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A Design Mystery: Why are People at This Store Consistently Misusing This Product?

And which of these two products is better-designed?

By Rain Noe - August 31, 2015

in Food | Product Design | UX

Here's one of those bread-and-butter design problems that alerts you to the importance of context. It's simple enough to design a coffee dispenser in a studio, where you've worked out people's average heights and eyelines and calculated how they'll interact with the device. Then it goes out into the real world, where unforeseen human behavior leads to unintended consequences.

This one comes to us from California-based Eugenio Leon. On the Core77 boards, he writes (edited here for clarity):

Every now and then I bump into products and situations that could perhaps be better designed, here's one of them. This is at my local Trader Joe's, a grocery store, which [graciously] provides coffee while you shop. They initially provided this type of carafe:

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After they replaced it with the kind you see below, I asked what was wrong with the original one. They told me that people on wheelchairs had a hard time reaching them. The counter is roughly three feet off of the ground and the original carafe is about a foot tall. I imagine when a wheelchair user pushed the top of the carafe to dispense, the carafes would tilt and land on the wheelchair user since the force was coming from below.

So they switched to this style of dispenser:

Enter a caption (optional)

The first problem seems to have been solved by the new dispenser—which ironically brought a new problem: Now folks can't figure out that you have to place the cup on the dot, so there's a lot of spillage, even with the sign. (That sign keeps getting bigger, by the way.) It actually seems to work fine for people on wheelchairs, it is everyone else that seems to be having a hard time placing the cups on the dot.

I did some poking around, and the model of machine appears to be this Bunn/Zojirushi Thermal Server.

Enter a caption (optional)

Let's zoom in and lighten up both Leon's photo and a press photo of the device to take a better look at the design:

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The user interface appears to follow basic rules of good design: The button is a different color and features an icon of fingers above it for good measure. There is no question which part of the machine you're meant to interact with.

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The cavity indicates, through basic physical language, that the cup is meant to be nestled inside. Furthermore, a white dot and even a raised plastic reticle clearly indicate where the cup is meant to be centered.

Despite all of these measures, people are placing the cup in a location (underneath the button, I'd imagine) that causes the coffee stream to miss. What do you reckon is the problem?

The only thing I can come up with is that folks in the store are regular shoppers who have become conditioned by the first design. Let's take a look at that one again, a little larger:

Enter a caption (optional)

So there we have a cylinder and a protuberance. The button atop the cylinder is not a different color and bears no icon, but it is large and the reveal around it indicates it is distinct from the rest of the housing up top.

The protuberance is clearly the spout, but I'd actually imagine this design would create more spillage. The precise location of the nozzle within the protuberance is not obvious, and in the photos up top we can see that Trader Joe's provides tiny cups.

So what's going on here? Are folks using the Bunn placing the cup under the protuberance, wrongly assuming that is the nozzle? Why are they not able to see the white dot and reticle, are they looking down on the machine from an angle that obscures them?

Beyond those questions, I'd ask you:

1) If you were the designer of this machine who learned of this problem, what would you change in the next version? And

2) If you were the manager of the store, saddled with these two machines, how would you solve the problem?

o

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Paul Lewis

9 years ago

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Bunn already makes a thermal coffee server that solves the problem: the stream of coffee exits directly under the lever. http://bit.ly/1O4wFMc

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no spec

9 years ago

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I've been in this position of having to re-train consumers in a strikingly similar task.
Intuitiveness relies on a user's past experiences, and when you expect someone to un-learn something equally intuitive, your screwed. there will always be mistakes.
For this instance the finger icon is useless. Americans only read English text. Also the protruding button is too similar to the other main dispensing option, a valve off the side of a thermal container, so they need to move the dispense point too.

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- Rain Noe
  
  no spec
  
  9 years ago
  
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  As for us Americans only reading English text--have you never seen someone trying to push in a door that says "PULL?" (And by someone, I mean me)
  
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Mechee Meow

9 years ago

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Instead of the white dot, I would put an icon of a coffee mug--or some other universally known logo for hot beverage--inside of a circle that is the size of the base of the cups used, indicating where to put the cup.
Or start the day with a cup already where it should be. Maybe the first person reloads a new cup in the space he found his cup and this cycle goes on.

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Liam Dewhurst

9 years ago

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I enjoyed this post..

Store: print a photo with a big white cup inside the machine. No-one reads instructions, but following photos is easy.

Product:
1.change the tray design so that it doesn't look like it drains - If something drains, you assume it can cope and you happily "trial" where the coffee will go.
2a. place button inside cavity, so that it is pressed by the cup when inserted.
2b. or extend spout lower? (mentioned below)
2c. open cavity in the bottom, so you aren't worried about getting burnt.
- all 3 give a natural sense of awareness of the hot water/coffee

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Sandeep Mathew

9 years ago

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It may just be me, but I feel like the cup receptacle looks a little more like drainage for accidentally spilled coffee, rather than a surface to place a cup.

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Dan Lewis

9 years ago

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A simpler solution for Trader Joe's would be to put old pump carafe on a lower counter. If the counter would have been 30" above the floor it would have been within reach of the wheelchair user, and it would have been just the right height for standing users. Designers tend to over-think.

