Seeing is believing
Why observe? Because people will do things they never will tell you. This is what we preach in our user centred design workshops. Take this video for example, shot at our regional airport. Very few, if any passengers, would actually lodge a complaint about these luggage carts, but clearly this is not a good user experience.
[QUICKTIME http://www.designinnovation.ie/blog/wp-content/uploads/movies/cart.mov 320 256]
My favorite detail is when the woman reaches out with her foot for leverage and finds no bar. It was probably removed for safety so people wouldn’t ride the carts.
You need to get out and observe users in the act of interacting with your product or service if you want to achieve design innovation.
August 20th, 2007 at 10:14 am
You push down to move the cart, they keep pulling up and yanking? To what extent do you accommodate for denseness in design?
August 20th, 2007 at 10:28 am
Actually, even when people depressed the lever, you could not separate the carts. A member of staff from the airport said exactly the same thing when seeing the video for the first time. We suggested she try to remove a cart herself and she was unable to.
Either way, I would argue that “denseness” should be considered in design. At some point, it is going to be the dense users evaluating your product or service.
October 19th, 2007 at 12:46 am
It’s like the door to the ITSBIC building where the Centre is located. You can’t tell whether to push or pull, nor which door to open. Nearly everybody I see has difficulty with it – they can’t all be ‘dense’! It’s just very very poor design and drives me up the wall.