Can opener

By William K. Wenger

One's experience with common everyday

objects creates expectations about how other similar devices work. There are dozens of can openers on the market and most work in exactly the same way: they cut around the inside rim of the lid leaving the rim intact with the can and a sharp edged lid upon opening.

!nother less common type of can opener

cuts sideways into the can just below the rim. "hen a can is opened# the sharp edge is on the can itself while the rim remains with the lid. One advantage of the the latter is that the lid doesn't fall into the contents of the can. On the other hand# because the lid doesn't fall within the can# it isn't as convenient for draining away any undesired li$uid.

The two can openers shown here are attractively designed and look very similar. The
black opener removes the lid in the more common manner and the white opener removes the lid by cutting below the rim. "hen the latter can opener is given to someone to use# they invariably attempt to use the can opener by cutting down rather than sideways. %n fact people never think to try to use the white opener as intended. They usually give up or make a total mess of the lid in making futile attempts to cut downward. The experience about how one opens a can is rather ingrained for cutting down rather than sideways.

Things that are hard to handle

Bad news for left handers

Here is a bad design example submitted by an ac$uaintance who describes the bad design nicely in the following note: Mike

I know you are interested in bad designs. We saw one on our recent trip to the Baja Peninsula. We boarded the "Spirit of Endea or" cruise ship and found in our cabin this toilet with the paper underneath the cabinet. !hat was bad news for left handers. I tried to sketch it for you" then #. said why don$t you take a picture of it. I did %% with her on the pot &with clothes on'. We really had a hard ti(e using the paper as it was" so we just put a roll on top of the cabinet. We hope you can add this to your collection. ).*. To re cap# the problem is trying to reach the toilet paper under the cabinet &see arrow'# especially with the left hand. This is an example of an object that is especially poorly designed for left handers# although it doesn't seem to be designed very well for right handers either( %t should be re designed to better accommodate both left and right handed use. Segments of the population with different needs are often overlooked when designing things. )eft handers are a significant segment of the population. *stimates range from +, to -.,. There are also other significant segments# for example the young or elderly# who may have additional re$uirements for the design of an object.

Where are the stamps?

% recently bought a sheet of postage stamps

that shows a beautiful scene of the /onoran 0esert. This sheet of stamps# minus the two stamps that % already used# is shown in the photo at left. !lthough the sheet of stamps is beautiful# it is difficult to find the individual stamps on the sheet. This is because the ten stamps are of different shapes and are placed in a seemingly random pattern. %n the photo at left# % have outlined the location of each of the ten stamps. The edges of the stamps are nearly impossible to see. This is shown in the closeup photo by the arrow pointing to one of the stamps. The only visible indication of the location of the stamp is the label 12/! --1. 3owever# the 12/! --1 can appear in any of the four corners of the stamps. /o# it is still difficult to find the edges of the stamps.

Bagaimana saya boleh buka ruangan bagasi dan ruangan mengisi petrol. How do you raise the window?
This picture shows the buttons to raise and lower the windows on
a friend's car. To lower a window you push the corresponding button. To raise the window# you )%4T 25 on the button. /o you move the button the way you want the window to go. This makes sense# but % still have trouble using the buttons. % think the

problem is that people don't expect buttons to )%4T 25. 3umm...# maybe if the buttons looked like pull tabs on soda cans...

Siapa yang buka cap pengisi petrol. Who left the coffee maker on?
This picture shows my coffee maker. %t works pretty well except
for one problem. 5embuka penutup pengisian petrol berada di sebelah hand breake# mudah secara tidak sengaja membuka penutup petrol bila melepaskan hand breake.The on6off switch# in front of the coffee maker# about 768 inch above the bottom# can be easily activated by accidently pushing a sponge or dinner plate against it. % noticed this problem when the cleaning lady accidently turned it on# twice# while cleaning the kitchen. 9ood thing it didn't burn the house down.

Controls that are too close together

ops! " popped the trunk lid by mistake#

:ou'll sometimes hear me utter 1Oops# % popped the trunk lid by
mistake(1# or mutter other# less printable phrases when % go the gas station to get gas for my car. The picture shows the controls to release the gas cap and trunk lid on my car. The controls are located between the driver's seat and the door and are easy to reach# but not as easy to see. /o % usually reach down and pull the release by feel. ;oth gas cap and trunk lid releases are operated by pulling up. The trunk lid is much easier to pop because it has a bigger knob and it is on the edge of the structure. /o % sometimes accidently pop the trunk lid instead of the gas cap.

Unexpected placement of controls

Brake release
/etting the parking brake in my rental car was easy. :ou
just step down on the parking brake foot pedal. 3owever# trying to release the parking brake was a different story. % first tried to pull the control just above the parking brake pedal &see lower arrow'# but instead of releasing the brake# the hood was released. The actual brake release control was located far above the parking brake pedal &see upper arrow.'

"hy did % make this mistake< % think it was because %#

as well as most people# expect related controls to be near one another. The proximity of the hood release control &lower arrow' to the parking brake foot pedal as well as their similar color made them appear to be related. !lthough there were pictorial labels on the hood release and parking brake release controls# they were small and hard to see while seated in the driver's seat.

