Persistent Inappeasable Mind - Physical Interfaces

Which way does this door open 2?

nospam@example.com (Matjaž Kljun) — Mon, 29 Apr 2013 14:11:00 +0200

I already posted one bad and one good example of door handles. Here is another good one.

On this side the door needs to be pushed:

On this side the door has to be pulled:

The role of the second monitor - post-it notes board

nospam@example.com (Matjaž Kljun) — Mon, 22 Apr 2013 14:05:00 +0200

Usually the second monitor is used for extending the desktop's real estate. Not in this example. In this office the extra monitor is used for post it notes.

The reason: if email is on the extra monitor, then less work gets done as the user keeps an eye on the arrived mail all the time. So more work gets done with the monitor turned off. And as the monitor is already there, the user uses it for post-it notes.

Taps 24: separated push tap

nospam@example.com (Matjaž Kljun) — Mon, 08 Apr 2013 14:54:00 +0200

This one was interesting to operate. Buttons need to be pressed and held down for water to flow. When one button is pushed in (e.g. right cold) only one hand can be washed. It is impossible to hold both buttons down and wash hands :). Mixing water is also not possible without plugging the sink (the plug is not there).

Taps 23: Tap with pedals

nospam@example.com (Matjaž Kljun) — Mon, 11 Mar 2013 14:39:00 +0100

At first I was puzzled as I was searching for sensors. Then I realised that this tap is operated by pedals on the floor. Hygienically very good. Selecting a desired temperature a more complex task :). I like it.

Taps 22: a push tap with nice design for temperature control

nospam@example.com (Matjaž Kljun) — Mon, 25 Feb 2013 14:26:00 +0100

This tap operates by turning the top knob left or right to select the desired temperature and pushing it to start the water flow. The temperature indicator is very nice as it shows the amount of cold and warm water.

Taps 21: A tap with a sensor and a manual

nospam@example.com (Matjaž Kljun) — Mon, 18 Feb 2013 14:18:00 +0100

A (sensor) tap with a manual is never a good sign. The tap itself is nicely designed.

Broken ATM interface

nospam@example.com (Matjaž Kljun) — Mon, 28 Jan 2013 13:59:00 +0100

This ATM (cash machine) has surprised me. Lines and numbers are not aligned. Maybe developers haven't tried to use it when they developed this :O.

Tap 19: adjust and push

nospam@example.com (Matjaž Kljun) — Mon, 03 Dec 2012 15:16:00 +0100

Another nicely designed tap. I had one similar already. First adjust the water temperature and then push. Although the one I posted before has a sign on the top which says push. This one was a bit more puzzling.

Anyway .. still better than one cold tap or even two separated push taps

Do you know what is the sign for elevator or lift? Or how should it be?

nospam@example.com (Matjaž Kljun) — Mon, 26 Nov 2012 14:57:00 +0100

I have to admit I stood before this sign for half a minute before I got it.

It's for the elevator (lift). I wonder why this happened? Have I never seen such sign before? I probably did, but I haven't paid attention to it or it could have had a word Elevetor or Lift by it. Anyway, I'm not alone.

I wondered about other signs for lifts. Here are some I found on the net (sorry for the stock photos ..) and I'm still not sure which one I prefer. I like the one with buttons or the happy couple (although the happy couple would make me wonder and wander as well).

Definitely not this one with two people and a roof above and below them.

This one has buttons and Elevator word ...

And I'm not sure if this is my mental map of a lift!!!?!?!

This one has even sliding doors opening (or closing)

Taps 18: the hiding tap

nospam@example.com (Matjaž Kljun) — Mon, 19 Nov 2012 14:43:00 +0100

What should I do here?

I know .. bend.

Oh wait? Should I wave to the tap on the left (where the sign is) or in the middle (where the tap is)? Bent even more ...

Airplane seat row indication signs - good and bad designs

nospam@example.com (Matjaž Kljun) — Mon, 12 Nov 2012 14:11:00 +0100

Aeroplane (bus or whatever vehicle) seat row signs can sometimes be problematic. This happens when a sign doesn't picture the passenger in relation to the seat and the window. For example this one that assumes everyone speaks English:

This one for example shows just the person. I'd assume that the person stands in the aisle and the nearest seat is E or D

This one shows the window only but I like its 3D perspective - very intuitive.

