Door handle Usability
What’s a usability blog without a post about door handles?
Daniel Szuc just pointed me to this photo from Joe Goldberg (via webword).
Reminds me of Don Norman’s Design of Everyday Things, where he discusses door knobs, handles etc. in detail I never imagined possible. Door handle usability is a almost a discipline itself in usability, and it’s actually very interesting area.
Some months ago, Jens Meiert pointed me to his post about camouflaged restroom toilet door:
My point is that It’s amazing what you can learn about usability in everyday situations. And much of this knowledge can actually be used when designing web applications. One word of warning, don’t take it over the limit, like Kevin Cheng and Tom Chi. This is how not to appear on a date:
Strictly off-topic, Joe Goldberg’s “office chair downhill” is hillarious.
Technorati Tags: usability, door, door handle, gary larson, joe goldberg, daniel szuc, don norman, jens meiert, ok/cancel, kevin cheng, tom chi
May 2nd, 2007 at 17:19 (GMT-1)
Thanks for bringing that up again! Really interesting (and/or likewise frustrating) to note all these problems in everyday situations.
(By the way, I may also add a case where this bad door usability is intended (including additional cases by Robin Hodson).
May 3rd, 2007 at 14:25 (GMT-1)
I heard about that book a long time ago, and have been meaning to read it. Thanks for reminding me! Now I’m one step closer, since I actually have the title and author handy. Anyways, ever since a friend told me about that book, I’ve been paying more attention to the good and (usually) bad usability examples all around me.
I’ve got a few that I’ve been saving up to blog about some day, but one that came to mind when you mentioned restroom toilet doors is here:
http://www.spugbrap.com/blog/2007/03/13/gravity-assisted-lock-on-handicapped-stall-in-public-restroom/
Another thing I was reminded of this morning is the double-doors at the 2007 American Idol auditions. One was locked, and one was unlocked. After the judges told people they sucked, just about everyone first tried the locked door, then Simon would say “Other door” in his typical annoyed-British-guy manner. This topic was probably covered by countless bloggers, but I never looked it up. But, I’m pretty sure that was another intentional “bad door usability” case, in an attempt to make the contestants look even stupider after verbally humiliating them.
May 9th, 2007 at 22:01 (GMT-1)
[…] [via Justaddwater.dk] […]
May 15th, 2007 at 19:38 (GMT-1)
A lot of design goes into door handles and still you find those people that just don’t get it. I think on the whole, intelligence is going down, hence the increased need for designing usable products and websites. Then again, it may just be that with the speed of information today, we have too much jammed into our heads to think about anything or use logic.
June 16th, 2009 at 17:03 (GMT-1)
These are the perfect handles for an usability geek, I guess:
http://www.brighthandle.com/alfa2.htm
It would be like a fancy Java Script, wouldn’t it? ;)