Slightly tangential, but along the same “stupid design” line. My workplace recently got a new water filter/ice machine. It has no buttons. At all. No switches, no tab you press the cup against, none of it.
Instead, it has a no-touch sensor. There’s no instructions for it, no labels saying how to use it. You’re supposed to hover your hand over the sensor to make either water or ice come out, and it takes a second to respond. It took me about a day of trial and error to figure out how the hell it works.
So now when I want to fill my water bottle, I have to set it under the spout and hold a hand awkwardly over the sensor. If my hand moves slightly, the water stops coming out. I’ve found it easier to lean my hand against the machine, right over the sensor (but not touching it directly, or else it won’t work.) Which defeats the purpose of a “no touch” design in the first place.
For a bonus, the sensor reacts when people walk too close in front of it. I work with kids and the dispenser’s right in front of the fridge where they store their lunch boxes. Every day, kids line up to put their stuff away, and every day, the dispenser will get triggered by someone standing too close. Then there are ice cubes sliding around the floor, turning into puddles…
I wish we just had a regular water fountain at this point. So much of modern design has gotten too stupid to be practical.
For a bonus, the sensor reacts when people walk too close in front of it.
All the sinks, toilets, and urinals in my work bathroom use touchless sensors. I often have to wear high-vis; when I walk through the bathroom (even directly along the far wall) every sensor goes off as I walk past. Water for everyone! Even the ghosts.
My god, UX has taken a cliff dive in the last 20 years. There are so many things being replaced with touch buttons and touch screens that DO NOT NEED THEM. A good old physical clicky button is going to remain the best way to interact with 98% of digital inputs and yet product designers cut 1.2¢ by putting capacitive touch interfaces.
Fuck touch buttons and any other non-click-button control that doesn’t need to be. Just let me push the button!
A simple tactile button costs around 0.10¢ of € on aliexpress, an ultrasonic proximity sensor is like 1.70€
So, unless there is a better way to understand the distance that i don’t know, they are wasting money, it’s just for the “modern and cool” factor to sell more
(All this without counting the price of a micro controller to read the sensor input, you could engineer the whole dispenser to work without one)
For cars, it’s more than just the cost saving of physical switches but the entire oesign budget: just put all that shit on a touch screen for every model.
I hate it. I was so happy when I finally bought a used car with bluetooth. It’s probably all downhill from here.
In ancient times people press on a handle to pump water up from a well. There’s no mistake can be made. Modern days gave so-called “designers” numerous ways to fuck it up. The most notorious tech in this regard is touch interface.
I assume you’re not talking about the Elkay EZH2O, because I think it’s wonderful. I can’t imagine needing to have my free hand hovering over a sensor to get the water bottle in my other hand to fill. The whole point of the sensor is to make things easier. I also am having trouble imagining the ice. I’d love to see this contraption you’re describing.
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Slightly tangential, but along the same “stupid design” line. My workplace recently got a new water filter/ice machine. It has no buttons. At all. No switches, no tab you press the cup against, none of it.
Instead, it has a no-touch sensor. There’s no instructions for it, no labels saying how to use it. You’re supposed to hover your hand over the sensor to make either water or ice come out, and it takes a second to respond. It took me about a day of trial and error to figure out how the hell it works.
So now when I want to fill my water bottle, I have to set it under the spout and hold a hand awkwardly over the sensor. If my hand moves slightly, the water stops coming out. I’ve found it easier to lean my hand against the machine, right over the sensor (but not touching it directly, or else it won’t work.) Which defeats the purpose of a “no touch” design in the first place.
For a bonus, the sensor reacts when people walk too close in front of it. I work with kids and the dispenser’s right in front of the fridge where they store their lunch boxes. Every day, kids line up to put their stuff away, and every day, the dispenser will get triggered by someone standing too close. Then there are ice cubes sliding around the floor, turning into puddles…
I wish we just had a regular water fountain at this point. So much of modern design has gotten too stupid to be practical.
All the sinks, toilets, and urinals in my work bathroom use touchless sensors. I often have to wear high-vis; when I walk through the bathroom (even directly along the far wall) every sensor goes off as I walk past. Water for everyone! Even the ghosts.
My god, UX has taken a cliff dive in the last 20 years. There are so many things being replaced with touch buttons and touch screens that DO NOT NEED THEM. A good old physical clicky button is going to remain the best way to interact with 98% of digital inputs and yet product designers cut 1.2¢ by putting capacitive touch interfaces.
Fuck touch buttons and any other non-click-button control that doesn’t need to be. Just let me push the button!
A simple tactile button costs around 0.10¢ of € on aliexpress, an ultrasonic proximity sensor is like 1.70€
So, unless there is a better way to understand the distance that i don’t know, they are wasting money, it’s just for the “modern and cool” factor to sell more
(All this without counting the price of a micro controller to read the sensor input, you could engineer the whole dispenser to work without one)
For cars, it’s more than just the cost saving of physical switches but the entire oesign budget: just put all that shit on a touch screen for every model.
I hate it. I was so happy when I finally bought a used car with bluetooth. It’s probably all downhill from here.
In ancient times people press on a handle to pump water up from a well. There’s no mistake can be made. Modern days gave so-called “designers” numerous ways to fuck it up. The most notorious tech in this regard is touch interface.
I assume you’re not talking about the Elkay EZH2O, because I think it’s wonderful. I can’t imagine needing to have my free hand hovering over a sensor to get the water bottle in my other hand to fill. The whole point of the sensor is to make things easier. I also am having trouble imagining the ice. I’d love to see this contraption you’re describing.
It’s a different machine. I will try to take a picture later.