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The Design Flaws in This Otherwise Nifty Portable Cassette Player
"Designer's Curse" is when everyone thinks something is cool, but all you can see is the lack of UX consideration
Sometimes novel designs are not good ones, but have enough "wow" factor to create desirability in those who aren't thinking it through. I'll put this Elbow portable cassette player concept in this category. Designed to reduce a Walkman to the barest minimum, it consists of a biaxial arm and provides what initially looks to be a satisfying way to interface with and manipulate a cassette.
Enter a caption (optional)
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Enter a caption (optional)The first axis of the arm allows the user to clasp it shut, inserting a spindle into one of the cassette's gears. The device is then rotated so that the magnetic head can read the tape.
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Enter a caption (optional)Controls are provided by a single dial which regulates the volume, play, and fast forward functions.
Seems nifty, doesn't it? But we see several problems that actually make this design a step backwards from Sony's venerated Walkman. First off is the problem of directionality/orientation. Cassettes have two sides, and the user selects which side of the tape they'd like to listen to. With the Walkman and every other cassette player, this problem is solved in an obvious way: The desired side of the cassette faces outwards.
With the design of the Elbow, "outwards" is presumably the side with the dial on it. But the user is presented with one spindle and two cassette eyes that it could possibly be inserted into. Because the motor only rotates in one direction (there is no rewind functionality), the user must insert it into the correct hole, or risk unspooling the tape on one reel without the slack being taken up by the other reel. So right away, we've got the potential for operator error.
Enter a caption (optional)The second, more glaring problem is that the device appears to have been designed to make a neat photograph, rather than considering how the user will actually interact with it. Here's what we mean:
Enter a caption (optional)Is the Elbow meant to be held in one's hand for the entirety of the listening session? Or thrown in a bag? Either way the design, which leaves parts of the cassette exposed, presents a problem. Walkmen, while in use, were either held in the hand (while jogging, for instance), thrown into a jacket pocket, clipped to one's belt or thrown into a bag. In all four of those scenarios, both eyes of the cassette and the exposed portion of the tape are completely enclosed by the Walkman; there is no danger that the user's sweaty grip, or debris in a pocket or bag, will interfere with the tape or the cassette's eyes. The relatively smooth outer shape of a Walkman also provided no sharp surfaces or undercuts which could snag on something. Those positive qualities are absent on the Elbow.
Nevertheless, we'll probably continue to see these images being eagerly forwarded on social media, with folks proclaiming it a neat design. I suppose it is neat. It's just not practical nor user-friendly.
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Comments
As Andy says the only super obvious design flaw is the lack of pinch roller to govern the speed ... or the renderings are incomplete?
Checking the Assembly Drawing .... http://www.ufunk.net/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/elbow-cassette-player-7.jpg
Not sure about the mechanics of it though, do not think its going to be playing anthing anytime soon....
The dimensions do not match a cassette or how a cassette works. They have the "Reel Pulley" ontop and the head down below.
Maybe someone who has never really worked with TDK's :D
Ill share my design for a personal pocketable nuclear reactor one of these days which can also be worn as a fashion accessory.... its really clever, honest.
I think that there is a bigger problem with this device than those already suggested. I don't think it will work properly.
A traditional cassette player drives the tape by pressing it against a spinning metal drive pin with the "pinch roller". It drives the spool to take up the slack but the speed is governed by the pinch roller.
This machine doesn't have a pinch roller.
If you think about the pinch roller method has to be the way to do it. Cassettes are recorded at 1 7/8 inches per second. Imagine just pulling the tape through by winding the spool as this machine appears to do. If the spool winder is at a fixed speed (in RPM) as the spool fills up its radius increases and the actual tape speed through the machine will increase with comical results.
Nurses' shoes are functional and well designed to protect the feet during use. High heel shoes, on the other hand, are a terrible design, that cause the feet to ache, bruise, bleed, and deform.
There's no design flaw with the directionality. If there's no rewind, it doesn't necessarily mean that the spindle can only rotate in one direction. Since the arm can be pivoted from one reel to the other, I would assume that the spindle would reverse direction on that action. So no matter which orientation of the drive spindle, it will always be pulling the tape and never pushing.
I'm going to have to agree with Elron. But the graphics on the controls make it look like it will only go in the clockwise direction, which would be confusing.
I think there is a definite demand for throwback nostalgic products in the market right now. (Especially as a millennial) A good example of this would be Nintendo's NES classic http://www.nintendo.com/nes-classic/ which flew off the shelves during the short release time.
I think the great affront is the use of a mini USB port (presumably) to charge it. I thought this was 2017 - why isn't it a micro USB port?! Secondly, couldn't they incorporate a second spindle and a magnetic reader wide enough to read both sides of the tape and make the whole thing wide enough to protect the openings Rain is worried about? It would still fit within the footprint of a cassette.
Actually this year we are hoping for USB-C in a big way. I just spent the day tracking down a cable to charge my phone and C hasn't hit dollar stores. Please help us out and end dongleism. Demand USB-C in 2017.