So you find yourself in front of one of these.

Self-order terminals or SOTs are in almost every restaurant of the chain now.

You start browsing and end up buying a big tasty bacon with fries and a coke, plus nuggets and a McFlurry for dessert.

Once you see your food in front of you, you feel guilty.

You ordered way more than you initially wanted.

Many people have this experience at fast food restaurants.

Since the introduction of SOTs, the average order has gotten bigger and bigger.

But why?

Today we're going to talk about one of the most used user interfaces in the world and its countless tricks to take as much money as possible from you.

McDonald's is by far the most valuable fast food chain in the world.

Its stock price has nearly quadrupled over the past 10 years.

Today there are more than 40,000 McDonald's restaurants around the world.

Many of them are so-called restaurants of the future.

SOTs are a key factor in the success of the concept.

With their large touchscreens, they look like giant double-sided smartphones.

McDonald's is considered a pioneer in the fast food industry when it comes to these terminals.

They tested the first SOTs in Europe in 2008.

Today they can be found in almost all of its restaurants.

Other chains like Burger King and KFC have followed suit.

The terminals have supposedly increased McDonald's profits in Germany by about 15%.

That's according to an insider who spoke to the German public broadcaster ZDF.

In 2018, former McDonald's CEO Steve Easterbrook confirmed that the terminals definitely increased profits.

His main reason?

Customers take significantly longer to place their order.

But why would that be a good thing?

Design influences our choices.

Not only at McDonald's but also in our everyday life.

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Let's take a closer look at the example from the beginning.

To recap, you only wanted to order a Double Cheeseburger when you entered the store.

In the main menu you are presented with inviting images of burgers.

The more expensive items like the Double Hamburger Royale are especially eye-catching.

On the left you can find the different food categories.

Here McDonald's is setting a so-called reference value.

Going forward you'll subconsciously compare other items to these expensive ones.

Even if you don't go for the pricier burgers the Double Cheeseburger now seems pretty affordable.

This makes you more likely to upgrade the cheap burger.

We've just seen two examples of nudging.

Nudges are designed to influence our behavior by presenting options in different ways.

Sometimes they are subtle and sometimes more obvious.

In this case the icons on the side are much smaller than the prominently placed menus in the center.

More space on the interface demands more of your attention.

The same thing happens once you enter the submenu.

The big burgers are at the top and the cheaper ones are at the bottom.

It's like a supermarket shelf.

You have to bend down or scroll down to see the cheap stuff.

The more expensive items are at eye level.

As a result you don't even notice the Double Cheeseburger because of all the juicier burgers on top.

The big tasty bacon in particular is just too tempting to resist.

Make it a meal?

Yeah, why not?

Fries and a Coke, let's go.

Hmm.

Should you get the Mac menu small or the regular Mac menu for just 50 cents more?

Well, of course the regular then.

Anything else?

Cheeseburger?

No.

Nuggets?

Hmm.

Yeah, yeah, you're in the mood for that.

The colorful animation you see when you make the purchase isn't random.

It's there to reward you and make you feel good about adding things to the cart.

Next, the terminal doesn't take you to the checkout.

It just takes you back to the menu.

Now that you're looking at it, a dessert would be nice too.

Why not get a McFlurry?

Wait, how much is that now in total?

Oh, down here.

It's 19 euros and 97 cents.

This trick is called a Dark Pattern.

Dark Patterns are designed to get users to do things that aren't in their best interests.

This is done by presenting information in a way that isn't neutral or by leaving things out on purpose.

A classic example would be the colored Accept All Cookies button while it may take several clicks to select only necessary cookies.

The terminal interface is similar whilst less extreme.

The total amount is hidden in a tiny corner of the large screen.

Standing in front of it, you have to actively look down to find the price.

For McDonald's, maximizing the average order value is a key business strategy.

But for you, the price should be a minor detail next to all the colorful products.

In a statement to us, McDonald's Germany states the screens are as big as they are to present information as clearly and appealing as possible.

