Everyday Usability 7

There must be something about the simplicity and innocence of children that is particularly inspiring when it comes to usability. Clearly, it is a frequent inspiration for this picture series and this week's post is no exception.

I was watching an episode of the children's television show (on PBS if you were wondering) aptly named Word World. The premise of the show is that the characters and objects in the show were created by the letters spelling the object. The creators of the show claim that the association of the spelling of the word and the object itself will increase the learning ability in the children viewing the show. I must admit - it's colorful and catchy too, adding to its overall charm. But enough about the show - we want to talk usability.

The episode I was watching with my son featured Duck, the clumsy, albeit lovable star of the show trying to rescue the letter 'L' he lost when he broke Frog's lamp (you see, when an object breaks it doesn't shatter in a million pieces. It simply breaks into the letters that form the word). In attempting to find said letter 'L', he found his way to Frog's observatory where he found the operations panel. It was quite evident upon seeing the panel how to turn it on and off due to a "clever" design.

Okay, fine - it wasn't a "clever" design because the operations panel exists in an animated cartoon world where Ducks, Frogs, and Sheep are made of letters and can talk; however, the premise is still intriguing. What if there were components of a device that themselves were the spelled instructions, the labeling, of the product? It may be impractical for some components to be designed in this manner, but it certainly would bring a new approach to usability design. Why not source a device with an on-button in a similar design to the one featured on the left. Its design would leave little-to-no doubt about which button turned the device on, decreasing the potential for accidental injury.

Of course, as Duck showed in the episode, the on-off buttons themselves weren't enough to mitigate all risk, evident by Duck's scrambling efforts to avoid breaking Frog's telescope altogether. It is only by using all of our tools - usability, risk management, proper design controls, et al - that manufacturers can design a safe and effective product.

-RTK