my day as a observator at Føtex

Observator of kassier 13:

I observated 4 costumers at Føtex from 16.48-17.02. it was 15 mins of observation. First costumer was a male with classes, a black coat and bourdaux pants. He was nicely dressed. Almost like a business man. He was paying with his creditcard but the machine was kinda slow. Finally the payment went trough and his wallet came quickly in his pocket again. The pack was stuck in the machine, but with some handpower the plastic bag with growcery was free. Next customer was a young man in a grey jacket – not as nice dressed as the former man. He had light hair and was really quick with bib’in in his growcery. He was like the other man using a plastic bag from Føtex. he bought some tomatoes and was clicking them in manuelt. He also payed with a creditcard. When he was finished he but his basket with the other baskets.

Next customer was a woman, she did not use a plastic bag. She had a small bagpack on her shoulders. She had a lot of growseries – some she had to bib in manuelt. But at one time it did’nt work, so she raised her hand and per automatic a føtex worker come to help the lady with her potatoes. The woman thanks the worker and carried on bibing her things. She just put her growseries in the table next to the machine, and did’nt used a plastic pag to collect it and thereby make easy acces to the next costumer. She also payed with a creditcard. She takes of her bag, and starting filling it with her growseries. But with a lot of growseries it takes a lot of time. You can tell that the other customers is a bit impatient. And the worker there before helped her, is now cleaning up around the machine, maybe to rush her a bit. She is finally finished. The next customer is a young couple. The girl is paying, first with her creditcard – it takes a while and you can not tell what is happening, but suddenly she decides to pay with money instead. The first customer of the 4 that actually pays with coins. Meanwhile a man in a red jacket is really impatient. His is standing in the middle of it all, and impaitiently waiting for the next cashier to be free. Finally cashier 16 is free.

Journal:

Det føltes lidt intimiderende at observerer så  nøje efter når folk man observerede ikke helt vidste hvorfor man observerede, eller hvad man observerede. Først starede jeg med at observerer en pige der stod og delte kaffe ud, men hun havde ikke helt så travlt som selvbetjeningskasserne – så jeg endte med at observerer kasse nr. 13 og hvilke aktive handlinger der skete derigennem. Det første minut var lidt forvirrende, hvad man skulle skrive ned, lægge mærke til eller observere. Jeg observerede hvad jeg umiddelbart lagde mærke til, af alle små detaljer jeg kunne nå at få ned på papir. Det svære var at bestemme sig for hvad man egentlig ville observere. Efter man havde bestemt sig, og egentlig bare var gået i gang og skrev, så var den lette del jo bare at observere.

Næste gang kunne man observere virkelig menneskers interaktion med en kassedame, i stedet for en selvbetjeningskasse. Altså en maskine som voldede lidt problemer og var langsom.