Designing a better car seat

While on the phone with one of my friends who is expecting, I learned something that I found very interesting. It turns out that about 90% of car seats are improperly installed by new parents, even when they use the instructions! I was shocked and a little appalled. My first thought was, why is it so hard/confusing to use a car seat? This is a life-saving device and you would think that manufacturers would want to implement a fool proof way to secure the seat in the vehicle.

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IKEA’s font switch–is it a big deal?

Dear IKEA Font Haters –

Evidently a war has ensued over IKEA’s switch to Verdana font as opposed to the Futura font that was used in the earlier catalogs. There are a lot of individuals who are “up in arms” about this switch. We decided to take it to the streets (or the cubicles as the case may be) and see what people thought…

Source: geeksugar.com

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Is more really better?

In recent years there has been a trend toward creating products with large feature sets. It’s great when a product has many well designed features. This empowers users by giving them more options/control and can provide for a positive user experience. However, there can be drawbacks to adding more and more features.

Merely adding features can unnecessarily complicate product usage. Adding functionality can mean more controls in less space, deeper menu structures, a steeper learning curve for the user, etc. When making product decisions one should always consider how these decisions will affect the user. Some basic ideas to keep in mind…

• Make sure the feature fits the product – Consider features carefully, only add features that either users have asked for or those that fit with the scope of the product. Do consumers really expect to be able to watch a movie on their microwave while waiting for their food to cook? Read more »

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