IH01-MinhaajKhan
From IEOR 170 Spring 2007
[edit] IEOR 170 – Homework 1: Good Designs and Bad Designs in our Everyday Lives
Example of Good Design
Golf bags are an absolute necessity for golf, as not only do all golf courses require that each player carry his/her own bag but also because there are far too many clubs to carry by hand when golfing (the average golfer carries between 11-15 clubs). Recently I upgraded my golf bag to a Nike golf bag, and although it was expensive, the purchase was well worth it. Generally older versions of golf bags have one strap to carry over one of your shoulders, but with my new bag there are two straps so the clubs can be carried like a backpack (as pictured). I’m a golfer who plays at Tilden Park Golf Course once a week, and as the course is estimated at around 6000 yards for 18 holes (excluding the walk between holes); every time I go out and golf at Tilden I’m walking approximately 4 miles with a golf bag on my shoulder! When I’d play the course with my old bag, I could only carry it over one shoulder, thus that shoulder had to bare the weight of all my clubs and balls for 4 miles, leaving me fatigued and my shoulder a little tired on the back-9 (the last 9 holes of the 18 hole course). Clearly not only is this an inconvenience, but in a game where the smallest mistake makes a big difference, a tired shoulder can really hurt your score as the shoulder plays an integral role in the golf swing. So the double strap design on my Nike golf bag is an example of a good design, as wearing the bag like a backpack allows the weight of the clubs to be distributed evenly on both shoulders, thus making the bag feel very light and easy to carry (left part of picture). Not only has this made my golfing experience a lot more fun and convenient, but my golf scores have improved as well, especially on the back-9.
Example of Bad Design
When I got my LG VX6100, it was one of the best cell phones Verizon had at the time. I loved everything about the phone, as it was fairly easy to use and there were a lot of cool features on the phone (e.g. speakerphone that was loud, no dropped calls, etc.). As wonderful as the phone was, when I first got it I was under the impression that there was no vibrate option, as when I pressed the buttons to increase and decrease the ringer volume (left side of phone and phone has to be flipped open as in picture), vibrate wasn’t an option. So it came as a shock as I was flipping through the cell phone manual a few months later, that I found the vibrate option on my phone. While most phones have the vibrate option incorporated into the buttons that change the ringer volume, the LG VX6100 can only be put on vibrate by holding on to the star button until it goes into vibrate mode. Like Don Norman, I’m no idiot when it comes to technology, in fact I consider myself technologically savvy. Taking IEOR 170, especially after reading the chapter on the design of everyday things by Don Norman, it is clear that my perception of how a phone should be placed on vibrate is not the same as what the designer expected. The designer has placed a very small symbol on the star key, which upon close inspection appears to be a phone with a symbol that says it is vibrating (refer to picture and drawing). However, as it is so small, I never thought much about it and didn’t even imagine that it would have to be held down to put the phone in vibrate mode. After figuring this out by reading the manual however, I realize that the designer was probably trying to make it convenient to place the phone on vibrate by having to only press one button as opposed to pressing the buttons that change the ringer volume several times. However, as with previous phones, having the vibrate option incorporated into the buttons that change the ringer volume is something that most cell phones have, and as a user this is something I expect. The designer failed to take the user’s conceptual model of how a phone is generally put on vibrate into account, and although he/she attempted to create a more optimal way of achieving this goal, this aspect of the phone is a bad design. One way to solve this design error is to have the vibrate option available by pressing the buttons that adjust ringer volume, which is basically the old way of doing things, while also keeping the vibrate option on the star key but increasing the visibility of the symbol (this is kind of what is being done with newer models of the LG phones). Another potential solution could be to have a separate button on the right side of the phone, as pictured in the drawing. Placing the button on the outside, while ensuring the symbol for vibrate (e.g. VIB) is large enough for everyone to see, will get the point across to the user and will also allow users to place their phone on vibrate without having to open their phone. Not having to open the phone (as the LGVX6100 is a flip phone as pictured) allows the user to quickly put his/her phone on vibrate when needed (e.g. like in class or a meeting). Thus this is a good way to rectify a bad design attribute to a good phone.
