Main Page

Topic Explanation

System Requirements

Navigation Map

User Analysis Discussion

Tools/System

Evaluation

System Specification

Comments

Prototype

Last updated: 
December 10, 1998

Gas station pumps have gradually evolved from the simple analog displays to the touch pad credit/debit card interfaces that are prevalent in many of the modern gas stations we see today.  Fundamentally, the newer gas pump interfaces provide a quicker, more convenient means by which customers may purchase gas.  For instance, Mobil Speedpass is a new system similar to the state-of-the-art ‘toll tags’ successfully used by many tollways to reduce the long lines at toll booths … Speedpass allows customers to gas up without having to stop and pay for the gas they've just purchased, thereby reducing the time required to refuel.

Likewise, the gas stations themselves have evolved to meet the needs of consumers, as some gas stations are beginning to offer fast-food services such as Taco Bell? and Baskin-Robbins.  However, the gas-pump interfaces at these contemporary gas stations fail to incorporate features that allow consumers to order and pay for their food at the pump.

Thus, our objective is to design a gas pump interface that allows customers at gas stations to conveniently order fast-food, while they pump their gas.  More specifically, customers pay at the pump using their credit/debit cards for both their gas and their food and subsequently pick up their order inside.

Several assumptions are made in this project: large CRTs are installed in our new gas pump, which serves as the main UI where customers pump their gas and order food. This CRT is not only a display device, but also can detect the gas pumping process. In this project, it is further assumed that customers can read English to follow the basic instructions on how to use the redesigned integrated system.