Archive for the ‘Design’ Category
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Dyson AirBlade
Dyson AirBlade
Originally uploaded by ante10pe
This is the best hand dryer you’ve never used. Puts the old fashioned-one, non-directional leaf blower models to shame. Seriously, this thing will make paper towels go the way of the stegosaurus or the polar bear.
I CAN’T WAIT until the AssBlade comes out. See ya’ later, toilet paper. -
Coffee Cup Usability
img224.jpg
Originally uploaded by ante10peThis is a photo of my coffee cup from lunch today. Why is this interesting, you ask?
It’s hard to see from my blurry cameraphone photo, but the text on the top says “Place Cup ↑ Seam Here.”
I checked underneath and there’s no special molding on the underside to combat seam-leakage.
While it’s not [...] -
Design & “The Paradox of Choice”
I am almost through reading a book called “The Paradox of Choice,” written by a professor at Swarthmore College named Barry Schwartz. I first heard about the book by listened to a TED Talk in which the author top-lined the main ideas of his theories.
The premise of the book is very simple, and can be [...] -
I Feel: Too Confused
This is a remote control for the climate control system in a conference room:
I was intrigued by the the “Too Warm” and “Too Cool” buttons. I kept on pressing the “Too Cool” button but alas, I didn’t get any less cool. Cuz I’m so freakin cool. See how that works?
On first read, I was a [...] -
Bank of America- Customizable ATM Fast Cash
In the past couple of years, it seems that ATMs have made huge strides in usability. The monster ATM of today, with all its blinking lights, dedicated slots, OCR of check amounts, etc. is a far cry from the screen with eight soft keys that was the norm a couple years back, and can still [...]
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Watercooler FAIL
Here’s a photo of the watercooler we have at work:
Seems simple and harmless enough. Each chute is clearly labeled. There are good affordances for where to place your cup.
But the first couple times I used this machine, I had a really hard time figuring out how the heck it worked. I’d put my cup in [...] -
Project Window Hawk
I recently read the book “The World Without Us” by Alan Weisman. I found it to be simultaneously inspiring, depressing, heart-wrenching and wondrous. I highly recommend reading it. It really will change the way you look at the world.
Since reading it, I experience little pangs of sadness every time I see a squirrel scampering around [...] -
Egg Labeling Guide Based on New York Times Article
I’ve previously written about Trader Joe’s transparency in egg labeling terms (they have a poster with definitions right by the eggs), so I was pleased to find a post on BoingBoing about a New York times article which attempts to “unscramble” (their joke, I can’t claim that one) the various claims made on egg cartons. [...]
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The Firefox Notification Dialog is Kinda Creepy
I find the notification dialog used by Firefox 3 to be rather unsettling.
There’s nothing inherently wrong with it; it’s just a rectangle that comes out from underneath my task bar to tell me something important, like how Firefox has found an update, or some document has finished downloading.
But the speed at which this thing comes [...] -
Discoverability in Everyday Life
I came across this pretty interesting set up in the building of my doctor’s office. Here’s a photo of the elevator doors in the lobby of the ninth floor:
Notice that there are no up and down buttons, which, in my experience, are always located halfway-up the door, about a foot or two to the side. [...]
