one bothers unless they need to get something inside. e.g., soda, food, use bathroom, etc.

close04 7y ago

Well you're talking about UX and the article is mostly about UI (touches on the experience here and there). Arguing that the pictures themselves look amateurish. In Europe most pumps are a lot simpler and the only screen is the segment LCD giving you the price and liters. Sometimes you'll have a couple of buttons on the pump like "30E", "50E". You'd press one and then do exactly what you described with the difference that the pump stops at the preset mount. Other unattended pumps will ask you to put the card in, authorize a payment, the fill up and they will charge based on that authorization and all this using the regular ATM style keypad unit with a tiny LCD (the kind you'd see at any parking, or automatic ticket dispenser). They are all very straight forward in their usage even when you don't understand a word from the written instructions. Very simple UI that's shared across industries to make sure people have some familiarity. With the downside that the UI looks very '90s, should anyone see that as a problem (Jalopnik probably would).

threeseed 7y ago

Not sure if it's across all of the US but I know in Hawaii I had to pay before I was allowed to put fuel in. Which made for this weird situation where I had to try and mathematically calculate how much fuel I needed. And of course no tap/pay like the rest of the world.

beowulfey 7y ago
You can always preauthorize with a card, or if you pay cash get the change. The latter is more annoying though.
jasonpeacock 7y ago
You can get refunds for un-spent monies after pumping. Tell the clerk you want $50 of gas, then pump ~$40 and go back inside to get the leftover.

kube-system 7y ago

> Here, I drive up to the pump, grab the right nozzle, fill up, go inside to the cash register and pay. That was exactly how it worked in the US until about 20 years ago. But then stations started to require prepayment because there were a number of people skipping that important final step.

wpearse 7y ago

At our (NZ) BP pumps we drive up, open the “BPMe” app, choose our pump number, enter a 4-digit PIN, fill up, replace the nozzle and drive off. Another retailer (Z Energy) has a new “Fastlane” service where you drive up, fill up, then drive off. It uses a camera pointed at your vehicle’s licence plate to figure out who to charge. (I haven’t used this, though. I’m a staunch BP customer.)

JoeAltmaier 7y ago

Go in and stand in line? How is that convenient? If I have to physically enter a gas station, I never return. I want my gas, and then I'm out of there.

HeyLaughingBoy 7y ago

You can still do that, but no one bothers unless they need to get something inside. e.g., soda, food, use bathroom, etc.