4 ms·

My ideal: Ten number buttons, 0-9, but each also corresponds to a useful time. 0 10 sec 1 15 sec 2 20 sec 3 30 sec 4 45 sec 5 1 min ... Etc P

My ideal: Ten number buttons, 0-9, but each also corresponds to a useful time. 0 10 sec 1 15 sec 2 20 sec 3 30 sec 4 45 sec 5 1 min ... Etc Pressing any of those would auto start immediately with the corresponding time. If you want an exact time like 34 seconds, hit the cook time button and now the ten buttons act as digits. Then hit start. Pressing any of these while the microwave is running would add that corresponding amout of time. I guess you'd also need a power level button and a clock set button. There, all done.

wikibob 9y ago
FYI this is precisely how commercial kitchen microwaves work. Next time you’re at a fast food restaurant have a look and you’ll probably spot one. https://www.webstaurantstore.com/panasonic-ne-17521-stainless-steel-commercial-microwave-oven-208-230-240v-1700w/609NE17521.html https://www.webstaurantstore.com/panasonic-ne-17521-stainles...
- nnq 9y ago
  It works, and it's fast to use. But it's for commercial/professional usage, where doing a set of standard common tasks with fewer number of actions is best. Having home/office-use microwaves work like this is basically akin to forcing an average office user expecting something like Microsoft Word, to write Markdown in Vim instead...
  - TeMPOraL 9y ago
    > Having home/office-use microwaves work like this is basically akin to forcing an average office user expecting something like Microsoft Word, to write Markdown in Vim instead... If that average office user is going to write something (or use a microwave) more than a few times in their lives, it's worth to force them, because the (very small) cost of additional learning is almost immediately offset by gained efficiency. Alas, what matters is short-time thinking, so UIs are designed for sellability instead of helping people do their tasks correctly and efficiently.
    - nnq 9y ago
      You're ignoring the "cognitive load" and "attention requirements" of the mythical "correct and efficient" interface. Sometimes I want to use 99.999% of my brain for something else and I want to mindlessly use that microwave with the 0.0001% left. My desired thought process is "woo, woo, monkey-wuga, up-turny-power, down-turny-time, woo, woop, warmy my banana woop, woop!" or something simpler than that. And I also don't use it in a regular/predictable pattern, so auto-pressing one button for one of the "regular" time intervals might be useless for me since what I do is always irregular and sometimes irrational ("hmm, I wanna see some fireworks to light up my mood, let's microwave my colleague's USB stick labeled "bitcoins" for the lulz!"). The problem is not designing for sellability. Is not acknowledging that (1) some people don't want to RTFM! and (2) other people are OK with RTFM but want serious efficiency and correctness gains for it, "I pain, now you gimme gain!". So you figure out who your users are and design for your users. Now, the absolute worst is the parent article's example, where someone managed to "design for no possible user" by both forcing people to RTFM and providing zero efficiency and correctness benefits in return. But designing for the wrong user is also bad.
nnq 9y ago
This is a joke... right?! ...because you've just describes one of the most horribly unintuitive UI/Xs one could imagine. Some of the unforgivable sins it commits are: - One button can have more than one meaning depending on context. Aka "modal interface" - this sucks in all cases except 2: (1) touch screens (where the buttons / labels displayed can actually change on screen) and (2) Vim - You have 10 Buttons instead of one simple Knob: on top of making UI elements do different stuff depending on previous action, you also have a ~5x excess of UI elements. Instead of 2 Knobs, one for time and one for power. Or one know, and a buttons above it to select time or power (I actually had to use a microwave with this setup btw, and hated that pos, I was always in a terrible hurry and made mistakes selecting wither the power or time and ended up with cold or burn food... but I'd still pick this over the 10-keys + extra buttons) Seriously, don't ever design a UI/X for other people, if you ever need this done hire someone else! Also, if you're and UI/X-designer, please consider changing careers, seriously (I'm sure you're not, but just to be safe :P).
- deleted 9y ago
  [deleted]

wikibob 9y ago

FYI this is precisely how commercial kitchen microwaves work. Next time you’re at a fast food restaurant have a look and you’ll probably spot one. https://www.webstaurantstore.com/panasonic-ne-17521-stainless-steel-commercial-microwave-oven-208-230-240v-1700w/609NE17521.html https://www.webstaurantstore.com/panasonic-ne-17521-stainles...

nnq 9y ago
It works, and it's fast to use. But it's for commercial/professional usage, where doing a set of standard common tasks with fewer number of actions is best. Having home/office-use microwaves work like this is basically akin to forcing an average office user expecting something like Microsoft Word, to write Markdown in Vim instead...
- TeMPOraL 9y ago
  > Having home/office-use microwaves work like this is basically akin to forcing an average office user expecting something like Microsoft Word, to write Markdown in Vim instead... If that average office user is going to write something (or use a microwave) more than a few times in their lives, it's worth to force them, because the (very small) cost of additional learning is almost immediately offset by gained efficiency. Alas, what matters is short-time thinking, so UIs are designed for sellability instead of helping people do their tasks correctly and efficiently.
  - nnq 9y ago
    You're ignoring the "cognitive load" and "attention requirements" of the mythical "correct and efficient" interface. Sometimes I want to use 99.999% of my brain for something else and I want to mindlessly use that microwave with the 0.0001% left. My desired thought process is "woo, woo, monkey-wuga, up-turny-power, down-turny-time, woo, woop, warmy my banana woop, woop!" or something simpler than that. And I also don't use it in a regular/predictable pattern, so auto-pressing one button for one of the "regular" time intervals might be useless for me since what I do is always irregular and sometimes irrational ("hmm, I wanna see some fireworks to light up my mood, let's microwave my colleague's USB stick labeled "bitcoins" for the lulz!"). The problem is not designing for sellability. Is not acknowledging that (1) some people don't want to RTFM! and (2) other people are OK with RTFM but want serious efficiency and correctness gains for it, "I pain, now you gimme gain!". So you figure out who your users are and design for your users. Now, the absolute worst is the parent article's example, where someone managed to "design for no possible user" by both forcing people to RTFM and providing zero efficiency and correctness benefits in return. But designing for the wrong user is also bad.

nnq 9y ago

This is a joke... right?! ...because you've just describes one of the most horribly unintuitive UI/Xs one could imagine. Some of the unforgivable sins it commits are: - One button can have more than one meaning depending on context. Aka "modal interface" - this sucks in all cases except 2: (1) touch screens (where the buttons / labels displayed can actually change on screen) and (2) Vim - You have 10 Buttons instead of one simple Knob: on top of making UI elements do different stuff depending on previous action, you also have a ~5x excess of UI elements. Instead of 2 Knobs, one for time and one for power. Or one know, and a buttons above it to select time or power (I actually had to use a microwave with this setup btw, and hated that pos, I was always in a terrible hurry and made mistakes selecting wither the power or time and ended up with cold or burn food... but I'd still pick this over the 10-keys + extra buttons) Seriously, don't ever design a UI/X for other people, if you ever need this done hire someone else! Also, if you're and UI/X-designer, please consider changing careers, seriously (I'm sure you're not, but just to be safe :P).

deleted 9y ago
[deleted]