Enhancing Human Experiences » Leigh McClure

Designing a better car seat

Leigh McClure — Mon, 04 Jan 2010 15:37:39 +0000

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.

So again I ask myself, why is it so difficult to install one of these seats? Let’s ‘human factorize’ this process so that users can be confident that their bundle of joy is safe in his/her seat. Some thoughts off the top of my head…

Clearly mark all connection points (i.e. where the seat belt needs to be).
Use color to help draw attention to these areas.
Give the user some feedback to let them know when the seat is properly secured (a healthy click or snapping sound should do it).
Include clear, simple instructions with graphics to help illustrate.
Give the user some sort of safety check that will ensure that the car seat is properly installed in the car.

To be fair, I don’t have any kids and have never had to install one of these seats. So, if you think that I am being unfair or you have some other improvement ideas, I would love to hear them.

IKEA’s font switch–is it a big deal?

Leigh McClure — Fri, 25 Sep 2009 19:19:12 +0000

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

Human Factors P-O-V

Why this is NOT a big deal…

Both of the fonts are very legible. The switch to the new font does not impede the customer’s ability to peruse the catalog.
Both of the fonts are printed at an acceptable size. Often time small fonts appear more “trendy” or “stylish”, while this may look better in terms of visual style it can hinder the customer’s ability to read what is printed on the page. Let’s face it if the customer can’t read it they aren’t going to buy it. So cheers to IKEA for not falling into the font size trap.
The switch to Verdana will allow for consistency. Verdana, historically a web font, allows IKEA to use the same font for both web and print media. Also because Verdana is so ubiquitous IKEA will be able to use this same font for all print media in every country.

What CAN be a big deal…

We noticed that the cover of the new IKEA catalog uses all upper case letters rather than mixed case as seen in the older version. Be careful using all upper case. All capitalized text slows reading time because there is no variation in letter size. It is important to realize that reading is based on letters that make a word as well as overall word shape. Mixed case allows people to see both the letter and shape of each word, thus making reading easier.

Graphic Design P-O-V

Why this IS a big deal…

“Futura has an appearance of efficiency and forwardness. The typeface is derived from simple geometric forms (near-perfect circles, triangles and squares) and is based on strokes of near-even weight, which are low in contrast.” – Wikipedia

The traditional IKEA typeface (a proprietary version of Futura) has become somewhat iconic over the years. The switch to the mundane Verdana font shows disregard to IKEA’s history and modern thinking, and has unknowingly altered its ideals.
Verdana was commissioned by Microsoft for the web. “Verdana was designed to be readable at small sizes on a computer screen.” It is a simplistic font that only comes in 2 weights. Futura, on the other hand, carries multiple weights of thickness which helps to visually create hierarchy in print documents.
Something designed for pixels does not mean it is optimal on other materials. The Verdana typeface was not intended to be printed on paper. One must realize that certain fonts go better with certain mediums. The original intent for these fonts should stay pure. Just because Verdana is legible on paper doesn’t mean that it is the best choice for print media. I say it’s fine for IKEA’s web and print fonts to be different, because that is how these fonts were designed.

Is more really better?

Leigh McClure — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 21:41:34 +0000

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?

Take time to design – Features should be added in a way that will make sense for the user. Features should add to, not take away from the experience of using a product. Consider usability testing to get feedback from target users.

Don’t forget about the main use cases – Consumers are going to buy a product to fulfill a need. Any features above and beyond that are icing as long as these other functions don’t inhibit the main use for the device. For example I need my phone to be able to call people, but if I have to press 3 buttons before I can even access the number pad to dial is that really a good user experience?

Products should be designed with the end user in mind so remember just because you can doesn’t always mean that you should.