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I've been fighting these buttons my whole adult life, until reading this article I had no idea the button wasn't even a button (though they do not depress, I ju

I've been fighting these buttons my whole adult life, until reading this article I had no idea the button wasn't even a button (though they do not depress, I just assumed it was touch-sensitive). As one commenter points out, by far the worst UI is that of the toilet door mechanisms on some trains: three buttons for close, lock and open. It's terribly over-engineered, confusing, and requires an instruction panel. For a toilet door lock.

smcl 9y ago
The toilet doors are awful - on more than one occasion I've tried to enter the bathroom only to see a horrified person sitting with their trousers/skirt down being slowly revealed to the world (having failed to hit the lock button after the door closed). No matter how frantically they mash the buttons they have to wait for that giant door to slowly open fully, then slowly close. Just awful.
- SmellyGeekBoy 9y ago
  They really are ridiculous. I was on a train journey recently where a frantic mother spent a good 5 minutes trying to extract her child who had accidentally locked the door from the inside and was in hysterics because he couldn't get out.
moonbug 9y ago
https://zarino.co.uk/media/virgin-toilet-lock.jpg https://zarino.co.uk/media/virgin-toilet-lock.jpg For anyone who wants to see a door handle only an engineer could love.
- jstanley 9y ago
  If the "open" button both unlocks and opens, what use case is there for closing the door from the inside without locking it?
  - longwave 9y ago
    The doors take so long to close that it would be easy to press the button and immediately exit the toilet, leaving it locked but with nobody inside, effectively taking it out of use for other passengers.
  - henrikeh 9y ago
    I think it is to prevent vandals from closing and locking the door from the outside.
  - crottypeter 9y ago
    I use that button to close the door when I have finished using the train toilet. You have to race the automatic door and rush out before it closes on you. (Of course the button should be outside).
    - jstanley 9y ago
      Why do you want to close the door if you're not inside? If that's not the norm, doesn't it just indicate to others that the toilet is occupied?
      - fredley 9y ago
        Because they stink, and it's very unpleasant for people in the carriage sitting near the toilet if the door is open.
gadders 9y ago
Luckily on my trains we have those as well as the old style toilets. I don't trust the new ones at all.
mino 9y ago
> I had no idea the button wasn't even a button I too "pressed" those buttons hundred of times. Never I would have imagined that they are just a piece of plastic with a motion sensor pointed on.

smcl 9y ago

The toilet doors are awful - on more than one occasion I've tried to enter the bathroom only to see a horrified person sitting with their trousers/skirt down being slowly revealed to the world (having failed to hit the lock button after the door closed). No matter how frantically they mash the buttons they have to wait for that giant door to slowly open fully, then slowly close. Just awful.

SmellyGeekBoy 9y ago
They really are ridiculous. I was on a train journey recently where a frantic mother spent a good 5 minutes trying to extract her child who had accidentally locked the door from the inside and was in hysterics because he couldn't get out.

moonbug 9y ago

https://zarino.co.uk/media/virgin-toilet-lock.jpg https://zarino.co.uk/media/virgin-toilet-lock.jpg For anyone who wants to see a door handle only an engineer could love.

jstanley 9y ago
If the "open" button both unlocks and opens, what use case is there for closing the door from the inside without locking it?
- longwave 9y ago
  The doors take so long to close that it would be easy to press the button and immediately exit the toilet, leaving it locked but with nobody inside, effectively taking it out of use for other passengers.
- henrikeh 9y ago
  I think it is to prevent vandals from closing and locking the door from the outside.
- crottypeter 9y ago
  I use that button to close the door when I have finished using the train toilet. You have to race the automatic door and rush out before it closes on you. (Of course the button should be outside).
  - jstanley 9y ago
    Why do you want to close the door if you're not inside? If that's not the norm, doesn't it just indicate to others that the toilet is occupied?
    - fredley 9y ago
      Because they stink, and it's very unpleasant for people in the carriage sitting near the toilet if the door is open.

gadders 9y ago

Luckily on my trains we have those as well as the old style toilets. I don't trust the new ones at all.

mino 9y ago

> I had no idea the button wasn't even a button I too "pressed" those buttons hundred of times. Never I would have imagined that they are just a piece of plastic with a motion sensor pointed on.