As humans, we relish connection, familiarity, and autonomy. From a firm base of these three, we can also love novelty but almost as an afterthought.

This was brought home to me poignantly last week when engaging in the simple act of trying to order food. We’d nipped into a famous pizza chain to refuel after an active birthday for Lady P.  For those of you recoiling in horror at the thought of a Pizza on her birthday, let me reassure you we celebrated with glorious meals the day before and after! On arrival, we were politely informed that we couldn’t order in person anymore, but, instead, had the convenience of using our smartphone via a QR code. This didn’t bother me particularly, but I was blown away by the birthday girl… she was NOT a happy bunny. The process was so complicated and confusing, we ended up leaving. I said pleasantly to the ‘server’ that we’d had a change of heart, and she said, “I don’t blame you!”

Next to McDonalds where the big touch screen system felt grubby and didn’t respond easily to the touch. Hmmmrph!

What could have been a simple transaction became a symbol of:

• Loss of Autonomy:
•  
• "I can't even order my own meal."

• Loss of Familiarity:
•  
• "This isn't the Pizza Anon I remember."

• Social Disconnection:
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• "They've replaced people with apps."

We were tired, we had expectations, and we had a desire for a great customer experience. Although I’m technically literate, there was a technological barrier too. For someone not comfortable with smartphones, this isn't a minor inconvenience. It's a moment of:

Panic: 

"I don't know how to do this."

Humiliation: 

"Everyone else can, why can't I?"

Exclusion: 

"This system wasn't designed for me."

As I age, I find many peers feel very strongly about this dehumanisation – particularly with online banking where trust is necessary, but also with automated checkouts.

At the anonymous Pizza place, the presence of 'servers' who couldn't take an order is the ultimate insult. It highlights the absurdity of the situation. It's not about a lack of staff; it's about a system that has actively removed human interaction for the sake of efficiency, making the human customer adapt to the machine.

In case this is a massive whinge, let me assert that I saw this as a call to action.

Autonomy is about control and control is about choice.  We did the non-British thing and chose to leave rather than put up with the unacceptable. This is why we default to interacting with a human on a checkout rather than self-service.

Familiarity, whilst becoming more challenging as culture changes, still offers plenty of experiences where our expectations can be met or even exceeded.

Connection – my favourite – we can choose to be the proactive partners in pursuing a positive experience of social interaction.

I’m human, you’re human, let’s be human together.

I suspect this is a hot topic for many of us, so let’s hear your stories because I believe the human experience is fundamental to good mental health.

Lex

A Moodscope member