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Arabela Lee

9 years ago

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I would misuse it as well. I would expect coffee to come out from under the button, not that further back and I would probably miss the white dot as I would most likely be talking to someone while getting my coffee.

As a designer I would either change the nozzle place or I would include sensor for the cup so the coffee would not pour unless the cup is in its place.

As manager I would leave a red cup inside that you'd have to put aside to get your own coffee and maybe even write on the cup "put me back after you get your coffee". By taking the red cup from the right place it would make it easier to recognize where the cup should stay, plus there will be less spilling since a cup is already on the white dot.

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Brian R

9 years ago

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we have 2 of these units in our office, the deep cavity is due to the glass thermal liner inside this unit, its probably more cost efficient to have a center exit.

this isn't really a interface problem, more of the wrong cup size.

provide a larger diameter cup, and you won't have a problem; people will naturally place the cup so it would not tip over, a wider one will force the user to put the cup deeper into the cavity.

a better solution is to change the drip tray foot print, so it would only allow a smaller cup to be placed in the correct position.

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Cemre Koc

9 years ago

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It's sort of annoying to hear this back-and-forth conversation over whether we should make things more for the average person or more for the minorities/extremes, eg people in wheelchairs. The answer is that if you make a product thinking about every possible extreme - very tall, in a wheelchair, very short, vision impaired, everything you can think of - then it will end up being a product that is also 100x easier and simpler for the average group. It has been mentioned in a couple of articles here, like the one about female auto designers in the 50s trying to make cars more comfortable and rounded, and the one about OXO's design ethic. In this case it means making it very obvious where the coffee is going to come out and what button you have to push to get it, from every angle and with or without previous coffeemaker experience. Having the nozzle further down is what helps the people in wheelchairs, and doesn't have any effect on other people. They are just confused about the change in shape, so for them it might help, as others have suggested, to have a sign directly where the coffee cup needs to go instead of a sign next to it which they will ignore.

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ma yo

9 years ago

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I see several issues with this design, especially considering the departure from a well known product, regardless of the ergonomics.
People are more familiar with the operation of the former design and will naturally look for a button at the top of the machine. From the posted images it looks as though there may be an indication that the circle on top of the Bunn device may be a button. That's problem one from my POV. I would be pushing that lid and assuming the machine is empty or broken. I am not pressing that gray thing because…
Problem two: the atypical lever button to release liquid. To me, this looks like a clasp that is holding the machine together. I have vacuums with this clasp holding all the dust in. It looks like no lever I have ever seen on a food receptacle. It looks like its holding something closed and I should never push that ever. The icon over the button is ambiguous. If anything it looks like a four toe foot. If I was a regular shopper, I would be in panic mode at the thought of pressing that button, possibly releasing some mechanism that is holding all the hot coffee in the machine (assuming ive realized there is coffee in it), and maybe creating a mess at the counter, floor, and all over myself for a 2oz cup of stale liquid. Im better off just not getting coffee. Im nervous thinking about it. It should be a standard, long, rectangle thing that compels me to flick my finger against it, like every lever on every hot water spout I have ever seen. Like the levers on every standard coffee dispenser used in a mass consumer setting. Problem 3: That tray area looks like any cup I put on it will tip over. The unusual asterix element looks like if the cup is not larger than the entire circle area, it should not go in there. In addition, it looks like there is a piece missing that will be nestled on the white dot. It looks like someone has been stupid enough to push that button and broke the machine because the button released whatever mechanism that was going to feed me caffeinated liquid so I can get through my shopping and now im jonesing and cranky. I might just leave this broken store. From the top photo, I even get the impression that the liquid would be pouring from that gray piece and not from that cavity. I cant see from this angle if there is a small, recessed spout, but I want there to be one right there. Right where that light gray plastic that contrasts with the rest of the blackness of the machine. If the devil convinced me to press that button, I would have my cup below it, as the liquid poured onto that white button where it would be lit for me to see. Pooling in the area between the star shape where my cup wouldn't rest properly on the plastic tray that looks like its meant to be removed if I want to slide it out from the front to clean because I keep spilling coffee. Fourth problem: that may not be a problem, but assuming I know how the machine works, what happens when its been used forever the lever gets sticky, I push too hard, and the high center of gravity combined with my addled state causes the entire machine to tip forward? I am starting to get a visceral aversion to this machine. I wont even start with how I would fix it. A better option would be a standard, giant, silver catering carafe but then people will be burning themselves on it because we love to touch shiny objects.

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Noodle Time

9 years ago

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ergonomic design is interesting. We design for an 'average person' ... but then we come back and make exceptions, or additions to appease a small group, most likely due to the legal risks of not doing so (insert ADA). Why are so many things retrofitted for wheel chairs and short persons, but you never see anything fixed for taller persons?

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Jonathan Mello

9 years ago

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I totally get this mistake. I think a more obvious (color or form) ring where the cup goes would definitely help. Also the mechanism where coffee comes out is really hidden maybe just extending the spout down to make it more obvious.

