Things that piss me off # 27: Bad Design

[andrewducker]

We have a free coffee-like-sludge machine which produces a range of different drinks in various shades of brown. It also produces water, both hot and cold. In order to cater to those people who like different textures of grit in their coffee it has buttons marked "mild", "normal" and "strong". Once you have chosen your particular kind of drink (coffee, espresso, chocolate) you then press one of these buttons to show how macho/tired/masochistic you are currently feeling.

What annoys me is a particularly bad piece of design - the machine pauses for approximately three seconds to allow you to choose your drink strength - and it does so _even if you choose water_. In fact, choosing a strength for your water means the machine stops waiting and starts pouring, so pressing "Water", "Normal" gives you a drink without the wait.

Repeated experimentation has so-far shown no difference in taste between mild and strong water, but it's possible that sufficient exposure will eventually sensitise me to whatever subtle piquancy divides them.

Comments

[a-pawson.livejournal.com]

You should print up some stickers and cover over the "mild", "normal" and "strong" buttons with "normal", "heavy" and "possibly fusable".