5 ms·

This is a pet peeve of mine. I honestly think we should reserve politeness for human-human interactions only. When the self-checkout machine at the supermarke

by bhousel 13y ago

This is a pet peeve of mine. I honestly think we should reserve politeness for human-human interactions only. When the self-checkout machine at the supermarket says things like "Please scan your item, Please place your item in the bag, Please scan your credit card, Please take your receipt" it devalues the word Please. The machine does not give a shit about you, so it should not be using that word. Edit: I just jumped on a conference call. "Please enter your access code followed by the pound or hash sign. Please say your name and press the pound or hash sign. Thank you. You will now be connected to your conference." UGH! (Yes I know I have unusually strong feelings about this issue).

troels 13y ago
The machine didn't write that phrase though - a human did.
- bhousel 13y ago
  Sure, and if I were ever to interact with that human directly, I'd use my politeness. I feel like manners should be something special just for us humans.
  - eps 13y ago
    That's a very shallow way of looking at things. It's not about manners, it's about perceived bossy tone being subconsciously associated with the machine's owner. You get that "scan your credit card, human" and you will leave the store with a fuzzy feeling that something was off, someone was rude to you. While some people will try and analyze it, most - won't. They will simply pin this on the shop as a company. Does the company need that? Nope, it doesn't. Hence the "please."
  - marcosdumay 13y ago
    You are quite free to be impolite to the machine. I'd prefer that the machines continue to be polite toward me, if for no other reason, because that makes it easier to ignore the interface, and push it into the background.
munrocape 13y ago
However, the company gives a shit about their bottom line. It has been proven that their customers - humans - react positively to humanized language and as a result this is just a natural outcome in markets where the bottom line is important (read:all).
ChuckMcM 13y ago
Traditionally 'please' is way of affirming lower status, the asking party accepts that they are lower status than you but would like you to consider taking an action their behalf. Since the machine cannot scan your items itself (yet) it has to ask you to do that, it can't really order you to do that. I suppose it could say, "The process will begin when you start scanning items." but it's simpler to use the honorific. In error messages apologizing is present perhaps because the service requested could normally be performed but due to circumstances it cannot.
- sp332 13y ago
  It feels strange to mix "please" with such a direct imperative. In fact it comes across as the opposite, like an authority is talking down to you. They could at least use the polite construction, "Would you please scan your item now." It would feel more like a request.
  - unclebucknasty 13y ago
    There's another piece of it which is tone. If you were standing at a checkout and the cashier wanted you to swipe your own card, he/she might say, "scan your card please". But, while the words read as an imperative statement or command, you'd probably notice that the intonation is one akin to a question. For instance, the voice would rise at the end, as in inquiry.
- bhousel 13y ago
  The machine does not need to affirm its lower status. It's a machine. When it becomes sentient, then it earns the right to talk to me like human would. Until then, don't pretend to be something that you are not. Edit: Maybe I'm weird, but I would prefer it to say something like "SCAN NOW", in a robot voice. Maybe add an "OK" if you want to soften it up a bit.
  - Someone 13y ago
    "The machine does not need to affirm its lower status. It's a machine." I think many 'normal' users need frequent reminders about that lower status. Many users, when confronted with a message such as "could not find file 'foo'", will feel that that is their fault.
lukasm 13y ago
English sorry and please are wildcards and they got diluted to extent that non-native english speaking countries use it for a light form of an apology. I agree that constantly repeating please is a bad UX instead of "Thank you for shopping...." it could display "Thanks. Have a nice day!"
chestnut-tree 13y ago
Never underestimate the power of language. Yes, we know it's a pre-recorded message, but we also know a human wrote those words. I'd wager that a self-checkout that barked out commands without ever saying please would sound rude, robotic and harsh to users.
jt2190 13y ago
I guess someday the machine will be sophisticated enough to recognize your preference, and adjust accordingly: "That PIN code isn't valid, s**thead. Try not to f**k it up this time." What a wonderful future it will be! ;-)
- Theodores 13y ago
  The machines in Hitch Hikers Guide to the Galaxy had "Genuine People Personalities", a big feature of Sirius Cybernetics Corporation. Maybe with computer error messages there should be different message translations sent out based on browser capabilities and geographical location.
bambam12897 13y ago
Without the "Please" the phrase sounds like an order. You don't really want a terminal ordering/telling you what to do. The "Please" reframes it into a request.

