07 May 2003 | hurley#1 said...

Well, at least you don't have a job like a woman I met once in Boston: she worked for a record company and spent her days listening to live recordings of classical music concerts, then going in and digitally removing the audience coughs and sneezes, the conductor's inadvertent taps of the baton on the music stand and other extraneous stuff. It meant that she couldn't go to live concerts anymore, because she couldn't hear the music -- she was too busy paying attention to the noise.

07 May 2003 | MrBlank said...

I can believe it. I whine "why didn't Apple design this?" every time I program my parent's VCR (because they still can't) or try to find the video mode on on my Coolpix digital-cam.

07 May 2003 | Steve said...

I do the same sorts of things. When I drive a new car, I end up evaluating its "UI" as much as I do the way it drives. I always find myself criticizing the poor IA at airports and hotels. Etc.

Similar sorts of things have started infecting me. I own a Tivo, which amongst many things lets you pause or rewind live programming. I was at a movie over the weekend and didn't understand a line of dialogue; I literally spent a second or two starting to "look" for my remote before I remembered I was at a theater and couldn't rewind the film. I've had the same thought process in the car with the radio.

07 May 2003 | Mathew said...

Ooh me too! i constantly have to remind myself to pay attention to the content of websites instead of trying to work out how or why they chose to do things that way.

At my church I sometimes run the sound desk, but when I am not, I struggle to pay attention to the speaker instead of the microphone sqeals and missing bass line....

Still, not such a bad occupational hazard, compared to most.

07 May 2003 | Paul said...

In AOL fashion, I chime in: "Me too."

That's why I had a blog about it. That's why it's coming back soon, because there are so so many things designed so poorly. (And, indeed we must champion the ones that are designed well.)

07 May 2003 | josh said...

Hah, I was just talking about this with someone at work today!

I have rarely have the chance to hang out with other interface/usability people. The last time I did we went out to eat and ended up critisizing every last thing we saw. We were like a couple of old ladies, This elevator would be so much better if... Why on earth would they put the exit sign there!

None of us should be allowed to hang out. Ever.

08 May 2003 | fajalar said...

I, too, hate many things. And I look back beyond my training and realize that I had a penchant for pointing out poorly designed products (how's that for alliteration).

But, I will say that when I see things that are well designed I have a higher appreciation for the product. And usually a thought of, "I wish I could work on things like this."

Now, must get back to designing sexy insurance-related sites. Mmmmm... insurance-related...

08 May 2003 | Michael S. said...

My nitpicking of things like poorly-designed door handles drives my wife nuts. I can't understand why she wouldn't want easier to use objects, and she can't understand why I can't just figure it out and shut the hell up.

08 May 2003 | Darrel said...

Does this mean Interaction Design is only important to other Interaction Designers? ;o)

08 May 2003 | kev said...

that's not as pathetic as being an art student, and when you make a mistake in a drawing class, you literally tap the table in the motions of 'Command-Z." I am guilty of this.

08 May 2003 | scottmt said...

oh yeah, it all sucks. thought that was a given?

What I can find pleasure in is explaining to people that it isn't their fault they "can't work the computer/VCR/Cell phone/etc".

"you see, they've been designing these things wrong from the get go! Its genuinely too hard and bothersome to learn to use!"

08 May 2003 | JL said...

Kev, I get the airborne "command-F" when I can't find my car keys...

08 May 2003 | Steve said...

Thought of another example this morning of how one medium works affects how you start thinking another should work. I was dialing a number on a "regular" phone, and realized I had dialed a digit wrong mid-stream. I started looking for the "clear" key on the desk phone so I could just re-enter the number, like I would on my mobile, instead of hanging up and starting over.

08 May 2003 | Don Schenck said...

Steve, it's WORSE than you think.

You said you "dialed" a pushbutton phone. :-)

08 May 2003 | TheMoronInThe Corner said...

Umm... (he admits hesitantly)...Someone put a post-it note on my monitor at work and I spent a whole 5 seconds trying to figure out how to close the friggin' thing.

08 May 2003 | britt said...

I had just taken a dump in a bathroom stall and reached for the TP. The new roll wasn't housed properly and fell to the floor when I pulled on it. The toilet paper itself rolled all the way to the sinks and the holder piece rolled into another stall. Poor design really stinks sometimes.

09 May 2003 | Dan said...

Or the time I was driving through the North Cal redwoods at night, and I had to turn off the goddamn car stereo because its hipster-blue display was SO FRICKIN BRIGHT I COULDN'T SEE THE ROAD! I had to drive for four hours without music.

09 May 2003 | Hagbard Celine said...

Well, some manufacturers have that worked out. The display on my stereo dims with the other instruments, so if it's really dark I can turn them all down. If the car lights are off, the display is very bright (for daytime visibility) and as soon as I turn the lights on, it dims to match the dimmer setting.
Of course, that sucks if I have my lights on during the day, because I suddenly can't see the clock without turning the dimmer up to full.

Back on the subject, doors are my pet peeve. I'll often stop in my tracks to look at glass doors before I approach them: first to figure out how to work the damn things and second to bitch about how poorly designed they are.

09 May 2003 | Don Schenck said...

My Saab and my Rendezvous both adjust their lights to the ambient light, regardless of lights on or off. Nice touch.

Another nice touch: Saab has a "black panel" button, which is more like "stealth mode". It shuts down your dash display save for the speedometer. Nice for night driving, when you don't want to be distracted.

Finally, the Rendezvous has a "head-up" display, which every car should have. Not only a safety feature, it's just plain cool.

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