In this (and the following?) blog posts, I'll be discussing "What Were They Thinking???" designs - designs that I'm sure someone gave thought to, and believed they are doing a good job - and someone reviewed their decision, and yet - they end up with a WWTT result - something that leaves you with a feeling someone totally messed up.
The first, started as I checked into a fancy hotel room in San-Francisco.
It was late in the evening, and the hotel room was dark.
(Side Note: why are hotel rooms so badly illuminated? I've googled it and didn't find a good answer...)
So as I stumble through the darkness (I typically first find the restroom, and within it some light which is relatively easy to find, then search for lights in the room), I noticed a desk lamp.
Great.
I moved towards it, starting to look for the switch - and couldn't find it.
I searched in the back of the lap - no luck.
I searched on the power cord - no success.
Looked at the front again - and still no success.
I started touching it at places - and lo-and-behold - it magically went on.
After a couple more minutes, I realized that the black stripe on the lamp's stand was the slide-touch-bar - the lowest part was the lowest light, and as you slide to the top, the light shines brighter...
Beautiful! Brilliant (no pun intended).
Useless!!!
Maybe this would work at a home, where people get along fine in the dark (they know their space) so it's a nice design touch.
(* I personally would argue this is still bad design, and not that "cool" or "smart", but I'm willing to accept the fact someone might like it.)
But What Were They Thinking putting this in a hotel room, an environment that by definition is unfamiliar, and the one thing people want is to quickly and easily find the light switch???
What Were They Thinking?
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