Total stations offered tablets to customers. Almost a third were out of order and nobody tracked them. The innovation team wanted to project a touch screen onto the café table instead. My job was to find out whether anyone would use it.
30% of station tablets were broken. Nobody maintained them.
A touch surface projected onto the café table: sturdier, bigger, and a way to grow Club Total.
Framed the problem, ran 13 interviews, wrote the personas, shaped the app, led the field test.
The device worked but customers barely noticed it. The test showed why, and what to fix, before anyone paid for a rollout.
Why do people stop at a service station, and what would they do on a public screen?
Before talking about features, we went to the station. A framing workshop with the business team, then observation and interviews at Morainvilliers Nord, the station chosen for the test.
"I stop at Total for a coffee and the toilets."
Professional driver"On a public tablet I would do basic searches. Certainly not my bank account."
Parent, family trip"I would look for Total services on it. Everything else is already on my phone."
Professional driverWho is it for, and how will we know it works?
On my break I need to relax with my coffee or my lunch.
My phone already does a lot. I want things on the tablet that I cannot find on it.
| Hypothesis | Signal | Target |
|---|---|---|
| People will try a screen built into their table | Visitors who touch it | 1% of visitors |
| The content holds attention | Average session | 2 minutes |
| It brings members to Club Total | Sign-up emails sent | 1 per day |
| It survives life in a station | Running without maintenance | 24/7, no vandalism |
What should a table-sized screen offer?
Adok supplied the projector, Fast & Flex built the web app. I turned the interview findings into a short feature list and kept only what answered a need, or a business goal the sponsor could measure.
| What people told us | What we built |
|---|---|
| "Something my phone does not have" | Deals in this station, sights nearby |
| "I check my route on breaks" | Live traffic map around the station |
| "Something to do together" | Three games and a road safety quiz |
| Growth for Club Total and Spring | A sign-up that emails the offer to you |
Seven large tiles, readable from a standing position.
Offers you can only use here, today.
Short games for a coffee break, playable by two.
A score, then a promo code to use at the till.
One field. The email goes to you, not to a database.
Does anyone use it when nobody is watching?
Installation took two hours. Then we watched, with an observation guide: how people find information, what they do not see, what makes them engage, and what breaks.
"We stop at whatever station is on the way, for a coffee and the toilets."
Customer, after the test"The cards do not meet my needs. I read the news elsewhere, traffic is on my app."
Customer, after the test"Customers walked past to the coffee machine. Some ate on the table as if nothing was there."
Field notesLow contrast made the tiles hard to read during the day.
The home screen needs motion, and a sign that says what it is.
Showing the magazine covers would explain it at a glance.
No loader on games, no reset after zoom, a nightly reboot needed.
In a public space, a screen has a couple of seconds to earn attention. Since this project, I design for the person walking past as much as for the person already using it.