Friday, June 6, 2008

Elaborate Design Creates Usability Hassles

I hate when simple tools are made complex and elaborate. I'm not even sure why designers believe it is a good idea -- or why consumers choose to purchase them. My sister and I searched the beach house for a simple server/pocket wine bottle opener only to find a box lined with velvet housing this massive bottle opener (that even looks intimidating) a separate foil cutter, stopper and pourer. We laughed commenting on the ridiculousness of it all but the worst part was how hard it was to figure out. The back of the box included directions -- who wants to read directions to use their wine bottle opener? Shouldn't this be a mindless task made simple by a pocket sized opener with a foil cutter built in? The thing was clunky, awkward to hold, too big to control with one hand, and extremely inconvenient to use and store. After a few minutes of trying to figure it out on my own, a few minutes reading the directions, and a few more minutes struggling through the process of them, the cork finally released from the bottle! Goodness -- how frustrating! Please don't ever let me be this kind of designer.





1 comment:

Anonymous said...

How Funny!!!!!!Mom