IH01-ConnieKo
From IEOR 170 Spring 2007
[edit] Good Designs and Bad Designs in our Everyday Lives
[edit] Good Design: Nintendo Wii CD Insert Slot
The Nintendo Wii is a sleek and somewhat stylish design for a video game console. One of the most attractive qualities about it is that it is rather small, and somewhat symmetrical. It can be put on its side, or right side up. The confusion can occur when a user tries to insert a game (in the form of a CD) when the console is right side up. Which side will the CD be correctly inserted and read? There were two parts of the design that help a user choose the correct inserting technique. First, there are little cushions on the bottom side of the Wii. If it were to be put flat on a surface, a user would know that the CD is inserted right side up, so when the user sees the cushions when it is on the side, they associate it with the bottom, and know that the top side of the CD should face the right side. Secondly, the designers placed all of the functions on the left side of the console and left the very right side for the CD insert slot. It is common convention on computers, DVD players, etc. that most buttons (including the eject button) is located below the CD slot. These design techniques take advantage of former conventions that people are familiar with. Or what author Donald A. Norman would call a Conceptual Model.
The first picture shows the front view of the Wii. The second picture shows the cushions that indicate top from bottom.
[edit] Bad Design: The Flap/Buckle on My Purse
My Purse has this flap that goes across from the top of my purse vertically down to latch on to a magnetic buckle. It is extremely inconvenient when I try to get something out of my purse because I have to unlatch it, then unzip the purse and grab something out of it. The flap is heavy enough to throw off the center of balance of my purse and I end up holding it in awkward positions while struggling to grab something out of it. One may think that it is my extremely unorganized purse that causes the delayed action of grabbing my keys/wallet/cell phone, but I believe that the buckle is partially to blame. Furthermore, the flap does not serve too much of a purpose in terms of security, since there is already a zipper. But of course in fashion, beauty is before practicality so the design is probably put there because it is trendy. I would suggest having the flap be opened from the top end, and only having it be detachable by a few inches. This way, it isn’t just hanging there with significant weight, off balancing the entire purses’ contents. Meanwhile, it still looks stylish.
