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I suffer from migraines. And like many migraineurs, I am very sensitive to light even when I'm not having a migraine. Given that ~15% of humanity gets migraines

by elric 6y ago

I suffer from migraines. And like many migraineurs, I am very sensitive to light even when I'm not having a migraine. Given that ~15% of humanity gets migraines, and many of them are (to some degree) in the same boat as me, I find this obsession with bright & blinking lights utterly appalling. It's negatively effecting millions of people, with hardly benefit. Useless bright lights are everywhere. Often without any way to tone them down or turn them off. I don't mind getting funny looks for wearing sunglasses on cloudy days, but I don't want to wear sunglasses indoors ... and yet people keep slapping more and more LEDs on absolutely everything. I have little globs of Blu Tack all over my house, covering LEDs on the most ridiculous appliances. Stop it. Just. Bloody. Stop. How hard can it be for a product designer to ask the question "does this LED convey useful information?", and just scrap the bloody thing if the answer is no?

hilbert42 6y ago
Check my post out about using nail varnish to cover up the LEDs. But the design problem is much, much bigger than just gaudy LEDs. There are so many electronic appliances (and software UIs, etc.) around that have been designed by people without any skills whatsoever in design or without any understanding in user ergonomics. It's a serious problem even from a secondary perspective, as it so annoys people that they chuck equipment away before its use-by date which only adds to the mountains of e-waste. I have several set-top boxes (PVRs) with software that is so dreadfully bad (not to mention full of serious software bugs) that I consider these appliances close to being unusable.
freehunter 6y ago
I have a stereo that has had a bit of modeling clay on its power button since the day I bought it (in 2003) because in some really smart design choice, the power button lights up red to let you know it's off. When the stereo is on, the light turns off but the display screen lights up. So even turning the power off to get rid of the lights in the room merely just turns a different light on.
- kaybe 6y ago
  There is one single place that design choice makes sense, and that is the light switch in the kitchen, bathroom or hallway.

by elric 6y ago

hilbert42 6y ago

Check my post out about using nail varnish to cover up the LEDs. But the design problem is much, much bigger than just gaudy LEDs. There are so many electronic appliances (and software UIs, etc.) around that have been designed by people without any skills whatsoever in design or without any understanding in user ergonomics. It's a serious problem even from a secondary perspective, as it so annoys people that they chuck equipment away before its use-by date which only adds to the mountains of e-waste. I have several set-top boxes (PVRs) with software that is so dreadfully bad (not to mention full of serious software bugs) that I consider these appliances close to being unusable.

freehunter 6y ago

I have a stereo that has had a bit of modeling clay on its power button since the day I bought it (in 2003) because in some really smart design choice, the power button lights up red to let you know it's off. When the stereo is on, the light turns off but the display screen lights up. So even turning the power off to get rid of the lights in the room merely just turns a different light on.

kaybe 6y ago
There is one single place that design choice makes sense, and that is the light switch in the kitchen, bathroom or hallway.