IH01-Andrewprasetyo

From IEOR 170 Spring 2007

Bad Design Example

Fig.1

An example of bad design would be this fancy radio-clock that does not even have a brand name. It did take me several days to figure out how to set the clock and to tune in a radio station. The radio did not come with a manual nor any written instruction on the radio body. After further trial-and-error, I finally understand how to operate this radio.

Fig.2

As shown in the picture, the radio only has four buttons. The “set” button and “mode” button are only for setting the clock and calendar. First, I have to hold “set” button until the number on the display blinking, then the display will give a number “1”, which means the first month, January. If the "set" button is pressed again, the display will show another number "1". Then, I realize that I have to set the month, followed by the date, then the hour. Oddly enough, in order to change the number, I have to press the “mode” button. At first, I thought the “mode” button is to switch between clock and radio, but it turns out that it is used to increment the number on display. This is very vague and confusing; especially when there are also other buttons below the “mode” button that resemble up and down arrows (triangles) as shown in the picture.

Fig.3

Tuning the radio is another tricky part. The up and down triangles (arrows) is the tuner for the radio. When I first turned on the radio, it gives me an FM station which I did not know, so I started searching for a radio station that I was familiar with. After pressing the upward triangle several times, I finally found KOIT (FM 96.5), and then I pressed the triangle once again, it gave me KLLC (FM 97.3). So, I figured if I wanted to go back to 96.5, I should press the downward triangle. However, once I pressed the downward triangle button, the radio gave me the first unknown radio station again. It turns out that the line on the downward triangle indicates that whenever the button is pushed, the radio will be tuned to the lowest available FM station. This rule also applies when the radio is turned off. When the radio is turned back on, it will always start from the lowest available FM station. I also think this radio is a bad design because despite its fancy model, this radio does not provide necessary signs that tell user what to do. The designer should use a better design that provides user with direction on how to set the clock and how to play the radio; I believe this product is one of the products that are designed for simplicity but neglect the user-machine interaction.

Good Design Example

As opposite to the modern radio above, what I consider a good design is an old SONY ICF-7600D radio-clock. Though this radio is old (manufactured in late 80’s and early 90’s), it provides the necessary user-machine interaction. Even without a manual, the wording on the buttons is enough to signal users on how to operate different feature on the radio.

Fig.4

What I like most about this radio is that all the buttons are clearly labeled and every group of buttons serves different purposes. The power button is clearly labeled “ON” and “OFF”(Fig.5), the button for setting the clock is clearly labeled “SET”, “H” (Hours), and “M” (Minutes), the volume control is labeled “Volume” so it will not be confused with the analog tuning (Fig.6), and the radio can be tuned by punching in the frequency of the desired radio station(Fig.7).

Fig.5

Fig.6

Fig.7

The designer even separates each group by spacing the button placement or using different color scheme for different feature. For example, silverfish blue for the clock and power, and black background for the radio tuning. For a user that does not know a particular radio station, the auto-tuning feature can find the next available station for the user or the user can also use the manual tuning feature on the side of the radio. This radio also has two displays, i.e. one for the clock and one for the radio, so that the user knows which radio station he/she is on.