Good and Bad Examples of Design

Bad Design

1.)  Door at Mugwalls

This is a door at Mugwalls, that from here, you pull to open. It has a bar which tapers out. This is culturally, a given symbol FOR PUSH. Studying outside this door for about two hours, at least 6 kids pushed this and hit the door. This is a example of bad mapping, and this door is the end all, be all of bad door design.

2.) Giant Mac

    The computer science department at TAMU has decided to replace the perfectly good cavalcade of windows computers in the Bright labs with a handful of gigantic macs. I hate these 22 inch monstrosities. The problem with them is that they're so aesthetically designed that they fail to meet the basic expectations I have in a desktop computer. For example, the power button is behind the monitor on the bottom right. It's black and blends in with everything else, there's no ridges or grooves to indicate where it is, and it's tiny, it's no bigger than the pad of my pinky finger. What good is a computer that you can't even turn on? This breaks the aesthetic over design rule.

3.)  Playstation 3

     I think the Playstation 3 is a good example of poor design. The problem with the ps3 is that it has some inherently bad design choices and that after 5-6 re releases they haven't changed any of them. /my least favorite design choice is it's shape. It's some weird ellipsoid. You can't lay it on it's side, and you can't rest your controllers on it. Also it has a power button hidden on the back, which has to be turned on seperatly from the rest of the system. It's unneccesary and inconvinient. 

4.)  Keyboard Remote

This is how I have to operate my TV. TV remotes have be one of the most standardized devices of all times but every now and then you get a bombshell which has to break all the rules. Half of the keys aren't even used. Devices like this only lead to frustration and a an example of bad design.

5.) My Corner Shelf

 

 My corner shelf sucks because if you put any weight on the edge of a shelf, the whole entire thing tips over. It's almost beyond usability! All they'd need to fix this is a fourth leg, such a obvious fix, such an obvious flaw.

Good Design

1.) Newspaper dispenser

I like the simple design choices here. It's shaped like a house so rain slides off. And the door only goes outward, so Wind cannot open it and mess everything up.

2.) Recycling Bins

I like the good example of physical constraints in this recycling bin. The bin on the left has a round hole, so only bottles fit in. The bin on the right is designed for paper, so it has a very thin and wide slot. The trash bin in the middle has a pull slot, so if your about to throw away a recyclable product, you have time to look at the bin and reconsider. By opening the lid, it breaks your actions.

3.) Coffee Bean Grinder

This has a nice physical constraint, the button that you press to use it is attached to the lid. So the only way you can use it is with the lid on, so it's impossible for someone to blend their fingers off.

4.) The Nintendo 64

 The design of the Nintendo 64 is awesome! All the ports are completely different size and shapes, there's no memorization involved in it's setup. And it's difficult to forget to turn off the machine before you take out the cartridge because the power switch is directly in front of the cartridge. This always is true because the Nintendo always faces a certain way towards you because of the controller ports.

5.) My Triax Fury Watch

All the buttons are labeled, the interface on this is fantastic! The watched has been designed such that it constantly gives me cues on how to use it. For example, when using the stopwatch mode, it'll flash at the start/stop button so that I know how to stop the count.