The role of the operator in the Supermarket and Retail Store Systems

The operator's general role in the total Retail Store and Supermarket Systems was discussed briefly and his specific role in the input of data was discussed in some detail. Some of the major differences between the data input requirements of a system for a supermarket and for a retail store included the volume of data and the rate of entry required. These items were discussed in terms of the system requirements and alternative methods of implementation. The alternatives selected were wand entry for the Retail Store System and fixed optical scanning for the Supermarket System. These techniques required the investigation of some basic human performance parameters. Examples of some of these studies were presented and discussed to illustrate a portion of the testing activities that were performed to define and measure the operator's role and interaction with some system components.