Why Users Stop at Good Enough: Applying Bounded Rationality to Self-Service Restaurant Display Interactions

Abstract

This paper investigates user interaction with digital displays in self-service restaurant environments, focusing on the phenomenon where users often settle for good enough interactions rather than optimal. We apply bounded rationality theory to understand how cognitive limitations influence user decisions to engage with displays of varying interaction complexity. Through analysis of two field experiments conducted at a self-service restaurant in Finland, we examine interactive displays that require different levels of cognitive investment: a simple binary choice interface and a multi-step interaction. Our initial findings suggest an "engagement plateau" where increased interaction complexity yields diminishing returns in initial engagement rates, yet users who overcome initial cognitive barriers demonstrate high completion rates. This work contributes to Human-Computer Interaction field by offering an empirically supported theoretical lens for understanding user behavior in Self-Service Restaurant (SSR) environments and providing actionable design principles for public interactive displays that accommodate human cognitive limits.