What Are Self-Service Kiosks?

What is a self-serve kiosk?

A self-serve kiosk is a customer-facing device that allows somebody to complete a particular process themselves through an on-screen interface. In hospitality, a familiar example is a touchscreen where a customer browses the available menu, makes selections and follows the ordering process presented by the business.

The exact equipment and functions vary between systems. A kiosk may be a freestanding unit or another supported format, and the hardware required depends on the job it has been chosen to perform.

That is why it is more useful to begin with the customer task than with the screen itself.

Hypothetical example: a family arrives at a leisure venue and wants lunch. They already know roughly what everybody wants. A self-service ordering point could give them a route to browse the available choices and enter their own order instead of waiting for a colleague to key every item into a counter till.

But putting a touchscreen in the building does not automatically improve that experience. The menu still needs to make sense, customers need to know where to begin, and staff need a plan for questions and exceptions.

A kiosk is not the customer journey. It is one possible step within it.

What does the customer actually do at a kiosk?

Forget the hardware for a moment and write the experience as a sequence of actions.

For a hypothetical cafe ordering kiosk, that journey might be:

1. The customer notices that self-service ordering is available.
2. They understand that the kiosk is for placing an order.
3. They browse the menu and choose an item.
4. They make any available choices relevant to that item.
5. They review what they have selected.
6. They follow the checkout and payment process provided by the setup.
7. They receive whatever order information the business uses.
8. They know what to do next: where to wait, sit or collect.

The last step is easily forgotten. A customer can complete the screen perfectly and still stand beside it wondering, “Where does my food come from?”

When assessing a kiosk, follow the journey beyond the final button. Decide how the order fits into the rest of your service and how customers will understand the next step.

The hardware and software have different jobs

Self-service needs both a physical way for the customer to interact and software that presents the process. Treat those as related but separate decisions.

The self-service kiosk hardware is the physical equipment. Depending on the supported setup, that may include the display and other equipment required for the intended customer journey.

The self-service kiosk software controls the on-screen experience provided by the chosen system.

Do not assume a particular feature is included simply because you have seen it on another kiosk. When comparing options, describe the exact task you need customers to complete and ask the supplier to demonstrate how the proposed hardware and software handle it.

Where does self-service make sense?

A kiosk is most convincing when it solves a recognisable customer or operational problem. “Other businesses have them” is not a strong reason on its own.

Look at your current customer journey. Are there straightforward transactions where customers already know what they want but must wait for somebody to enter the order? Does a counter queue mix quick orders with customers who genuinely need a conversation? Would another ordering route fit naturally into the venue?

Then consider the other side of the question. Which interactions benefit from a person? A customer may be unsure which option suits them, have a question the on-screen information does not answer or simply need help using the process.

Self-service and staffed service do not have to be opposing ideas. The useful decision is which tasks customers can reasonably complete themselves and where human help remains important.

A counter menu does not automatically become a good kiosk menu

A customer standing at a staffed counter can ask, “What comes with this?” At a kiosk, the on-screen journey needs to provide enough information for the customer to make the choices you are asking them to make.

Hypothetical example: a cafe sells a breakfast with an available choice of drink. At the counter, staff routinely ask which drink the customer wants. If the kiosk simply lists “Breakfast” without presenting the relevant choice, the missing conversation has become a missing step.

Take several ordinary products or services and write down the questions staff normally ask while entering them. Those questions reveal what the self-service journey may need to communicate.

Keep naming consistent with what customers see elsewhere. If the menu board calls something “Breakfast Roll”, avoid an unexplained internal product name appearing on the kiosk.

Also resist adding choices simply because software makes them possible. Every option should correspond to something the business genuinely offers and can fulfil.

Self-service changes the staff conversation rather than eliminating it

A customer using a kiosk can still need a person.

Hypothetical scene: someone has built most of an order but cannot work out which available option applies to what they want. They look around for help. If staff assume kiosk users require no assistance, the customer is now stuck inside a supposedly convenient journey.

Decide who notices and helps customers at the kiosk. Staff should know how to answer ordinary questions about the process and where to direct issues they cannot resolve.

Think about staff workflow too. If a colleague repeatedly has to leave another station to help kiosk customers, observe why. The answer may be clearer instructions, different placement, staff training or a change to the ordering journey.

Put the kiosk where its purpose is obvious

Location affects whether customers notice a kiosk and whether using it makes the venue easier or more awkward.

Stand at the public entrance and imagine you have never visited before. Can you see where ordering happens? If there is both staffed and self-service ordering, is that choice understandable? Does somebody using the kiosk block people trying to enter, queue or collect an order?

Then look at the physical interaction with the proposed equipment and follow the supplier’s and manufacturer’s requirements for installation and placement. Consider the range of customers who use your venue and raise accessibility requirements with the supplier when specifying the setup.

Do this before installation rather than trying to solve customer flow after equipment has been fixed into an inconvenient position.

Test ordinary orders before testing clever ones

A useful kiosk test does not begin with an unusual edge case. Start with the transactions your customers are most likely to make.

Hypothetical cafe test

1. Ask a first-time tester to order one coffee exactly as offered by the business.
2. Ask another person to order a meal containing a normal available choice.
3. Have somebody review an order before checkout and notice whether the selections are understandable.
4. Follow a completed order into the venue’s normal fulfillment process.
5. Ask the tester what they thought would happen next without prompting them.

Then introduce realistic complications: the customer changes their mind before completing the order, cannot find something they expected, or needs staff assistance.

Record where people hesitate and the exact question they ask. “Users struggled” is too vague. “Three testers could place the order but did not know where to collect it” points to a specific gap in the journey.

Finally, establish the business’s supported procedure for times when the kiosk is unavailable. Staff need to know which alternative ordering route to offer rather than improvising while customers wait.

Self-serve kiosk planning checklist

Before deciding whether a kiosk fits your venue, work through the customer journey rather than starting with a feature list:

• Define the task. Write down exactly what customers should be able to accomplish.
• Identify who will use it. Consider first-time customers as well as regular visitors.
• Map the journey. Follow the customer from noticing the kiosk through to the next step after completion.
• Use real products or services in demonstrations. Generic sample buttons do not test your actual ordering decisions.
• List the questions staff normally ask. Check how those necessary choices are handled in self-service.
• Confirm the proposed hardware. Ask what exact equipment is required for your intended setup.
• Confirm the software workflow. Have the supplier demonstrate the tasks you actually need.
• Plan the location. Check customer flow and installation requirements before committing to a position.
• Keep staff help available. Decide who assists when a customer cannot complete the normal journey.
• Test what happens afterwards. Customers should know where to wait, collect or go next.
• Rehearse an unavailable kiosk. Give staff a clear alternative process.
• Observe after launch. Use repeated customer questions to identify what needs improving.