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- Rain Noe
  
  Jonathan Mello
  
  9 years ago
  
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  Totally agree, I would really like to see the spout. But it would be quite the design challenge, figuring out how to make it visible for both a shorter and taller person.
  
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Noodle Time

9 years ago

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1. I would remove half of the cavity, there is no need to 'center' the cup, unless the stream is unpredictable, in which case, the nozzle should have been better designed. Removing the depth eliminates the ability to 'over shoot' the center. This would allow any size cup to rest against the back for proper filling, much like the previous design.

2. I would have kept the original that everyone is accustomed to and either recess it into the counter, or find a lower level cart. Or I would realize that less than 5% of the shoppers would even need the easier access, and just scoot it back to where they cant reach it. an associate or someone else could offer assistant a few times a week it would be needed.

I would rather have a design that worked 100% of the time for 95% of users, than one that worked 50% of the time for 100% of the users.

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- Ashley Davis
  
  Noodle Time
  
  9 years ago
  
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  I was really with you until 2. If you aren't designing specifically for accessibility then you are being a jerk.
  
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  - Noodle Time
    
    Ashley Davis
    
    9 years ago
    
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    sorry, i wasnt trying to be a jerk, i was just role playing as a store manager that doesnt want to get sued by someone over-reaching.... then again, people could sue for the coffee being too hot, so better switch it to iced only.
    
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paul beard

9 years ago

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In either role you could put something under the switch, something that continues the curve of the machine or rests on that protruding tongue, to prevent a cup from resting there.

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Jason Pokines

9 years ago

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If I were the store manager, I'd add a little coaster with bold text reading "CUP HERE" sitting on top of the dot.

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- Michael Reed
  
  Jason Pokines
  
  9 years ago
  
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  Simple solution. BUNN should add a very clear and written indicator, "place cup here", and add the words "push to dispense"
  I agree that the easy solution for the store manager is to add a simple picture of the carafe with the cup properly placed and a hand with fingers on the button.
  As to the ADA and accessibility issues, I am an Occupational Therapist, so I'll just bite my tongue about why we work to allow 5% of the population the opprtunity to access what the other 95% gave access to.
  
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- Mike Nelson Pedde
  
  Jason Pokines
  
  9 years ago
  
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  That's what I was thinking. Getting people to figure out the fingers icon is somewhat irrelevant; if people don't figure out they have to push the button to get the coffee, no coffee comes out and there's no problem.
  
  For those used to the old design, it's a two-handed operation. Hold cup under spout with one hand while pushing button with the other. With this one it's a one-handed operation with two sequential steps. Place cup, then push button. Having the white dot and a separate sign further complicates the explanation. Not quite meta-tool use, but close. Crows and raccoons and probably rats would figure it out pretty quickly.
  
  As Jason and one other pointed out, replace the tiny white dot with a circle - say white with black lettering - that says, "Place Cup Here". Then when people figure out what the fingers icon is for the coffee will flow into the cup.
  
  Mike.
  
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  - R John Snelson
    
    Mike Nelson Pedde
    
    9 years ago
    
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    The point made regarding the number and/or placement of hands while using the two designs is more to the point of usage effectiveness. The original design is not ideal regarding visable indicators but does give the impression of sturdiness. Someone observes another person dispense coffee from a distance, also wants coffee and investigates the device. There is less indication of what to do to pour, but there is little worry that the device is fragile. Ultimately, using two hands to feel the units features someone determines that a pump action with one hand and a "catching" action with another hand holding a cup yields coffee. The two hand approach is common to other pouring solutions and allows for immediate correction in placement of the cup. This appeals to our nature. (Mike's point? )
    
    The new design in contrast is less inviting to experimentation. Choosing to place the cup in a recession (albiet designed to be obvious) requires a commitment to knowing how the product works before pressing the lever. As a gravity fed dispenser, the flow is instantaneous which allows little to no time for realignment of a cup which required prepositioning.
    
    Imagine the spillage of the first device if you where forced to preposition the cup on the surface below and initiate the pour (pump) without the benefit of a second hand to correct the location of the cup. I would fathom it would be significantly worse than the second design which tries to force a reduction in the cup/spout gap and uses various indicators. But the first design is not typically used this way. It's ambiguous yet sturdy design invites investigation, action and correction in a manner that is slower, more deliberate. Unfortunately, this first design inherently will be harder for the disabled or one handed. The second design circumvents all of these hardships through pre-planning, but will make more of a mess if the more ingrained uses of experimentation are used first.
    
    Just my thoughts.
    
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  - R John Snelson
    
    Mike Nelson Pedde
    
    9 years ago
    
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    Sorry, I neglected to state any possible changes to the second device in previous post... Replacing dot with wording (ie, cup here) is effective but only in a single language and to the literate user. To allow for cup repositioning via experimentation without spilling, a slight delay in the dispense of coffee when pushing the lever coupled with a visual stimulus which appears during this brief delay which confirms the stream path. This is similar to laser line indicators on saws where a two step trigger pull first shows the alignment prior to blade engagement.
    
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