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Lots to learn: Fitts' and Posner Three Step Model

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Lots to learn: Fitts' and Posner Three Step Model

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Last summer, I decided I wanted to become a bartender at a popular golf course near Madison. When I agreed to the job I knew I was going to have to learn how to properly make drinks and I would have to learn fast. While they were training me, I felt like I was in the cognitive stage forever. I remember the only way I would be able to make the drink was by thinking and talking through it out loud to myself. Oftentimes, I would catch myself looking at the cheat sheet I made under the counter for moments when I felt like I could not remember. My performance was very inconsistent, to say the least. Some drinks I could remember within seconds, while other times I would mess up and the customer would ask me to remake the drink. Over the course of a few weeks, I moved into the associative stage. At this point, I would remember the drinks in my head and I could make them properly without having to say the order out loud numerous times. My performance was much more consistent and I would say the drinks would turn out the same pretty much every time I made them. Now, I am in the autonomic stage. A customer rarely comes in and asks for a drink that I am unsure how to make. I also am able to tell if something is off with the drink by the color/shade of it. I can recognize when I need to alter or remake the drink and my production times are fairly quick.

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While I was moving between the stages of my learning, I would say I improved my skills pretty quickly. This is because I tried to practice every opportunity I could. But, when we are talking about expensive drinks, you can only practice outside of work so often. Instead of wasting liquor making drinks I would never be able to finish, I decided to get mental reps in! One thing I would internally imagine was myself making each different type of drink. I would mentally picture myself grabbing the different liquors and pouring certain amounts into each glass. This strategy would also help me memorize the regulars that would come in every day and their orders. I would picture each person ordering their normal drink and then myself handing the finished drink to them. I quickly learned that customers love it when you would know before they even ordered what they usually have!

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Quick on your feet: Information Processing

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Quick on your feet: Information Processing

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Something I learned quickly was what someone flashing their hand up at you like the picture above meant. This means they would like to order another drink and one thing customers hate doing is waiting at all. When I see someone signal this, my brain processes that they want to order something and the output it gives me is to go over to the customer immediately and acknowledge that you want to help them and take their order. Before I became a bartender, this signal meant nothing to me, but now I know due to the information processing that happens in my brain.

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Oh no! Happy hour rush: Fitts' Speed Accuracy Takeoff

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Oh no! Happy hour rush: Fitts' Speed Accuracy Takeoff

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One thing that will always be a struggle is when the bar begins to get packed and there are many different groups waiting for drinks. When I was first learning, I did everything very slowly because I knew there was no room for extra error. I would be extremely careful not to try and carry too much at once or move too fast that I could bump into another drink causing it to spill. I also would measure the shots of alcohol out instead of eyeballing them.

Now, I know that because I have more experience, I am able to go faster with fewer errors. But, as we know, when actions are sped up, no matter what error occurs. The hardest part is finding a good range of going fast enough that people do not have to wait too long, but slow enough to where the drinks are still made presentable so the customer is satisfied.