Comments on: Holiday – Day 1: Bad design gives me an early start to the day http://www.leggetter.co.uk/2008/06/05/holiday-day-1-bad-design-gives-me-an-early-start-to-the-day.html Real-time web and social media software consultant Thu, 11 Mar 2010 14:06:17 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=abc hourly 1 By: Rob http://www.leggetter.co.uk/2008/06/05/holiday-day-1-bad-design-gives-me-an-early-start-to-the-day.html/comment-page-1#comment-72 Rob Tue, 17 Jun 2008 09:54:51 +0000 http://www.leggetter.co.uk/2008/06/05/holiday-day-1-bad-design-gives-me-an-early-start-to-the-day.html#comment-72 ...so what did your girlfriend want out of the top draw at 6am in the morning? …so what did your girlfriend want out of the top draw at 6am in the morning?

]]> By: kyb http://www.leggetter.co.uk/2008/06/05/holiday-day-1-bad-design-gives-me-an-early-start-to-the-day.html/comment-page-1#comment-61 kyb Thu, 05 Jun 2008 12:40:13 +0000 http://www.leggetter.co.uk/2008/06/05/holiday-day-1-bad-design-gives-me-an-early-start-to-the-day.html#comment-61 I had a similar problem with the cutlery drawer recently, which was particularly bad because the action of attempting to open it embedded the point of the knife in the bottom of the drawer, sticking it even more firmly n place, making it impossible to push down with a spatula. I'm interested in the design of toilet door locking mechanisms. We've had hundreds of years of design on this, and people are always trying new things, but what stands out about them to me is that most of the "improved" designs are far worse. The requirements are, 1. you want to know just by looking at it from the inside that the door is locked, 2. you want to know just by looking at it from the outside that the door is locked, 3. it should be easy and quick to lock and unlock. Straight forward enough, yet for some reason I still come across electronic button locks, or clicky in the middle of the door handle locks where they open when you test them, or handles that you lock by turning, and you can't tell if they're locked or not. The thing that annoys me the most is that someone somewhere must have designed it thinking that it was better than the big wooden bar across the door that has been used for thousands of years, and it falls so short. I had a similar problem with the cutlery drawer recently, which was particularly bad because the action of attempting to open it embedded the point of the knife in the bottom of the drawer, sticking it even more firmly n place, making it impossible to push down with a spatula.

I’m interested in the design of toilet door locking mechanisms. We’ve had hundreds of years of design on this, and people are always trying new things, but what stands out about them to me is that most of the “improved” designs are far worse. The requirements are, 1. you want to know just by looking at it from the inside that the door is locked, 2. you want to know just by looking at it from the outside that the door is locked, 3. it should be easy and quick to lock and unlock.

Straight forward enough, yet for some reason I still come across electronic button locks, or clicky in the middle of the door handle locks where they open when you test them, or handles that you lock by turning, and you can’t tell if they’re locked or not.

The thing that annoys me the most is that someone somewhere must have designed it thinking that it was better than the big wooden bar across the door that has been used for thousands of years, and it falls so short.

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