Here is one that shows both window and the person in the aisle. But NOT the seat letter??!?

As it should like on the below example:

However my favourite is this one - very intuitive again!

Taps 17: hold me down tap

nospam@example.com (Matjaž Kljun) — Mon, 05 Nov 2012 14:06:00 +0100

I really like this design. But if one wants the water to flow, the handle must be held down constantly. Which is annoying as only one hand at the time can be rinsed. It is even harder to hold down both handles and was the hands. But one can always plug the sink as they do here on the Island.

Taps 20: Vented tap

nospam@example.com (Matjaž Kljun) — Wed, 17 Oct 2012 18:08:00 +0200

This one I found in the office kitchen. I have 2 issues with it?

1. Why the spout is not longer so when the water flow is low it drips all over the counter

2. Why would someone want a dripping tap? I understand that the vented tap releases the pressure from water heater when the hot water expands - hence the dripping. So my next question: why not using a different heater? I had lived in houses with water heaters and non of the taps ever dripped. If it would, I wouldn't be able to sleep :).

A bedside lamp switch in the wrong place

nospam@example.com (Matjaž Kljun) — Mon, 15 Oct 2012 13:25:00 +0200

Some light switches on bedside lamps (this one is from a hotel in States) always amazed me. Why need to put one's hand near the bulb. I admit that the new eco bulbs don't heat as much as the old ones. Nevertheless, there are other ways to do it. For example the switch in the stand or even on the electric cord. Some might argue that this is just another way to do it (like separate taps), but in my opinion it's simply wrong for security reasons. And no ... it's not intuitive to reach for the switch near the bulb if one has been warned all her/his childhood not to do it :).

The worse parking machine ever (with 40 buttons)

nospam@example.com (Matjaž Kljun) — Sun, 22 Jul 2012 06:04:00 +0200

1. I walked to this parking machine and started throwing money in without looking at it as the price was on the board beside it.
2. When I finished putting in £5 in change (15 coins) I realized that I had to put in the licence plate number first.
3. Because I don't know my number I had to walk back to the car and memorize it on my way back.
4. I came back to the machine, put the number in, put the money in .... and pressed the wrong grey button (there are 39 grey buttons :)) ....

Why would they want people to put the licence plates numbers in? The first idea that crossed my mind was to prevent users to give one another the parking tickets. With the # on it it's risky to do it. But this seemed stupid. My second thought was that whoever owns the parking place wants to be sure that each car pays the right amount and that there's no cheating. And I was right. There's a camera at the entrance. I'm not sure if it is directly connected to the parking machine. But they allow users to stay over the time they paid for. But before they leave they need to pay for additional time. The camera then records the exit time and the system knows if the car "owns" more money (probably sending the fine over mail).

I'm sure there are other ways of doing this. But let's assume that the designers wanted the users to feel less restricted. There are no ramps and everyone is free to come an leave without restrictions. I'd believe that if there weren't gazillions of signs "have you paid and displayed".

But let's look at the interface itself which certainly has some flaws
- The machine does not allow different order of steps (e.g. money first).
- The keyboard has different layout than e.g. standard QUERTY which is known by a lot of people.
- The keyboard key labels are hard to see when standing by the machine because the buttons are covering the labels on the row below (I had to bend to see the labels and I'm only 174cm or 5.9).
- The grey button (see step 3 on the machine) should be of a different colour e.g. green to differentiate it from the rest
- The buttons should be labelled (I still don't know what the red one is for as for cancelling the transaction one needs to press the grey button below the coins' slot).
- There is no slot for banknotes and it's hard to imagine that one has £28 in change for a weekly ticket. I barely scratched £5 myself. If I wouldn't, I'd have to walk and spend cca. 15 minutes to get to the shop, change the money and return and pay. Of course there's pay by phone, but I'm on pay as you go and I had less than £5 on.

I wonder if there were any logical designing decisions behind this design I can't see any and so did not a few people paying right after me. They all complained.