IXDS GmbH 2012 – 6th semester bachelor with David Nickel and Antonio Krämer Fernandez


Challenge Besides of the ordinary and well-known payment systems like cash, debit or credit card, many other mobile payment services want to enter the business. The newest technology of NFC payments becomes more and more popular and first providers are on the market. But the problem is, that the relation to money is getting lost. How should it feel to pay digital? How should a mobile payment solution be designed, that enables an easy and quick but still perceptible and conscious payment? How might we raise the awareness on the amount of money which is spent or obtained? Approach Compared to other countries, Germany is traditionally minded and trust in cash is high. It provides security, conveys an individual value and we connect personal emotions with it. With our vision of mobile payments, we want to connect the advantages and values of cash with digital systems. How could we display the amount of money haptically and visually perceptical? How might we achieve that the payment process is comprehensible as possible? For us, a payment at a bakery has to create an different feeling than the purchase of a television. We conducted interviews and observations at checkouts, created physical and virtual prototypes in order to find the best solution that fits to the user’s and cashier’s needs. Result The final concept that we’ve designed is a terminal station with a display, comparable to a credit card reader. After scanning the goods, the terminal encourages the customer to link the two devices. The customer starts the smartphone application which prompts the customer to approach the smartphone from the bottom of the terminal. Through magnets that are installed in the terminal as well as in the smartphone, the device is attracted when approaching. The magnets find the right position and by the locking, customer feels a haptic feedback. The snapping suggests security and integrity of the two devices. The duration of this process is dependent of the amount of money that is transfered. After the transfer the magnets change their polarity and the customer is able to remove his smartphone again.