Tell HN: un-design of everyday thing

#1

Post by obxerve » Fri, Dec 25, 2009, 9:35 PM UTC

On a recent business trip, I was booked at the W Hotel in SF. Nice decor, but they overdid it to the point that "usability" suffers. Now I used to travel every week, so I know business hotels. Just like in s/w or web design, when a designer tries too hard to be cute or fancy, he/she ended up irritating. Here are some examples from that trip.

I could not find the light switches for the desk area for the first hour, because they were all located in an out-of-the-way side. And the switches are small.

For a hotel that recommends the guest to be green by recycling, their water lever in the bath / shower did such a poor job that when you set it to shower, half the water actually went down to the bath, instead of to the shower head. Wasted water.

The water faucets at the wash basin: one turn clockwise and the other turn counter-clockwise to open the water. Go figure.

I can mention a couple more, but the point here is not to rant - I like Starwood hotel chain. The point is to hear your experiences of "un-design" similar to mine.

And Merry Christmas, by the way!

Re: Tell HN: un-design of everyday thing

#2

Post by andrewljohnson » Fri, Dec 25, 2009, 9:39 PM UTC

You should read Norman's "The Design of Everday Things." I bet you'd really enjoy the bit where he discusses hotel doors.

http://www.amazon.com/Design-Everyday-Things-Donald-Norman/d...

It's a really great book, and something I would consider a must-read for serious UI designers/developers. While the book was written in the 80s, and talks about things like ring slide projectors, VisiCalc, the original Macs, the ideas about what constitutes good and bad design are salient to this day.

Re: Tell HN: un-design of everyday thing

#3

Post by mrduncan » Fri, Dec 25, 2009, 10:25 PM UTC

andrewljohnson wrote: post #2

You should read Norman's "The Design of Everday Things." I bet you'd really enjoy the bit where he discusses hotel doors. http://www.amazon.com/Design-Everyday-Things-Donald-Norman/d... It's a really great book, and something I would consider a must-read for serious UI designers/developers. While the book was written in the 80s, and talks about things like ring slide projectors, VisiCalc, the original Macs, the ideas…

Based on the title of the post, I'm sure that's where part of the inspiration for this post came from. That said, great book which I completely recommend.

Re: Tell HN: un-design of everyday thing

#4

Post by ojbyrne » Fri, Dec 25, 2009, 11:09 PM UTC

While I get your point in general, I disagree with the water faucets. Typically that's how they work - because they turn outwards (so to speak) from the spout in the center.

Re: Tell HN: un-design of everyday thing

#5

Post by NathanKP » Fri, Dec 25, 2009, 11:24 PM UTC

This reminds me of an article I read by Dustin Curtis.

The flimsy doorknob and the cheap receipt:

http://dustincurtis.com/two_stories.html

I highly recommend that you read it. Basically it is an article about how presentation can make a positive or negative effect. And Dustin Curtis does a phenomenal job with the presentation of his own website. It is a real joy to read and always makes me aspire to the shear elegance of his typographic layout.

Re: Tell HN: un-design of everyday thing

#6

Post by mixmax » Sat, Dec 26, 2009, 12:14 AM UTC

Good design isn't what most people think it is. Good design isn't about bells and whistles, fancy doorknobs and thick carpets. It's about making something that works just like you expect it to. Apple and dropbox know this and it's a large part of their success. It just works. All the fanciness in an apple computer or an iphone is there for a reason, there are no equivalents to fancy doorknobs or thick carpets.

This is also why Scandinavian design seems to be held in such high regard - it's very simple and works like you expect it to.

This wikipedia should be compulsory reading for industrial designers: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Form_follows_function

Re: Tell HN: un-design of everyday thing

#7

Post by AndrewDucker » Sat, Dec 26, 2009, 12:40 AM UTC

mixmax wrote: post #6

Good design isn't what most people think it is. Good design isn't about bells and whistles, fancy doorknobs and thick carpets. It's about making something that works just like you expect it to. Apple and dropbox know this and it's a large part of their success. It just works. All the fanciness in an apple computer or an iphone is there for a reason, there are no equivalents to fancy doorknobs or thick carpets. This i…

The Law of Least Astonishment is also a good one.

Re: Tell HN: un-design of everyday thing

#8

Post by zck » Sat, Dec 26, 2009, 1:16 AM UTC

My car's turn signals are frustrating as hell. Normally, when switching lanes, I don't push the signal lever all the way over, so that it locks; I simply push it and hold it, so when I am in the moved-to lane, I just let go, and the signal turns off.

However, the designers found a way to trick me, making my attempts at signaling useless. When I push the lever over, the point at which there is significant torque pushed back also turns on a faster-than normal click of the turn signals. However, the signals do not turn on until I push past this; there is a further point where the turn signals actually turn on.

My instinct is to push the lever until there is audible and felt feedback, but this doesn't work, since that point does not turn the signals on. Very frustrating.

Re: Tell HN: un-design of everyday thing

#9

Post by jamesbritt » Sat, Dec 26, 2009, 1:27 AM UTC

ojbyrne wrote: post #4

While I get your point in general, I disagree with the water faucets. Typically that's how they work - because they turn outwards (so to speak) from the spout in the center.

Exactly. I expect them to be symmetrical, just like double doors, and would be surprised if they both turned in the same direction, because hands turn naturally in opposite directions.

What's really annoying, though is when the faucets (or light switches) in a place are not consistent.

Re: Tell HN: un-design of everyday thing

#10

Post by inquata » Sat, Dec 26, 2009, 1:58 AM UTC

jamesbritt wrote: post #9

ojbyrne wrote: post #4

While I get your point in general, I disagree with the water faucets. Typically that's how they work - because they turn outwards (so to speak) from the spout in the center.

Exactly. I expect them to be symmetrical, just like double doors, and would be surprised if they both turned in the same direction, because hands turn naturally in opposite directions. What's really annoying, though is when the faucets (or light switches) in a place are not consistent.

For the faucets to be consistent, they need to behave like every water bottle, valve etc.: righty tighty, lefty loosy.

@ojbyrne: It does not matter how they work from an engineer’s point of view: Design needs to be user-centered.