I have a beef with my waffle iron. Every time I pull it out to make waffles, I go through a process to re-learn how it works. You would think that it’s hard to screw up a waffle iron, but apparently this manufacture managed somehow.
The problem lies with the two indicator lights on the front. Take a look at this picture, which is what I see right when I plug it in.
My waffle iron, plugged in
What do these lights mean? My first thought is that the green light means it’s ready to go. But there’s a red light too. Not to mention that the iron is still cold, so it’s obviously not ready to be used. After waiting a few minutes, the green light goes off which apparently indicates that it’s heated up.
My waffle iron, preheated
The red light means it’s plugged in, and the green light indicates its preheated status. When the green light is on, it’s not ready. But when the green light is off, it’s ready to be used.
Labels on these two lights would help. But using natural cues, this waffle iron could be designed to just make sense. First, I would remove the red light. There’s no need for two indicators. There should be a single light that is either red or green. A blinking red light would indicate to me that I need to wait as it’s warming up. Once it’s preheated, the light should switch to solid green.
We had that exact same waffle iron (well, we might still have it). But we haven’t used it every since I bought this gem on Amazon: http://amzn.to/dtvJgM
IMHO it works just as well as those big expensive Belgian waffle makers, but it is much cheaper and takes up less space.
I think HCI has made a significant mental impact on most people who have taken that course. When my wife and I were making our wedding registry, I evaluated all the appliances based on their design.
You’re right, Jesse. I wish everyone had to take an HCI course at some point. The down side is that I’m constantly analyzing objects in real life, and am a lot more frustrated when people make stupid design decisions like this one.
I’ll also plug the book “The Design of Everyday Things” by Don Norman. It’s a great book about the affordances of everyday objects like teapots and doors. (It’s also the inspiration for me renaming my blog recently.)