Some of the worst UX you’ll ever experience isn’t on a website.
It’s at your local petrol pump.
Messy lanes. Confusing signs. Poor feedback systems. No clear entry or exit logic.
And the weird thing is — we’ve just accepted it.
No one questions why this everyday experience is so full of friction.
But once you start looking at petrol pumps like a UX designer — not just a consumer — the flaws scream at you.
🚦There’s No Predictable Flow
Try pulling into a pump when 3-4 cars are already there.
There’s no obvious entry. No intuitive pathing.
Should you wait behind someone? Should you jump ahead if the car in front is already fueling?
Some pumps are only for two-wheelers, some are not — but who’s telling you that?
You’re left guessing.
If a petrol pump was a website, this would be the equivalent of a homepage with no navigation, no hierarchy, and no CTA.
🗣 No Feedback, No UX
You give your order. “Full tank.”
Now what?
There’s usually no screen you can see.
No confirmation of the amount.
No visual that tells you when it’s started, paused, completed.
You literally rely on the guy’s “Ho gaya sir” to know when to pay.
There’s no UX language — just blind trust.
Imagine if Amazon’s checkout gave you no success screen.
That’s what most fuel stations do every single time.
🔄 The System Is Not Designed — It Just Exists
Everything from:
- how cash is handled
- how QR codes are placed
- how people have to bend over from car windows to scan UPI
- how receipts are randomly printed or not
- to how you exit the pump when a truck has parked sideways
It’s all reactive, not designed.
There is no system logic — just manual patches to a broken default.
Even basic things like restroom signs, dustbins, or air-check points are placed with zero thought for flow or visibility.
You wouldn’t call this “bad design.”
You’d call it no design at all.
🧠 What Good UX Could Look Like
Imagine:
- Clear entry/exit arrows painted on the floor
- A screen facing the driver showing litres, price, and real-time feedback
- Payment terminals inside the car’s reach
- A “next in line” lane like an ATM
- Signage for fuel types, air check, water, toilets — at eye level
- Staff wearing color-coded aprons: payment, fueling, support
- UPI stands that face the customer, not stuck awkwardly to the pump
Wouldn’t this experience feel easier, smoother, more human?
It’s not hard to fix — it’s just never been seen as design.
And that’s the problem.
💡 The Real UX Lesson
Petrol pumps are a real-world example of what happens when a system runs without intention.
Things still work — but people suffer silently.
And the scary part?
The more people adjust to bad UX, the less urgency there is to fix it.
But that’s why systems thinkers, designers, and builders like us exist.
To question defaults.
To observe friction.
And to create flow where most people have settled for chaos.
— Aman
