Good UX / Bad UX

What does it mean when the area labeled “GUEST PARKING ONLY” has every spot reserved for someone else?

I was in Providence this weekend to celebrate the Centennial of the Brown Band. This is the hotel alarm clock. The text reads “Press for On/Off” “Rotate to Set”.

The alarm went off at 6:00am. At first I thought the housekeeping staff must have forgotten to make sure that the alarm was not set.

But then I remembered that while setting up my CPAP, I had knocked the alarm clock off the table, and put it back. That must have pressed the giant button (see photo to see how likely that is) and set the alarm.

It should not be that easy for this to happen.

Made of metal, it’s permanently attached, and weatherproof!

(Seen at the Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston.)

Filling out this form, I was presented with a list of pronoun sets to choose from.

Should I choose “he/him,” or “he/him/his”?

What’s the difference?

Does the former imply that I don’t have a possessive pronoun because I don’t possess anything?

At a recent event at the new Arlington (Mass.) High School, when I asked where the restrooms were, someone pointed down the hall and said “by the blue wall.” What a great design! By “color-coding” the restrooms, you can tell from far away where to go. And where “to go.”

At first glance, this looks like six boxes of Dunkin’ coffee. It’s not. The two on the right are hot chocolate. But the only way to know that was in a tiny printed font on a sticker.

So someone (OK, me) wrote “Hot Chocolate” on the two that weren’t coffee. I wish I’d had a Sharpie to make it stand out more, but your use the tools you got!

First off, let me say how much I love this restaurant, so I have masked out the name & address.

Four things I’d like to point out.

#1) I took these screenshots this morning. Christmas Day. Thanksgiving was over a month ago. Obviously, they took the time & effort to update their page FOR Thanksgiving, why not after?

#2) “We accept reservations by phone only,” but …

#3) There is a “Table Reservation” button.

#4) If you click the “Table Reservation” button, you get taken to a page that says “We are not currently taking reservations.”

FYI: They could fix #2, #3, & #4 by simply hiding the “Table Reservation” button.

These two elevators are side-by-side in the same building. Note that only Elevator 1 goes to the Cellar (C) or the Roof (R). I have two complaints about this.

1: If you want to go to the Roof or the Cellar, there is no way to specify which elevator you want. So half the time, you will get Elevator 2 and have to send it away & call again for Elevator 1.

Exception: If you are on the Ground Floor & press the DOWN button, or on Floor 12 and press the UP button, only Elevator 1 will respond. Whew!

2: The two sets of buttons are arranged very differently. One has three columns, one has two.

This is a residential building. So whether you live there or you’re visiting, chances are there is one floor you go to most of the time. Let’s say it’s 6. In one elevator, your button is three down from the top of the left side, and in the other, it is four down from the top of the right side. Every time you get in the elevator, you have to expend some mental energy to find your button. If they were arranged the same way (with the addition of two buttons in Elevator 1), your finger would head to the same location for the six button with no thought at all.

Suggested button arrangement:

I was recently backstage at the Colonial Chorus Players in Reading, Mass., and noticed this stack of supplies. There are many things I like about this, but the Number One thing that caught my attention was that each box was labeled with both the text AND a picture. Left brain or right brain, you’re gonna find what you need.

Bravo, CCP!