Tokyo Stories
why trivial things are the way they are

I apologize in advance if this sounds so basic.

Until I actually bought the first drink from a vending machine using my Pasmo — the recharging ticket which I could also use for purchasing — I did not realize that the interaction would be different from the way I would pay using coins.

Forgive me for going a little too detailed, but if I describe the basic procedure of purchasing a drink with coins (task analysis, ouch), it would be like:
- PAY: insert coins
- CHOOSE: press a button
- OBTAIN: pick up a drink

Though mentally, there is an earlier process where you actually browse through the potential drink you would like to buy, this would be the primary process when it comes to interacting with the actual machine.

Now, when it comes to using contactless cards, the order of how you do things become somewhat different:
- CHOOSE: select drink
- PAY: tap your card
- OBTAIN: pick up a drink

You see, contactless cards need to know in advance how much needs to be withdrawn from the card so instead of conventional PAY-and-CHOOSE interaction, you need to CHOOSE-and-PAY. It is such a trivial thing, but because I have been used to the old way, it took me some time to digest the idea and do things in the latter order.

I have also noticed that my eyes tend to wonder at different places in a different timing. While with coins, the display will only show how much you have inserted, with cards, you can see how much is charged in the card first, then you see how much was the payment for a few seconds, then for a brief moment, it shows the remaining amount in a card. Because I am not a Felica (mobile phone with IC chip integrated) user, this turns out to be small but quite a convenient thing.

Though usage and service offerings may be different, I see the technology is expanding in many different countries. How does your Oyster card in UK, Octopus card in Hong Kong, or loyalty cards in US work? Did you have to adapt yourself to a new ways of interaction?