Comments on: Featuritis and the Customer Experience

By: David DeLong

David DeLong — Tue, 04 Dec 2007 13:29:57 +0000

This faucet discussion and other examples on this site remind us that poor user interface design creates a new burden for users in this technology-intensive era. Poor design and unnecessary complexity create incredible wasted time (and money) in our personal and professional lives. When we use interfaces or perform tasks infrequently we are much more likely to “forget” how to do them. For example, we are just finishing an addition on our house and I am noting all the things I need to “document” before the contractors leave. (1) There is no clear way to open the bulb compartment for a new light in our guest bathroom. (Something done maybe once every 3 years.) (2) The new ceiling fan in our bedroom has a summer/winter switch high on the fan (done twice a year) and don’t ever touch the chain on the fan, warns the electrician, because that will put you out of sync with the wall switch. And where are the instructions for re-syncing them? (3) Let’s not even talk about the $400 TV-sound system remote, which is already not working and has minimal documentation “because every system is customized.” I am now at the mercy of some high-priced support person to watch TV. I am currently working on a new book on a “A Guide to Household & Personal Knowledge Retention” (actual title will be sexier). I WOULD WELCOME YOUR STORIES AND EXAMPLES AND IDEAS OF THINGS TO INCLUDE. (e.g. Where is your elderly mother’s safe deposit box key? Where did you file X?, etc.) You can reach me at my website: http://www.LostKnowledge.com. Thanks. — Dave DeLong

By: Todd Crofts

Todd Crofts — Sat, 01 Dec 2007 06:05:23 +0000

On the flip side – I found a great example of “design thinking” while using the elevators at the Mandalay Bay hotel in Las Vegas:

http://www.goodexperience.com/broken/images/mandalay.jpg

In most elevators you have to search for the lobby button, and you are never quite sure if it is floor 1 or 2, or perhaps it has its own button. Usually it has a star next to the button, but the star is also usually worn off.

For elevator production, it is cheaper, more efficient & easier to reuse the existing round buttons for every floor of the hotel. Plus, the round button is fully functional and will get you to the lobby just as well as the fancy oval button. However, Mandalay makes $$ from 3 areas of the hotel the restaurant, the spa, and the lobby (casino). The fancy oval buttons help their customers get to those 3 areas faster, and improve their overall experience.

By: Sarah Lipman

Sarah Lipman — Mon, 26 Nov 2007 13:28:55 +0000

I love the way you worked this one through! Great post!

We have a mis-calibrated toddler puzzle that is supposed to make an animal sound when the correct peice is fitted into its space. It uses light-sensitive sensors in each puzzle space, the idea being that when the sensor goes completely dark, the correct peice must be in its place, triggering a “moo” or whatever. Now that one of the peices is missing (you have seven kids, too, so I trust you understand that this does happen), any time someone walks to close to the shelf on which the puzzle is stored we hear an animal sound. Another trigger is turning off the light at night.

Sensors aren’t reading our minds quite yet.