everythingUX

My earlier post on the misleading (confusing) trash can I came across at a Starbucks needs to be updated.

Recycle Collection Can at PDX

On my way back after attending the UPA 2009 conference in Portland, I saw a similar recycle bin at the Portland PDX airport. I think I might have misunderstood the intended use of the complicated trash can at Starbucks. First of all, the one I saw at Starbucks should not have been used as a trash can because it is supposed to be used as a recycle bin. Second of all, in spite of how it appeared, the different slots on the cover are not to separate the items as they are collected. They are simply supposed to indicate what kinds of material are to be put into these bins for recycling.

My problem is no longer only with Starbucks for using the wrong bin to collect trash, they were clearly improvising for the lack of a regular trash can.

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I recently listened to a podcast by Jared Spool and Robert Hoekman, Jr. from the UIE Userability podcast series where they answer questions from others in the field. This series has been both entertaining and informative, much like other UIE podcasts.

The question posed to Jared and Robert Hoekman, Jr. in this particular podcast was “Why do so many bad designs exist 20 years after Donald Norman’s legendary book on design – Design of everyday things (DOET). It was a lively discussion that talked about, among others, how many badly designed doors (a main point of discussion in Don Norman’s book used to illustrate the principle of affordance) still exist today.

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