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I’d be pumped, were it not for an Achilles plug

by Posted in Consumer Goods, Product Design Tagged , Leave a comment

Why Strain Relief Matters

It’s late at night on an unfamiliar street, where I have just driven out to help a friend change a flat tire. Of course, the donut is deflated too but, not to worry, I have my trusty Slime brand compressor.  I plug it into the 12 V cigarette lighter and roars to life, only to start to sputter. Only by continually wiggling the cord could we inflate the tire and send my friend safely on her way. The symptoms of poor engineering were familiar.

I dissembled the plug and found the wire connected to the positive terminal (connected to the tip) sparked, melted and disconnected and the negative wire hanging on by a few strands. While I am sure Slime has thought about the mechanism of their pump, it’s obvious that no one considered the reliability of the humble plug, despite proudly mounding their logo onto it.  It’s failing are multiple:

Slime Digital Tire Inflator
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That’s Bananas

by Posted in Consumer Goods, Food Leave a comment

Packaging gone wild.

Spotted in Korea at Inchon airport – individually wrapped bananas. This is an insult to the tree that worked hard to pack and bundle them. I can come up with no decent reason for this, other than a desperate wish to compete with Amazon’s classic overpackaging. Only three logical possibilities come to mind: 1. This is an extra, unnecessary layer of hygiene; 2. It permits special branding; 3. This is modified atmosphere packaging (gas injected) which increases shelf life.

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The Case of the Perforated Panama

by Posted in Product Design, Public Spaces, Transportation Leave a comment

Why user testing matters!

This morning I boarded a Delta flight on an Airbus A321, hung my jacket, stowed my briefcase and found a seemingly safe place for my hat in an overhead bin corner. Oddly, the bin took a couple of pushes and shoves to close, but I thought nothing of it, until I fetched my hat back at the end of the flight, whereupon I found a hole punched right through it by the latch mechanism, see photo.

As far as I can tell, with the flight attendant corroborating, this overhead bin design is unique to the Airbus A321s in Delta’s fleet. There is no side protection, hence any jacket, sweater or soft object that projects over what little bin edge there is will either jam it, thus slowing down boarding as passengers search for the invisible blockages, be squished or engage the latch and end up torn or perforated. All sorts of soft goods are at risk and I’m glad I did not lose a favorite blazer.

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Technology Before Customers

by Posted in Service Design Leave a comment

While this article’s title may sounds dystopian, it’s the reality in the aisles of Stop & Shop, where I set out to buy dinner tonight in southern Rhode Island.

Badger Robot on patrol

Beep. Boop. While on the hunt for green beans, a tall robot equipped with cameras, LIDAR sensors, stuck on googley eyes and a nametag “Marty” rounded the fruit display and accosted me. See photographic evidence. Initially, I thought it was a Knightscope security robot, set to spy on customers and follow around potential shoplifters. One had to get closer than comfortable to read the explanatory signage. Apparently, this creation of Kentucky based Badger Technologies, has a mission of seeking out missing price tags, out of stock items and jars of mayo dropped by careless customers. According to their marketing, this will enable stores to gain insight, lower operational costs and raise revenue. Oh, and it’s backed by a team in the Philippines that video link in to supplement the radar. So, effectively, “Cleanup on aisle 6!” has been outsourced to Manila. If we add remotely deployed Roombas, it’s game over for the mop and bucket crew. I am not convinced that this represents retail progress.

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Doubling Down

by Posted in Public Spaces, Transportation, UIUX Leave a comment

Having a down day?

Many user interface failures are subtle, edge conditions, but this is not. Spotted recently in a Viennese hotel, this elevator control defies logic. And the placement of the warning sign only adds to the confusion. The fact that this was installed by one of the worlds’ major elevator companies, Kone, and in a country that is thoroughly organized makes this extra fun. Proposed explanations welcome.