Going up or down?

Destination dispatch is a smart technique elevators use, especially in buildings with multiple elevator installations. Here people press their floor numbers on the number pad at the elevator lobby, and they are shown the number of the elevator car they have to get into. It allows people going to the same floor to get into the same elevator, thereby reducing waiting and travel times.

Recently my friend and I got into one such elevator, for the first time. We did press the floor number at the lobby but after getting in we both were looking around for the number pad. There wasn't one. After a bit of looking around, we just stood there like idiots with no clue where we were going. Luckily the elevator stopped at our floor and we got out. By then we had guessed how it worked, but on the way back we again looked around for the number pad. It’s something one has to get used to.

Many times I have entered elevators without pressing the call button, when there are other people waiting. If I had not noticed the fancy number-pad at the lobby, I would have actually got stuck in the elevator and would have looked like a total nincompoop.

No product should make users feel like idiots

I liked the basic premise, when I learnt how it worked. It may not only reduce travel time but also saves me from the dance of pressing the floor number in a crowded elevator. But it has a bit of a learning curve. It can be annoying for a first-time user.

I first thought that the elevator should still have a number pad inside that has already selected floors. But that would be counter productive.

Maybe the number pad in the lobby should be kept in such a way that it won't be missed when there’s a crowd and as a new user I intuitively go to it. It’s tough unless it’s presented like a ticket vending machine before the gates leading to a metro station platform. It’s overkill. Maybe a display outside the elevator can show the floors it’ll stop at. Maybe that’ll make me look around and discover the floor selector in the lobby. That way I’m also getting into an elevator I know that would stop at my floor and so won't feel uncomfortable inside.

What do you think?