Software at the Gas Pump

It started so simply. If I wanted to avoid going inside, I could use my Debit or Credit card and pump my gas. I usually choose Debit. They ask for the PIN number, it is approved, and I can then select the gas I wish to pump. Only this time, I decided to use my Credit card.

The pump asked for my zip code. I'm in the habit of not giving out my zip code at the various stores that ask for them, so I followed my habit. What followed next surprised and annoyed me. The pump locked. Huh?

And once locked, it didn't matter if you tried to put in a different card or to (metaphorically) say, "I didn't realize, oh software, how important my zip code was to you." No. It was locked. And the only way to get it unlocked was to go into the store and talk to the attendant.

It got me to thinking -- who is the customer? I mean, its obvious the customer for the gas is me. But am I the customer for the software? The software was designed to lock the pump if the proper steps were not followed. I suspect this was in response to earlier software that had a loophole where someone could get gas without paying for it. But it seemed an awfully strong reaction to being bereft of my zip code.

They don't have a signature pad at the gas pump, as they do at the grocery store with its unattended check out lines. But at the grocery store, if I come to a required action, it is clear that it is required.

So, who REALLY is the customer? The gas station and me. Both of us. And this isn't like Microsoft Office where they need to create virtual customers because there are so many different ways to use their products. This is two different, but simple viewpoints with but one function. More and more of our software will be this type of software. And those creating it will only have successfully created quality software if they design software that will satisfy both.

My grocery store is on their third software for the unattended checkout line. I give them credit. The grocery store is aware of this dual viewpoint software, and each change has been made to accommodate one or both. It is clear they will not be satisfied until they find software that supports us all.

It is time for the Gas Pump software to do the same.

Starting a New Job and Blogging

I started a new job on September 15, 2008. An inauspicious time, perhaps. You'll note that this is the first entry since September.

While I wasn't blogging, an important principle that has stood me well in most employment situations was at work -- leave the past behind AND be patient with the new.

In my career as a consultant, I've met consultants, or clients of other consultants, who believe that when you start a new job, you should imprint your personality quickly and forcefully. I do not. I believe that the best, quality, job is done by preserving what is good and improving what is bad.

When you start a new job, your mind is filled with what you are learning - provided that you are following this quality principle. So, for me in deep learning mode, this blog could have turned into a fairly transparent analysis of my new position.

But that's not what this blog is about. It is about quality software in every aspect of our life. I'm a bit settled now, so the next entry will be about something more universal than the software I'm getting paid to test -- The Gas Pump.