Popularity of Self Service

(10/10/2010) Many consumers like me really enjoy self-service. I love self check-in of Southwests Airlines (Southwest don't assign seats and let early check-in passengers choose the seats! Now they have $10 early-bird to give you an early-check-in number). I would prefer to self check-out in the supermarket if the machine is not too tedious. Now some airlines want the passengers to self-boarding.

Think about what are the benefits of self-service to the customers? (1) Customers know themselves better. (2) Avoid meaningless chic-chat. (3) Self-service is faster for sophisticated consumers.

However, self-service is not for everyone. First the self-service system has to be simple, intuitive.