Assignment Zero: Bad Design
21 Jan 08 (Mon)
This is the mobile phone I am currently using.
Unfortunately for me, it also serves as an example of bad interface design.
Samsung P310
I was seduced by it because it is
• slim
• doesn’t have too many irrelevant functions
• comes with a leather case that doubles as a spare battery.
It however takes quite a while to get used to, thanks to its quirky interface design.
now… Show me the nasty stuff!
Here’s a summary of (negative) comments from friends who played around with the phone.
“Ooo big button!”
Is this…
a) A nice big button for people with humongous digits?
b) A circular navigation button like the one on Ipods?
c) A circular slot for storing ring-shaped objects?
That round black button-like thing is actually the directional navigation button. It only goes up, down, left, and right by the way.
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This phone has a weirdo keypad. On top of the normal tactile buttons you find on most other ordinary phones, it also has two touch-sensitive “soft keys”. The two spots right above the “OK” and “C” keys are actually touch-sensitive buttons.
Why would you want to have a normal tactile keypad with just two touch-sensitive keys?! It’s not like those two buttons serve any special purpose. It also feels really weird when using the keypad because you sometimes have to alternate between pressing the normal keys and the “soft keys”.
___
You might have noticed that the numeric keypad is kinda like a deviant punk. Instead of the usual 3 (col) X 4 (row), it has 4 (col) X 3 (row). Keys that normally reside on the bottom row (“#”, “*”, and “0”) were evicted and re-located to the right side. It took me several months to get used to this unusual orientation.
What’s more, the “#” key, which is the “space” key for SMS-ing, is located right beneath the red “cancel” key. It doesn’t help that the keys are rather small and pressing the red key by accident while SMS-ing means that you just erased everything that you typed.
Sometimes… flaws are beautiful…
Despite its rather stupid interface design, I still like my phone.
I guess this shows that design flaws don’t really destroy a product altogether. A person who uses the product will weigh its benefits against its inconveniences and come to a judgment. It is the seriousness of these flaws, in different contexts of usage, that affect whether a product is broken or not.
