Complicating simple things
A fun (or maybe weird) one: why over-complicating toilet flush?
The setup
Today, while travelling, I went to the loo and got to see this as a toilet flush:
When I moved closer, this thing lit up:
After
Once I got done with what I had to do, I tried to flush the toilet, to no avail:
- pushing the "light" did nothing,
- putting my hand in front either,
- i tried both "buttons", but still nothing.
I left with an unflushed toilet, and thinking "why would you complicate a toilet
flush to that point?"
Sure, it is a lot nicer to look at, but what's the point if its basic function
is not met, and users are frustrated when using it (or actually not managing to
use it).
Not the only one
When washing my hand, I also had to fight with the tap sensor which causes the water to flow: it was badly placed, so as soon as the water flowed, you had to move your hands to get water on them, but this meant you were no longer in the sensor's range, so the water stopped! I had to do it 5 times to successfully wash and rince my hands :|
This time, the hands dryer worked well - but I also have encountered hands dryers whose sensors were badly placed, and you also had to fight to do once again such a basic thing as drying your hands...
Wrap Up
I wonder whether such products are widely tested, and by many different users.
I like to think that yes, that's the case - but user experience is super
important, and in the current case, it is clearly an example of design taking
precedence over user experience.
Tags: Misc