IH01-ChristopherLing

From IEOR 170 Spring 2007

Good Design and Bad Designs in Our Everyday Lives 16566363

Good Design: Steam Iron

Purpose: The purpose of the steam iron is to flatten out the wrinkles that accumulate in ones clothes or materials. In addition to the heat, the added steam efficiently takes away any unwanted creases or folds. With the proper application of heat and steam, the steam iron is quicker than a typical iron.

Feature: The features that I find to have good design are the buttons located at the top of the steam iron. The buttons allow the user to instantly emit a burst of steam towards your clothes or moisten the material up with another button that sprays a shot of water. The location and ease of use definitely make this a great design feature. First, the buttons are conveniently located at the top end of the steam iron (see picture). This prime location allows for swift and easy usage with one push of your thumb. Secondly, the simple pictures of steam and a spray of water are printed on the knobs such that the user can instantly figure out the button’s functions. Overall, the sleek design of the steam iron makes it a great product for anyone with wrinkly clothes.

Bad Design: Tie Hanger

Purpose: A tie hanger is designed to hold a wide array of ties to conserve space (see image). It hooks like a typical hanger, but has multiple horizontal rows that allow the user to hang their tie on different rows to form a layered tie collection.

Feature: There are two main design features that make this a poorly designed product. For example, ties can easily slip off the end of the hanger because it does not have a device on the end to prevent them from doing so. Thus, as the tie hanger gets filled with more ties, the hanger may become unbalanced, resulting in the hanger tilting and ties falling off. Another design nuance of the hanger is the multiple rows to put ties on. Although the multiple rows provide more area to put ties, ties from the upper rows usually cover the lower rows. I expect this product was designed this way to conserve space.

Fix: Addressing the first problem, I would add additional knobs on the ends of each row to prevent ties from falling off. For the second problem with the upper rows covering lower rows, I would redesign the hanger to have the lower rows slant outwards. This will allow the user to easily put ties on the lower rows without having the problem of ties from the upper rows getting in the way.