Everyday Interface Journal

[meanhippo-blog]

Macs

The Macbook Air has a troubling interface layout problem. On the laptop’s keyboard, the power button, which on most computers is placed near the top of the keyboard, isolated from other keys, is inexplicably surrounded by two commonly used keys, the increase volume key and the delete key. 

The obvious issue with this design is that users, including myself, will often hit the power button when intending to pound one of its neighbors. The designers attempted to account for these errors by requiring the user to hold the power button for the computer to shut down. But what the designers did not consider is that users often hold down the delete and volumes keys, and a mistaken key press could accidentally shut down the mac.

[cbinterfaces]

I agree. I think the button should be recessed, so that you cannot accidentally tap it. But I think pressing it once normally just sleeps the computer, which is fine. You have to hold it down to power off properly. 

[cbinterfaces]

Post #10

I really hate using the Verizon Fios TV guide interface. First, there are too many colors to really be able to differentiate things. Everything is the same level of hierarchy, and there is just too much going on everywhere. Why does the number change from right aligned to centered for the channel number? Why is all the show name text really crowded at the bottom of these aggressively glossy “buttons”?

[cbinterfaces]

Post #9

My dishwasher has the hardest to understand interface. It exists on the top of the door, which means you cannot see it when its closed, which is weird. There is no way to tell how much time is left, what step in the process it is on. The buttons don’t really work; they are hard to press and you have to press them in a certain order in order to start it correctly. 

[superblyannoyingpaper-blog]

Post #8 Snapchat Facial Recognition

I’m sure most of y’all who have snapchat have seen your friends sending you snapchats like the rainbow coming out of your mouth. Example Photo:

However, I would like to comment on the lack of intuitiveness in this brand new feature. When I received these snapchats from others, I wanted to send back snaps with rainbow coming out of my mouth! However, I had no idea how to use this brand new feature and there were never any popups that teaches you how to use this brand new feature. A better user experience would be to have a FTUE guide that walks through the user on this feature.

[cbinterfaces]

I agree with this. I rarely use Snapchat, and I feel like every time I try to use it again, something major has changed. I really wish they would guide users through using the new tools when they logged in for the first time since an update. 

[cbinterfaces]

Post #8

Amazon’s website has always been a problem for me. I understand the concept that a website this large must be accessible for people with all speeds of internet connections and computer systems, but that does not excuse poor design. Apple, a website that is also just as popular, has a simple design, is aesthetically pleasing, and is easy to navigate. Amazon should simplify their menu. There are also an unnecessary amount of ads, which do nothing but distract the user. Amazon should take the approach to simplify, as people might actually buy more if they could access more. 

[supercooleve-blog]

Post #7

The design of Yale University School of Art website is truly surprised me!

The layout is soooooooo awful that this is a textbook of bad design! I guess the background of the home page is a photo of Art building but why not using a high resolution as well as big enough shot? It is horrible for people with trypophobia. 

The alignment for the content in the home page is also terrible. It is aligned on the left part of the page first with waste of space in the right and suddenly aligned to middle in the end. 

The backgrounds for each individual tabs are not relevant to the content and some are even gifs which might distract people from main content.

Reference: http://art.yale.edu

Gifs is in the current students tab:http://art.yale.edu/CurrentStudents

[cbinterfaces]

I actually disagree with this post -- this website was designed to look this way on purpose. Linked By Air, the studio who designed this website, wanted to create a “wiki” platform for the students to be able to edit anything at any time. All content, absolutely everything, is editable by the entire department. 

"To attract prospective students, an art school’s website should have just as much vitality as the art school itself. And for current students, faculty, and staff, an art school’s website should be as much a part of their shared lives as the school’s physical building is.To accomplish these goals, we made the entire website editable and expandable by all 200+ students, staff, and faculty, with no training and using only a web browser. It’s a custom-built wiki that allows visual as well as textual expression through a system of versatile modules, which allow both a consistent identity for the site, and endless permutation and subversion of that identity.”

