Our new office has a dishwasher. It’s sleek, modern, and silent. It blends into the stainless cabinets and countertops just perfectly. It has the same handle style as the drawers and doors to the left and right. It has no buttons or lights or anything on the outside. You don’t even know it’s there.
And this is why it’s bad.
This is it, right there in the middle:
Looks great, right? Well that depends.
At least once a week when I open it up to add a dirty cup or plate I get sprayed. Water shoots out the sides and splashes me and the floor. It’s on, but there’s no indication it’s on. It’s so good that you can’t even hear it. That’s actually bad. It’s so integrated that it doesn’t look like a dishwasher. That’s actually bad.
I used to curse it, but now I’ve made peace with it. I actually like having it around. Every time I see water on the floor, or on my shirt, I’m reminded of the subtle differences between good and bad design.
Subtle because sometimes all it takes is the smallest little thing to turn bad to good (or good to bad). A tiny bright LED light in the upper right corner could indicate ON. When the light’s on, don’t touch. When’s its off you don’t even see it. It doesn’t interfere with the overall design. That little light would make everything else — the visual design, the silence, the integration with the rest of the kitchen — worth it.
Or it could lock when it’s on, unlock when it’s off. You wouldn’t be able to unlock it once it’s on because there’s no exterior lock handle, but that seems like a small sacrifice to stay dry.
Or…
zdw
on 23 Dec 10Honestly, this sounds like a great hack opportunity… Being a tech firm, I’m sure you have someone in the office who could take the thing apart and put said LED on the device (hooked into the control panel on the top lip?) , assuming you’d be willing to void the warranty.
Will Meurer
on 23 Dec 10Are you sure that’s the dishwasher, or is it the one on the right?
Kevin H
on 23 Dec 10Solution: Put a tiny waterproof camera + microphone inside the dishwasher, hooked up to a display that you would mount directly on the front face of the dishwasher. Transparency in dishwashing!
Dominic
on 23 Dec 10LOL!
I’ve got one with the exact same kind of design and YES it’s beautiful BUT its usability is indeed very BAD.
I’d add that stainless cabinets are nice to look at, until you actually use your kitchen and have even just a few water drops and finger prints on it. Then it looks dirty when it’s not…
Dan
on 23 Dec 10At least it won’t run you down on the street!
Rob H
on 23 Dec 10Jason, I have a similar dishwasher from Bosch where the controls are on the inside and extremely quiet. The one thing that Bosch decided to do was place a LED light on the bottom right corner that shines a red dot on the floor when its running. This way you know when its on or off.
-R
Ben
on 23 Dec 10Reminds me of blind people saying Hybrids are dangerous because they can’t hear them.
Maybe they should put a little speaker in it that makes dishwashing noises.
The Mini Cooper S has a “Noise Maker” next to the firewall to make it louder in the cabin.
Ryan Swarts
on 23 Dec 10I own a chair that was probably built with the same mindset. It’s a reminder to me, too, sometimes. It’s a really nice-looking, modern chair with a wicker bottom and back and tubular steel arms. It’s mid-century. It’s elegant. It’s strong. But its arms are about shoulder-level when you’re sitting in the thing.
What’s this mean? You sit with your arms straight out, something the body just isn’t meant to do. Or you let your arms hang uncomfortably until you decide that the couch is probably more suited for you.
I wonder sometimes if designers ever actually sit in the chairs they build. Or accidentally open the running dishwashers they overly stylize.
JF
on 23 Dec 10The one thing that Bosch decided to do was place a LED light on the bottom right corner that shines a red dot on the floor when its running. This way you know when its on or off.
Clever solution. Ours doesn’t seem to have that feature.
Carl Hancock
on 23 Dec 10My dishwasher has a locking mechanism. If it’s running you can’t just open it without triggering the unlock mechanism.
They should have integrated an unlock mechanism of some sort that also triggers stopping the dishwasher so you don’t get sprayed on the inside of the handle on the far side of the left or right of the handle.
Poor design indeed.
Steve Woods
on 23 Dec 10Stick one of these in front of it! ;)
http://www.istockphoto.com/stock-photo-2691505-cleaning-in-progress-sign.php
umfana
on 23 Dec 10I have a dishwasher at home that actually projects a red light beam onto the floor, directly beneath the base, when it is running. An AEG… seems someone there already got the memo. But yes, excellent point – that is the difference between good and bad.
