I am sure you have experienced a bit of frustration when you find it difficult to operate simple home appliances like washing machine, microwave oven, deep fryer and more. It’s even more frustrating when simpler tools like spoons, toothbrushes, water dispenser fail to live up to expectations performing tasks it was specifically designed for.
I have had to end up using my hands to pick up fried chicken wings while eating out one day because the cutleries provided were not strong enough to cut into the chicken. It was so frustrating as I struggled to hold the meat with my fork while trying to cut with the knife for over ten minutes before I finally settled to using my hands.
I never for once thought that was a design flaw until I read the book “The Design of Everyday Things by Don Norman” which emphasizes the need to guide the user effortlessly to the right action on the right control at the right time.
I started paying attention to the everyday things around me like the kitchen utensils, light bulbs, scissors, bottles, furniture and realized that good and thoughtful designs have the power to change our world.
I will share three examples of amazing designs we ignore everyday.
1. Spoon
A spoon is a utensil consisting of a small shallow bowl (also known as a head), oval or round, at the end of a handle. It is an everyday tool of course as humans can barely eat without using it. It helps in primarily picking transferring food from the plate into the mouth. It’s either made of metal, wood or plastic. Used in food preparation to measure, mix, stir and toss ingredients and for serving food. Because it plays a very important role in our lives, its very important that it is well designed to perform its function effectively. Let’s take a deeper look.
The Head (consists of a small shallow bowl) is where the action happens. It is designed in such a way that it can hold sizeable amount of content (food or liquid) with a curved-up edge which prevent contents from spilling over.
The handle is where you hold the spoon while using it. Depending on the size of the head, it is usually a slightly long blunt-edged steel with a bent tip connected to the head which makes it easy to dip, scoop or transfer substances to the mouth.
So imagine if the head of the spoon is rectangular in shape and flat on the surface, will it perform the same function? Or if the handle is sharp at the edges and very short, will it make any sense calling that a spoon? Spoon might be an object we overlook most times, but it’s indeed one of the most useful in the world today. Thanks to its amazing design.
2. Hand Wash Container
Handwashing, an act of cleaning one’s hands with soap and water to remove dirt, grease, or other harmful or unwanted substances has become increasingly necessary especially with the outbreak of Corona Virus. The demand for hand wash in homes, offices and public spaces has increased tremendously in a bid to combat the pandemic.
However, as trivial as it may sound, it can be frustrating when trying to use a hand wash and the liquid isn’t coming out as expected or not convenient holding the container or has a sharp pressing-point which can hurt the user while attempting to press the liquid out.
Now let’s take a look at this container and how it addressed the concerns listed above.
It has a flat circular top with a protruding mouth designed to perfectly fit the finger tips which in most cases is used to press out liquid from the container. It is convenient to press and encourages long press to squeeze out more liquid if you like. The top can also be rotated to open and close the top incase you need to refill.
The opening on the protruding mouth is relatively wide to squeeze out substantial amount of liquid depending on how long you press. The opening has padded edges which controls the flow of the liquid and stops it from spilling.
The container body is made up of soft, transparent plastic material which has a firm grip and not slippery on the hands. It’s quite easy to see the content in the container so you know when it’s about to be empty. You could literally throw a container to someone on the other side of the road and be confident the other person will catch it because of the body surface.
So, I see it as an amazing design because every part of the bottle gives the user a clue as to how it can be used effectively. Go check out yours and tell me what you think.
3. A Kitchen Knife
A kitchen knife is a knife intended to be used in food preparation and are usually made from stainless steel. Knives are used for cutting meat, dicing vegetables, disjointing some cuts, slicing herbs, and chopping nuts which makes it the most important tool in the kitchen.
It is also a dangerous object if not handled properly or has some defects in its design. Imagine a knife without a handle, or one with sharp edges on both sides, or one whose blade section is way heavier than the handle. You can imagine the devastating effect this can have in the home, especially if you have children around.
So, every home is safe because some designers thought about safety first when designing the kitchen knife. Let’s take a deeper look.
The knife handle is made up of light stainless steel with some curved edges to accommodate a firm grip of the hand so it does not slip off to injure someone. It’s designed in such a way that no matter the size of your hand, you’ll still have a perfect grip on the knife. It is light so you can conveniently use it however you want.
The blade section, also made of stainless steel material has two edges. The sharp edge which is responsible for doing all the work and the blunt edge (slightly heavier than the sharp edge) which serve as support to make for effective cutting. You can actually cut deeper if you apply extra weight on the blunt edge. It’s designed such that if the knife accidentally falls off your hand, it will land on the blunt edge because if its weight. Isn’t that amazing?
In conclusion, poorly designed objects can be frustrating to use and can also endanger lives. They provide no clues as to how the user will use it effectively. A good design on the other hand, is easy to interpret and understand without external assistance. Look around you, there are more examples of good design. Can you spot them?