Yes, the end result is not the easiest to read, but reading isn’t really the point of the website -- it is to be a piece of art and design in and of itself. 

http://www.linkedbyair.net/YaleSchoolOfArt

[superblyannoyingpaper-blog]

Post #6: iPhone Language Selection

Apple Products are known for its user friendliness, and I am surprised by my frustration with one particular function of my iPhone. Below is the interface when I type a message.

The globe icon at the bottom is for users to change language to type in, but more often than not, rather than changing the language, this appears:

This is extremely inconvenience for users who have to change languages often. The key to avoiding this is to hold the world icon for a second or so, before scrolling up. But this is so unintuitive and low efficiency and is causing so much frustration whenever I wish to type in Chinese. Step up your game Apple.

[cbinterfaces]

I agree with you. The bottom menu never appears when I want it to (like looking for the flashlight icon in the dark) but always appears whenever I am trying to do anything near the bottom of the screen. This happens beyond search to change the language. It all inhibits my emoji use, which is disappointing. 

[cbinterfaces]

Post #7

Canon does not have the best user interfaces for their printers. They are pretty similar across all the printers they make; it seems to be composed of a circular dial, on button, menu button, back arrow, red x button (cancel?), ok button, a black button and a white button. The screens are always tiny  2″ square. Either in a quest for minimalism or a desire to keep it cheap to produce, Canon has succeed in making their printers impossible to use. What do those icons for black/color even mean? Why does nothing happen when I press cancel? And the screen appears to be designed in the 90s. I would argue that it might be easier to remove all buttons from the printer, and make a really good app for your computer in order to print. 

[superblyannoyingpaper-blog]

Post #5: Xbox

Today I would like to talk about the usability of Xbox.

Although it is my favorite game console, it actually has pretty low efficiency  and learnability in terms of its user interface. The system only receives one type of input, from the controller, and nothing else. Suppose the controller runs out of battery, there are no way for the user to interact with the Xbox and watch Netflix for example. Furthermore, for a first time user, users have no idea what each button means as they have no intuitive meaning, and thus may be very difficult for a new user to get used to this game system.

[cbinterfaces]

I know exactly what you mean. My brother has one of these things, and he plays it all the time. But I remember one time I tried to use it to watch Netflix, a seemingly easy task, and I couldn’t figure out how to use it. The interface is very different from any other interface out there. It’s one of the biggest learning curves I’ve ever encountered.

[cbinterfaces]

Post #6

Thermostat interfaces like this one, above, don’t provide enough information to be easy to use. It seems like the designers tried to include as little information as possible in order not to confuse the user. But instead, that confuses the user more. There is a hold button, which I still haven’t figured out what it does. The up and down arrows are easy, but I can never figure out what exactly I’m setting. Am I heating, cooling? I keep meaning to read instructions for it online, but I feel like people shouldn’t have to read instructions for something as simple as a thermostat that is installed in every house. 

[superblyannoyingpaper-blog]

Post #4: Linkedin App

I’d like to share my experience with using the LinkedIn iOS application. 

When I connect with another person and he/she accepted my connect, I get a notification saying “John Smith” accepted your invitation to connect. If I press into the notification, I will be on this page:

Intuitively, when someone accepted my connection request, the user would want to view the new connections’ profile. However, you can only click into the profile by clicking on the tiny “View John Smith’s Profile” line, clicking anywhere else would land you to a page to people you may know. This relates to Fitt’s Law: the smaller the target is, longer the users take to reach it.

[cbinterfaces]

This is big problem for me too. I also find problems like this in most mobile versions of websites. It’s gotten to the point where I only really use LinkedIn on my laptop, along with a couple other websites. 

[cbinterfaces]

Post #5

Scissor packaging is impossible to get the scissors out of without scissors. They either have plastic rings that you need scissors to snap or clamshell plastic wrap that you need heavy duty scissors to open (and they hurt to open in the process). If I am buying scissors, chances are that I don’t have another pair of scissors to open them. 

[dabrownie229-blog]

Post #3

Hairbands are everyone’s must-haves. But no matter how many you buy, they either (1) snap or (2) go missing. This week, my hairband broke snapped two times, hurting my fingers. My favourite hairband went missing this week too. I spent a good 30 minutes looking for it because I was lazy to pick up another one at the store, and I assure you, the hairband was a special one. I feel like hairbands could be better designed: durable and not snappy. 

