Contingency Design

Good Citibank ATM contingency design - Signal vs. Noise (by 37signals)

It would even be better, if the warning actualy told you what the correct direction would be. There are 4 possibilities:

• Face Up, magnetic strip left
• Face Up, magnetic strip right
• Face Down, magnetic strip left
• Face Down, magnetic strip right

The warning doesn't tell you which of the 4 possibilities would be the correct direction, so what's the point? The only benefit of this warning is, that they don't only say "We can't read your card" which might lead you to believe, the card is broken.

I've been ranting about similar things forever. Ever seen the symbols on any of the payment terminals where you have to slid your card through? I've never seen one which clearly pictures which way to turn the card.