Funny story...
Victor ordered some supplies from Costco the other day. It would be no surprise to folks who visited our offices that this included (among a great many other things that make it great to work here) and case of Diet Coke. We order from them about every two weeks, so we're not new to the process.
Victor used the online ordering - the picture of the case of Diet Coke looked EXACTLY like a ... well... CASE of Diet Coke. Quantity = 1, move along to chicken nuggets and tofu burgers...
What we got amidst the bags o' salad, GoGurt, weird chinese dumpling things, and a case of regular Coke, was 1 giant box of Diet Coke syrup for use in a soda fountain. Now, don't get me wrong - I'm not one of these 'fountain sodas taste funny' picky kinda guys. It's just that we don't own a soda fountain (not a bad idea, actually) and so we need our Diet Coke in smaller, pre-carbonated servings.
Of course, Victor got all annoyed and went back to the website and found the order item number and saw to his delight/chagrin that he had, in fact, clicked on a picture of Diet Coke in cans in a case. Vindication!
Still, the point is clear. Whether it's a website ordering system or a professional tool for security, the User Interface needs to clearly spell out what's going on and what you are going to get.
PS - after issuing a complaint, Costco promptly fixed their website. Now the item image is just the label fro Diet Coke and doesn't look like a can. Kudos to them for fixing stuff fast!
by Gryphon MacThoy