[cbinterfaces]

I totally agree. I always have to commit to buying a pack of 100 every year, because something happens to them. A friend usually asks to borrow one of the two I have on my wrist, and I never see it again. Also, I think the hard glue part on the hairband is starting to tear off my hair, major flaw, that part should be covered by a soft material. Also, whenever I fall asleep with one on my wrist, I wake up to it cutting my circulation off because it’s been pushed up my arm.  

[cbinterfaces]

Post #4

The Apple TV is an all around amazing device. I bought one a few months ago and I can honestly say it has changed my whole TV watching experience. However, the typing interface is so terrible that I refuse to use it. I get really bummed if I need to log into something, and usually just turn it off instead of using it. I never search for anything anymore. The user has to move a square using Apple’s remote which is only four directional arrow keys and a center button. The letters/numbers/symbols are laid out in a square grid. It takes approximately a minute per word. Come on Apple, provide a touch screen remote that isn’t my phone or one with a full keyboard.

[superblyannoyingpaper-blog]

Post #2 Nespresso Machine

I sometimes use this Nespresso machine to make coffee.

When I turned it on, there is a blinking cup icon. If I press the icon while it blinks, coffee will come out. Naturally, I assumed blinking icon meant it’s ready. However, my friend pointed out that it actually meant water is heating up, and I should wait till the icon doesn’t blink any more.

I have been drinking warm rather than hot coffee for two years of my life. Clearly, there lacks a effective feedback loop that informs the user he/she was doing something wrong. A possible feedback would be not allowing the user to make coffee while blinking or noises that indicate water is heating up when the machine starts.

[cbinterfaces]

This machine is the worst. My last job had one of these, and on my last day I figured out how to use it. I too had been pressing the button for warm coffee rather than hot until someone pointed it out to me. I believe the office had a slightly different model, where there were 2 buttons. Both identical with the same shape, icon, etc. I learned after pressing a random button each time, and confused as to why it would sometimes over pour, that one was for a double shot and one for a single shot. The double shot version requires a coffee cup and for the user to remove the tray so the cup fits. TERRIBLE. I have so many burns from it. 

[cbinterfaces]

Post #3

I don’t think I can think of a more painful design than the airplane seat. I recently had the pleasure of flying in coach on Spirit Airlines. I had never flown on Spirit, so I was unaware of the situation I was getting myself into. I had to force my carry-on under my seat; to put it above me cost money. So I didn’t have leg room. I am 5′ 4″ and my knees touches the back of the person’s seat in front of me. I have no idea what a person who is taller than me could do. I went to look for the button to recline my seat, and there was none. They do not allow you to recline in the section I was in. However, for some reason the people in front of me could. So they, of course, reclined and left me staring at their head rest all flight. I was so uncomfortable the entire flight, and I had back problems for days afterwards due to their designs. 

[rungeinterfaces-blog]

Post #1

This morning as I was getting ready for the day, I turned to open the window shade on my window. As usual, only one side of the blinds actually drew up, and I had to fiddle with the string for a couple seconds in order to make both sides the same level again. Once I got the blinds to fold evenly to the top of the window, I faced the challenge of making them stick there. After yanking on the string a couple times, I resorted to trying the string to a nearby nail on the wall where it would remain tense and the blinds wouldn’t be able to fall back down. There is no reason that drawing the blinds needs to be so complicated or frustrating, it seems like the majority of them are just poorly constructed and flimsy, and tend to break more then they actually work. 

[cbinterfaces]

I completely understand your problem. I decided to put a large plant in front of one of my windows, and I now have to blindly search for the string in order to adjust it. An unfortunately our living space is small, so I cannot walk backwards enough to get leverage to pull the blinds up. Our blinds also have that silly stick thing that you have to twist to change the pivoting of the blinds. So it takes about a minute of twist with your fingers to get a single blind to the level you want them at. So rather than deal with the blinds, I’ve come to the conclusion that they are staying up. I’d rather be woken up at 7 in the morning everyday by sunlight than deal with adjusting them.