Chapter 3 What Are Design and Designing? 59 Copyright Goodheart-Willcox Co., Inc. Poor Design Unfortunately, many products we use are not well designed. Look closely at the bottom on the two mugs in Figure 3-28. When the blue mug is removed from a dishwasher after cleaning, water remaining in the base will spill onto the dry dishes. But a simple change to the design in the green mug prevents this problem. While this example is an inconvenience, other poor designs can often lead to confusion and potentially dangerous situations. Consider a driver looking for a parking space on a busy city street. This activity often involves driving slowly in traffi c while trying to read street signs at the same time. Drivers must know whether or not parking is permitted at all, and if so, between what times. Signs, therefore, must be unambiguous and easy to read. Unfortunately, there is often too much information, much of it unnecessary, for a driver to read quickly (Figure 3-29A). A new type of sign design provides the same information but in an easy-to-read format (Figure 3-29B). Poor design can also cause user frustration. How many times have you tried to plug in a USB connector, only to fi nd that you have it upside down? Many connectors have no indication as to which side is the top. Users try to insert it one way, fi nd it will not fi t, and then turn it over to try it the other way. This problem does not pose any danger to a user but it does cause unnecessary frustration. How would you resolve this design fl aw? TEC Figure 3-28. Two designs for a simple mug. What examples of poor design do you deal with every day? Nikki Sylianteng Figure 3-29. A—Too many parking signs can cause confusion. B—How does this design make the parking sign less confusing? SUN M-S 7pm 8am FREE FREE FREE FREE SUN M-S FREE 7:30am 7:30am 1 HR A B Nikki Sylianteng