Bob Jansen
on 23 Dec 10My parents have a small laser beam which shines on the ground of the kitchen floor, when it’s off.. It’s finished. Pretty easy. Good solutioin for the ‘whisper silent dishwashers’
Tyler Smith
on 23 Dec 10Reminds me of one of the key principles of Don Norman’s “The Design of Everyday Things” – this washer simply doesn’t present enough affordances to the user. In so doing it fails in its primary function because you don’t know what you can do with it, aside from open and close it (the only presented affordance is a handle).
http://jnd.org/dn.mss/affordances_and_design.html
Tyler Smith
on 23 Dec 10Also: http://jnd.org/dn.mss/affordance_conventions_and_design_part_2.html
Mattias
on 23 Dec 10We got a Husqvarna integrated dishwasher which is very silent, they have however solved it very smart with a red lamp that shines on the floor and it turns to green when it is done. No risk opening it while it is running. Good article, the thing is, the good looks are only part of good design.
MBJWORK
on 23 Dec 10This is pretty kludgy but you could get a small magnetic timer, set it to how long the whole process takes, and whenever someone starts the dishwasher, they hit start on the timer and stick it to the front door.
If the timer’s not on the door, the dishes are dirty and the washer is not running.
If the timer’s on the door and counting down, the washer is running and you know how much time is left.
If the timer’s on the door and at 00:00, you got clean dishes in there.
Of course this whole thing adds and extra step for the user and when you choose different wash settings like extra drying or something the time it takes would be different.
Maybe you should just take the thing out and get a new one. Then you can rip the plain front door off the old one, paint a 37s logo on it and put it on your building so you’ll finally have a sign.
Don Schenck
on 23 Dec 10My dishwasher is never quiet; She talks all the time!
rimshot(I’m dead when she reads this)
Dan Boland
on 23 Dec 10It doesn’t lock when it’s on?! Bad design, indeed.
David Hauser
on 23 Dec 10Many high end dishwashers have a small LED light on the bottom the shines onto the floor. I have this and it is great.
David Andersen
on 23 Dec 10Nice one Don!
Paul Leddy
on 23 Dec 10Light on floor?
JF
on 23 Dec 10Update! The architect just called and explained what happened. It appears the custom kickplate at the bottom is covering up the light everyone’s talking about. It was supposed to have been notched out, but that detail was missed. No problem – it’ll all be taken care of.
I REPEAL THE POST!
Matt Henderson
on 23 Dec 10I wouldn’t want an internal auto-locking feature, unless there were some external way to override it. Otherwise, if the auto-locking/unlocking mechanism every broke, you’d be stuck.
Does the temperature of door (to the touch) change at all while its running? (Guessing not…)
Timothée Boucher
on 23 Dec 10(if that thing is in fact magnetic) I’d put a double-sided magnet plate that says “ON” or “OFF” or whatever else, and you flip it whenever you start it or empty it. You find similar things for whiteboard (keep/erase)
The advanced geek would make a custom timer that lights up a little plate that says “IN USE” like your amphitheater has. You just press it when you start the cycle, it lights up and turns off automatically after the length of the cycle. Should be pretty easy for someone who knows a little what s/he is doing.
I can see it: magnetic back on black/gray slim box. You can press the whole thing like a button to start the timer. You just need a battery in there.
Lissa M
on 23 Dec 10So, given the update from JF, then I think this has transitioned from a reminder of the fundamentals of design (that beauty doesn’t trump function), to a reminder about the importance of quality implementation.
So, the lessons become…
- The best design must still be translated into it’s intended environment. Or it will be diminished.
- The best implementation must include testing of ALL functionality. Or it will be diminished.
- Don’t assume that because the concept is “simple” and/or the customer understands how the technology works that they will have the focus or the will to test all functionality.
- Make sure you follow up to ensure customer satisfaction after a burn in period, or you may find them posting clever, but slightly off target blogs, trying to turn their negative experience into a life lesson. If you are lucky.
Thanks for the lesson, JF, and for having the integrity to post your retraction. Enjoy your dishwasher!
Alan Kruppa
on 23 Dec 10I’m also reminded of Don Norman’s “The Design of Everyday Things” by this post. @Tyler Smith thanks for posting the links to his website. Great to read some of his additional essays.
Dave Land
on 23 Dec 10With the addendum from JF, this becomes a post about quality, rather than design.
Still, and important point: if there was a card wall for the construction project, someone would have noticed that the user story “As a kitchen user, I want to know when the dishwasher is running by seeing the red light on the floor, shining through a notch in the custom kickplate.” was not marked as complete.
Deltaplan
on 23 Dec 10Another way I’d try to look at, would be to use the fact that when it’s on, it drains much more electricity than when it’s on standby or completely off. There are tons of small devices that you can plug between the dishwasher and its electric plug, that will light a led when the electrical power used is above some arbitrary limit.
Mark
on 23 Dec 10I used to have a similar problems with a dishwasher at a previous employer. Pro tip: Touch the door before yanking it open. If it’s vibrating or hot to the touch, chances are it’s running.