They are also designed for accessibility.

Now, it's finally time to pay.

And here, another nudge.

This time, the nudge is meant to motivate you to pay by card.

You only see a smaller button for the option to pay in cash at the register.

There are a few reasons for this.

When you pay by card, you're more likely to make impulse purchases and spend more money overall.

Plus, the two-sided order terminals let more people order at the same time.

Up to 70% of customers leave when there are more than 7 people in line.

You pay almost €20 for a thick menu, nuggets, and a dessert.

In total, 2300 calories.

Once the food is in front of you, and even more so after you devoured it all without mercy, you ask yourself, how did this happen again?

The interface is a prime example of upselling.

During the order process, you were tricked, or at least subtly manipulated into buying more than you originally intended.

Instead of a double cheeseburger, you end up with the big tasty menu and those nuggets on top.

In many small steps, the terminal repeatedly confronted you with moments of comparison.

These comparisons create subconscious pressure.

Each step in the ordering process seemed rational to you at the time.

You may have even thought you were getting a bargain.

But imagine you had the following choice.

A double cheeseburger for €3.50 or a meal plus nuggets and ice cream for €19.97.

You probably would have chosen the single burger.

This example is of course slightly exaggerated, but making meals bigger is important for McDonald's.

The margin on a single burger is low.

Only when you add drinks, fries, and ice cream, your order becomes really profitable for the chain.

Those add-ons are cheap to buy and easy to prepare.

That's why the menu is crucial for McDonald's.

It works on the principle of bundling.

The price is based on the most expensive product, like the big tasty.

For McDonald's, the additional drinks and fries make the offer worthwhile.

At the same time, for the customer, it appears to be a bargain, as the items in the bundle are much cheaper together than if they were purchased separately.

Cross-selling also plays an important role in menu management.

The SOT suggests additional products to you.

That's much more effective than the usual at the counter.

There are no social pressures, often no queue behind you, no one watching.

Often, customers stand back to back in front of the terminals.

And that's how you ended up with nuggets you hadn't planned on buying.

McDonald's Germany confirmed that the average order size at their SOTs was slightly higher than at the counter.

What slightly means in their definition remains unclear.

We did ask for a ratio, but received no answer.

In 2015, the fast food company reported to have served more than 69 million customers every day in over 100 countries.

About half of all orders were placed through the order terminals.

This makes the McDonald's terminal one of the most used interfaces in the world, probably only surpassed by TikTok, Instagram and such.

McDonald's could potentially collect a ton of data every day.

Data which they could use, for example, for A-B testing.

Customers could randomly be shown different versions of buttons, like different sizes, colors or wordings.

Or some customers might see a recommendation for 6-piece nuggets, while others might see 9-piece nuggets.

With these tests, McDonald's could continuously optimize the UI, based on millions of data points, to squeeze out the maximum amount of additional items purchased.

It could be anything from the exact size of the sidebar to the color of the salad leaves or the way the desserts are arranged.

McDonald's Germany told us that they don't do A-B testing in Germany.

They could not tell us whether the company does such tests in other countries and referred us to McDonald's Global.

We asked McDonald's Global for comment, but so far they didn't respond.

Friends in the US and UK have tested the terminals in their countries for us.

The user interface seems to be pretty similar.

It's probably safe to assume that the techniques discussed in this video come into play in McDonald's restaurants in one way or another all over the world.

There's no doubt that SOTs improve the customer experience.

They save time and make the whole process more chill.

A real blessing for introverts.

And you don't have to worry about being judged at the register if you want to treat yourself to a big meal with two desserts.

But SOTs have a downside too.

They are explicitly designed for you to maximize your bad choices.

The techniques used are not unique by any means, but often invisible at first glance.

You might think this is all so see-through and you're not influenced by little nudges or dog patterns, but people are.

Otherwise, these terminals wouldn't be this effective and a giant conglomerate like McDonald's wouldn't use them.