Hidden controls How do you open the gas cap door?

This is the gas cap door on a friend's car. =an you guess
how to open it< The first time my friend went to put gas in his car he spent about half an hour at the gas station trying to figure out how to open his gas cap door( 3e looked everywhere for some knob to pull to release the gas cap door. 3e looked under the dashboard# in the glove box# behind the seats# in the trunk. To no avail. The gas station attendant didn't know how to open it either. 4inally someone drove in to get gas who knew the secret. :ou just push in on one edge of the gas cap door# and it swivels open( "ow# it only took 768 hour to figure out how to do something that should have been immediately obvious(

$esign suggestion

This design is bad because there is no visible control for opening the gas cap door. 4or example#
putting a small raised non slip surface on the to be pushed edge of the door might make it more likely that people would expect to push it. 5utting a small lip on the opposite edge might make it more likely that people would expect to pull it.

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Things
7. Things that don't work the way you expect o >itchen timer
o o o o o o o o o o

This is a mop sink That's not a handle( 3ow do you open the toothpaste< Trapped between the doors( Out of order< 3ow do you open the refrigerator< Opening the file drawer 0ead battery 0on't press any buttons underwater =offee machine

8. 0ifferent things that are too similar

o o o o o o o

"hat's in the bottle< &*xample 7' 3ey# which side do you use for cutting< 5lugging in a 2/; connector =anned tuna :ellow street lights "hat's in the bottle< &*xample 8' "hich way does the door open<

o o o

=an opener "here is a soup spoon< "hy doesn't the marker cap fit<

-. Things that are hard to see

o o o o o o o o o o o

"hat's wrong with this intersection< 5lease push slowly( 0oors without windows "atch your step( /taplers %s it inside out< Oh# that's how you open it( 5ush to start ?eedle in a haystack "here are the stamps< "hat's wrong with this toy<

@. Things that don't work well together

o o o o o o o o o

Try to plug in this hair dryer 3iding the radio Aechanical pencils Top loading B=C 5aper towel dispenser Bideo rentals ! reach around mirror =utting board "et sink

+. Things that get in your way

o

The path of least resistance

o o

5lease use sidewalks "atch out(

D. Things that are hard to handle

o o o o

/mooth as glass /elf service parking attendant 3ard to open ;ad news for left handers

E. Things that are hard to remember

o

"hich side has the gas cap<

F. /teps that are hard to remember

o

0o not open

G. Things that don't fit you

o

There's coffee on your nose

7.. Things with 1ergonomic1 designs

o

*rgonomic toothbrush<

77. Things that take too long to respond

o

"hat time is it<

$isplays
7. 0ifferent displays that are too similar
o o

3ow fast am % going< 3ow much is the gas<

8. 0isplays that look like controls

o

)abels that look like pushbuttons

Controls
7. %ncompatible mapping of controls to devices
o o

9uess which switch controls the projector screen< *ntryway

o o

/tove top controls 3ow do you play the =0<

8. 2nexpected placement of controls

o o o

"here are the window controls< "here's the flusher< ;rake release

-. =ontrols that work in unexpected ways

o o

3ow do you raise the window< 2nderstand the umbrella stand<

@. =ontrols that are too close together

o

Oops# % popped the trunk lid by mistake

+. %nconsistent control activation

o o

3ow do you unlock the door< "indshield wiper controls

D. =ontrols that are hard to figure out

o

Caising the driver's seat

E. =ontrols that are hard to remember

o

"hich control turns on the fan<

F. =ontrols that are too far away from devices

o

3ot water dispenser

G. 2nnatural ordering of control settings

o

)amp switch

7.. 3idden controls

o o o o

3ow do you turn on the shower< &*xample 7' 3ow do you open the gas cap door< 9etting the elevator to go to your floor Caising the window shade

!uto ceiling lights

77. Too many controls

o

3ow do you turn on the shower< &*xample 8'

78. 2nexpected mapping between functions and controls

o o

9o or whoa< "hich way do you turn the handles<

7-. =ontrols that are too easy to activate

o

0on't press that button(

7@. =ontrols that are too easy to activate accidentally

o o o

"ho left the coffeemaker on< The phone keeps disconnecting( =heek music

7+. =ontrols that have unexpected functions

o

*jection seat

7D. =ontrols with conflicting cues

o o o o

Turn down the TB 3ow do % set allegro "ater faucet This phone's broken

7E. =ontrols with conflicting feedback

o

Aore coffee or less

7F. =ontrols with ambiguous labels

o

Aaking a photocopy

7G. =ontrols with unintuitive labels

o

"hat do these symbols mean<

8.. =ontrols that are too similar to each other

o

:ikes( % pressed the call button again(

Signs! %ames and &abels

7. !mbiguous signs
o o o

0on't go to the right< Aaximum occupancy not to exceed 7F8 persons Aen's room sign

8. 0ifferent names that are too similar

o

/treet names

-. 5atterns of signs
o o o

Ok# which code do % write down< "hich way is the gate< "here did we park the car<

@. Aissing labels
o

"hich number is it<

+. /igns that are hard to see

o

=amping or not<

D. %ncompatible mapping of labels to connectors

o

"here do you plug in the mouse