Michael
on 23 Dec 10I laughed. Your point stands, Jason, but that’s a funny turn.
Rodrigo
on 23 Dec 10Lesson of the day: RTFM.
Sean McCambridge
on 23 Dec 10Your elevator buttons have a similar usability issue. You get no feedback that you’ve pushed the button. Indicator lights often seem like candy to me, but a little confirmation goes a long way.
Paul Wujek
on 23 Dec 10Really, even with the light on the floor this is still a bad design. 1. A stranger can’t find the dishwasher. 2. It doesn’t tell you what part of the cycle it is in. 3. The light on the floor is not an indicator that other people are used to. 4. A stranger might find he dishwasher by accident when it’s ON and they are looking for something else in the kitchen.
Ryan
on 23 Dec 10For those suggesting a magnet to stick on it to indicate the washing status, stainless steel is usually not magnetic. There are some blends that are, but most have too much nickel and chromium.
Dave Sailer
on 23 Dec 10I have a cat. When the purring quits I know the dishes are licked.
Julian
on 23 Dec 10There are also dishwasher which not only project a dot on the floor, but the time that’s left. That’s clever ;)
JF
on 23 Dec 10Update 2! Turns out this unit does not have a light that shines on the floor. You actually have to open it a few inches to see the panel on the inside. It’s designed so you can open it a few inches before water sprays out. That’s better than nothing, but back to what I’d consider bad design.
Joseph Rosenblatt
on 24 Dec 10I think its very interesting here to note that we spent about 5-10 minutes reading about an article and all the comments. Reflecting back this article is amazing and the comments that follow really put a designer in his place. Having to make a person open up a drawer a tiny amount to see what lies underneath its like a drop down menu with 2 options. Why would they do that. Terrible.
Daniel
on 24 Dec 10I think the most interesting thing to come out of this post is the realization that a light shining on the floor is actually an unofficial “standard”! That’s actually pretty neat.
Too bad your dishwasher doesn’t follow that standard. As a mechanical engineer I’m thinking that it must’ve taken quite some effort to make a door that opens a few inches without breaking the water-tight seal compared to hooking a few LEDs to the control circuit. Strange!
Jon Moss
on 24 Dec 10We had the problem with an old dishwasher. However the new one (John Lewis own brand) does have the red LED light which was a reason we bought it!
Artur Ejsmont
on 24 Dec 10Hehe, funny post, i like it : -)
cheers
PJ
on 24 Dec 10And now I’m scared. Yesterday, 10 minutes before you post this, I went to buy my future dishwasher. And it’s all integrated like this one. And I don’t think there’s any light on the front panel. And now I want it to be noisy.
The fact that you can open it a few inches is indeed a strange complication to compensate the absence of any LED indicator… Maybe they thought it would “feel cool” to the customer.
Paul Wujek: still a bad design? Come on, that’s already a solution that covers 95% of the use cases… I mean for home or office use, when 95% of the people who will use it will use it on a daily basis: once you know that a red light on the floor means it’s on, I think that should not be too difficult to understand.
Michael Wendell
on 25 Dec 10The thing that I’m surprised about is that you get water everywhere when you open it. I have a regular, crappy, old dishwasher and if I open it while it’s running the spraying stops immediately. Never a drop comes out, and nothing gets on the floor.
Mark
on 26 Dec 10I have a Bosch with the light on the floor which works fine. My main “design complaint” is that once it’s finished it doesn’t fully shut down, but rather stays on standby power until the door is opened and the power switch is physically turned off.
My other general complaint about dishwashers is that I’ve never met a “dry” cycle that actually lives up fully to that expectation.
Karlsson
on 26 Dec 10A good dishwasher (Miele) stops immediately when you open the door. No need for LEDs.
Tom G
on 26 Dec 10I noticed this before I bought ours. Ironically, the unit we bought that had lights and buttons on the front was less expensive. You actually have to pay more for bad design :-)
Deen
on 27 Dec 10Better hang a board to indicate its On or Off, so guy who switch-on the machine will also turn the board to ‘On’ sign side.
Similar to this http://free4illustrator.com/wp-content/uploads/image/open-close-board.jpg
Michael S
on 27 Dec 10Right on, mine too. You’d think an expensive appliance would handle itself gracefully when things go “wrong.” It’s the details!
Tom
on 27 Dec 10So why did you buy it? The cool factor!
Adam Fitzgerald
on 28 Dec 10So how do you “pause” this style of dishwasher, if opening it allows it to continue washing?
mr. negative
on 28 Dec 10Maybe you should have thought about that when you bought it.
Kevin Murray
on 30 Dec 10Bosch solved this little issue with their info light. http://infosthetics.com/archives/2005/04/dishwasher_info.html
This discussion is closed.