IH01-Carnive
From IEOR 170 Spring 2007
Good Design: My Planner
This planner was my best friend for all of 2006. Unfortunately, it is no longer my constant companion, simply because I can't find the 2007 version of it. There were several incredibly useful features in the planner that made my life so much easier.
Size and spacing: As you can see by the scale of my hand, the planner is much smaller than most other planners. While other planners are designed to be fit in a purse, this planner is the area of your average waller, clearly designed to be a "guy's planner." In addition, the amount of space for each day is perfect for jotting down 2-4 appointments per day, which is roughly the number of special items that need to be written down. There's enough space to write down the important stuff, and not enough to write down all of the habitual items that you'll remember anyway. The cover is pretty sturdy, to boot.
Included pencil, with protection: Having a writing tool already attached to the device and ready to go is extremely convenient. Not only is the pencil small and handy, I've also managed to have it stay attached the entire year it's been in my pocket. A fabric loop holds it in place, and while the metal clasp keeps the planner closed, it's also snug enough to put pressure on the pencil, protecting it and making sure that it doesn't jiggle loose.
Tabbing: See the bottom right corner, with the perforations? In the planner, once you turn the page to get to the next set of 4 days, you rip off the corner according to the perforations. That way, you can get to today's date quickly and accurately. It's such a simple concept, and saves just 3-4 seconds, but when you look through the planner multiple times a day, those seconds save add up.
Bad Design: My Apartment Complex's Door
This is the entrance to my apartment complex, from inside the apartment complex facing out. It's a fairly standard apartment complex door. Knob for entering a key and turning, see through wire mesh because it's cheaper than a real door, and not designed to be a weather buffer.
See the elevator on the right side? I think that the desire to not block the elevator door when getting into the complex caused the designers of the building to have the door swing outward. If the door swing outwards, then you can immediately access the elevator upon entering the building.
Problem is, the elevator is old and clunky and really slow and nobody ever uses it. It really is of no consequence. What's important, however, is that when the apartment door opens, we encounter this problem:
The sweep of the door covers the entire top step! Now, you may ask, what is wrong with that? Well, it's a keyed door. You need to come up to the front of the door in order to unlock it. When you pull back, you have to move back to allow the door to open. When you step back, you have to step back beyond the first step. In other words, you have to climb back down the stairs when opening the door.
When you're getting back from Costco and taking a huge load of groceries up the stairs, the last thing you want to do is go back down the stairs two steps to your door. It's a huge inconvenience, and big safety hazard.
There are a couple of remedies to this problem. You could move the steps back farther from the door and increase the area of the first step. You could create a sliding door that slides into the wall. But by far the easiest and simplest fix is to make the stupid door open inwards!
