Keeping an eye out for Inclusivity around everyday interactions
We’ve come across “Money is the ability to fully experience life!”, but does the physical form of money itself give us a seamless user experience?
Currency (or Money) is one of the physical entity that absolutely doesn’t need a definition, it’s an integrated mode of purchasing power, controlling our daily living. Regardless of economic class, discriminations, demographics, etc., we adapt to this medium and evolve with it. The history of Indian currency has evolved over time and has given birth to the modern Indian decimal coinage system.
“A day without you, is like a lifetime of impairment”, I shriek. “Where art thou in terms of inclusivity!”
Although we have evolved to a digital era, we can still emphasise the importance of the physical coins we use day to day, around nook and corners. The following real-world fundamental scenarios, underpin the physical form of money to go beyond accessibility and extend to inclusive experiences.
Use Case 1: The most common usage of coins is found during a bus travel.
Ticket collector/ bus conductor (Indian local transport bus services) walking inside a crowded bus issuing tickets manually to the passengers; holds the currency notes in his fingers and drops the coins inside the bag. As the conductor has to constantly keep exchanging coins for tickets, a pile of coins ends up in his bag. Hence when there are more coins, there always comes confusion with the denomination of the coins when picked up. This tends the conductor to recheck the denominations after picking up from his bag which in-turn leads to a lot of chaos.
Use case 2: Inside a wallet
In a wallet, generally there is a separate compartment designed in front/back (depending on men/women respectively) for coins. Every time an exact change has to be provided, the user has to keep turning the denominations inside the wallet to find out the exact denomination print. Due to restrained space, at one point the searching of the coins become very difficult and hence it has to be taken outside and laid out flat to check the denomination of the particular coin.
What do we infer from this?
Be it a visually impaired/ temporal impaired users, they differentiate the value of the coins by feeling the edges, texture, size and form. If there are no major differences in these tactility, the user will face difficulty when they are handling a set of coins. This will force them to dependency, either with a digital assistant or physical one.
Due to the standardisation of the coins, the coin denominations Rs.2 and Rs.1 have similar appearance ( in color as well as shape) and just vary in size by 2mm , people get confused while picking it up and hence have to lay it flat and recheck the number printed on it before giving it. The embossing of the coins is also been levelled in the current system, removing the rough tactile edges.
The tactile markings and design plays a vital role in extending beyond accessibility and offering inclusivity.
“Oh thee indigenous motif engravings, distinctive materials and exploratory shapes, how did we lose thee craftsmanship.”
Prior Independence, the ancient journey of coins reflect a marvellous glory of their cultural identity along with the uniqueness of their tribe, dynasty and the kingdom with fine crafted royal inscriptions, calligraphy etc. This remarked a high value to the coins adding inclusivity to everyone who uses it. Post Independence, when arose a standardisation of the coins due to increased number of usage, the craftsmanship slowly depleted finally ending up in a monotone minimalist approach. Today’s machine-made currency, could be missing critical parts of the inscription that revealed the cultural background, intricate Indian craftsmanship skill and stays as a pure form of investment.
