VIA Interaction

Thursday, October 11, 2007

If people who knew about user interface design wrote headlines ...

As these things go, this headline is not the worst: "Rocket Scientists Stymied by Hearst Elevators."

At least it sets up the notion that the elevators were doing the stymying and doesn't say "Rocket Scientists Are Idiots."

I'd go with something like "Poor Design Mars Innovative Elevator System." (Of course, without the play on the brilliance of rocket scientists, I doubt anyone would read the article.)

If you think about it for a second, elevators shouldn't be trying to stymy anything or anyone. They should be all-but invisible to the conscious mind.

Turns out the interface to these elevators was so poorly designed that even rocket scientists couldn't use it.

IT'S NOT THEIR FAULT.

I had a similar experience at the New York Marriott Marquis earlier this year. The elevators, like Hearst's, are mostly expresses (great!). But they disrupt the usual mental model by requiring you to enter your destination outside the elevator. When your express elevator arrives, it lets you know through a sound and a flashing display panel at the entrance to the hallway that all the elevator doors open into.

I have to admit that I am not sure how I would design this to be less confusing to first-time visitors.

posted by Tim Beidel at 10/11/2007 04:19:00 PM

---