by bhousel 13y ago

troels 13y ago

The machine didn't write that phrase though - a human did.

bhousel 13y ago
Sure, and if I were ever to interact with that human directly, I'd use my politeness. I feel like manners should be something special just for us humans.
- eps 13y ago
  That's a very shallow way of looking at things. It's not about manners, it's about perceived bossy tone being subconsciously associated with the machine's owner. You get that "scan your credit card, human" and you will leave the store with a fuzzy feeling that something was off, someone was rude to you. While some people will try and analyze it, most - won't. They will simply pin this on the shop as a company. Does the company need that? Nope, it doesn't. Hence the "please."
- marcosdumay 13y ago
  You are quite free to be impolite to the machine. I'd prefer that the machines continue to be polite toward me, if for no other reason, because that makes it easier to ignore the interface, and push it into the background.

munrocape 13y ago

However, the company gives a shit about their bottom line. It has been proven that their customers - humans - react positively to humanized language and as a result this is just a natural outcome in markets where the bottom line is important (read:all).

ChuckMcM 13y ago

Traditionally 'please' is way of affirming lower status, the asking party accepts that they are lower status than you but would like you to consider taking an action their behalf. Since the machine cannot scan your items itself (yet) it has to ask you to do that, it can't really order you to do that. I suppose it could say, "The process will begin when you start scanning items." but it's simpler to use the honorific. In error messages apologizing is present perhaps because the service requested could normally be performed but due to circumstances it cannot.

sp332 13y ago
It feels strange to mix "please" with such a direct imperative. In fact it comes across as the opposite, like an authority is talking down to you. They could at least use the polite construction, "Would you please scan your item now." It would feel more like a request.
- unclebucknasty 13y ago
  There's another piece of it which is tone. If you were standing at a checkout and the cashier wanted you to swipe your own card, he/she might say, "scan your card please". But, while the words read as an imperative statement or command, you'd probably notice that the intonation is one akin to a question. For instance, the voice would rise at the end, as in inquiry.
bhousel 13y ago
The machine does not need to affirm its lower status. It's a machine. When it becomes sentient, then it earns the right to talk to me like human would. Until then, don't pretend to be something that you are not. Edit: Maybe I'm weird, but I would prefer it to say something like "SCAN NOW", in a robot voice. Maybe add an "OK" if you want to soften it up a bit.
- Someone 13y ago
  "The machine does not need to affirm its lower status. It's a machine." I think many 'normal' users need frequent reminders about that lower status. Many users, when confronted with a message such as "could not find file 'foo'", will feel that that is their fault.

lukasm 13y ago

English sorry and please are wildcards and they got diluted to extent that non-native english speaking countries use it for a light form of an apology. I agree that constantly repeating please is a bad UX instead of "Thank you for shopping...." it could display "Thanks. Have a nice day!"

chestnut-tree 13y ago

Never underestimate the power of language. Yes, we know it's a pre-recorded message, but we also know a human wrote those words. I'd wager that a self-checkout that barked out commands without ever saying please would sound rude, robotic and harsh to users.

jt2190 13y ago

I guess someday the machine will be sophisticated enough to recognize your preference, and adjust accordingly: "That PIN code isn't valid, s**thead. Try not to f**k it up this time." What a wonderful future it will be! ;-)

Theodores 13y ago
The machines in Hitch Hikers Guide to the Galaxy had "Genuine People Personalities", a big feature of Sirius Cybernetics Corporation. Maybe with computer error messages there should be different message translations sent out based on browser capabilities and geographical location.

bambam12897 13y ago

Without the "Please" the phrase sounds like an order. You don't really want a terminal ordering/telling you what to do. The "Please" reframes it into a request.