Planet Analog DesignLine Blog
When your design solution becomes the user's problem
Bill Schweber
1/11/2012 3:44 PM EST
Sometimes, you wonder about the "small" decisions that a design team makes, and if they really understand the implications to the user. Then again, maybe they did, and decided the tradeoffs were acceptable or inevitable.
I recently purchased a TomTom GPS model (http://www.tomtom.com) with a nicely rounded backside to the case. It looks sleek, that's for sure. But as a consequence of that shaping, the USB connection access is cramped and awkward, so the vendor supplies a USB cable with a right-angle micro-size connector to make it fit, as the photo shows:
I have no problem with their micro-USB choice, although I would have preferred the more-common mini size, since I have several of such chargers around (I do have a mini-to-micro adapter, which cost $3 and is pretty useful).
What I don’t like about this setup is that it's nearly impossible to fit the more common, straight-line USB connector into the receptacle. As a result, all of my other USB chargers and cables are useless, and I am pretty much stuck with the vendor-supplied one. That's not good if you need to charge it away from your normal routine, or misplace the supplied cable (yes, that happens).
What I suspect here—but for which I have no evidence, of course-- is that the electronics designers were faced with the challenge fitting the PC board and connector in the curving case design. As a consequence, they had to go to this somewhat unusual style of USB connector to make it possible. In effect, intentional or not, they solved their problem by making it into my problem.
Regardless of the motive or rationale—whether it was done because of the enclosure styling or just because it seemed like a good "esthetics" idea—I'm not happy about it. Sure, a design team does what it has to do balance among the various design objectives, constraints, and tradeoffs—that's not news. It's just that that sometimes the end user has to deal with the implications, and that is unsettling.
Have you ever had to knowingly make design decisions which diminished what is called the "user experience"? Alternatively, have you ever been at the receiving end of the same? ◊
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Naomi Price
1/11/2012 4:38 PM EST
I have the same problem with my TomTom -- and the connector is nearly impossible to attach once the unit is mounted on it's stand.
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daleste
1/11/2012 10:02 PM EST
I too thought the mini-USB would be the best for my new devices since I have many cables and charges from cameras, phones and other devices. The latest devices I have aquired seem to have moved to the micro-USB. I have a Blackberry, Motorola S10 headset and a Kindle Fire that all use the micro-USB, so I am moving in that direction. I guess as things get smaller the connectors need to as well.
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didymus7
1/13/2012 3:01 PM EST
My latest acquaintance with odd design decisions is a Philips mini-MP3 player. They graciously supplied a micro-USB to std USB adapter cable for charging and memory access. But the cable is 3" from end to end. Sooooo, plugging it into my floor-standing computer, the tiny MP3 player is lying flat on the floor, ready to be stepped on. I sure the length of the cable was based on two ideas: 1) It's cheaper. and 2)Everybody only uses notebook computers these days.
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WKetel
1/14/2012 5:50 PM EST
The Tom-Tom problem happened because the styling people ruled and the functional people were outvoted. The HUGE fault with those incredibly small connectors is that they are both fragile and non-reparable. But they are probably cheap, and cheap beats quality for most manufacturers every time. Also, the cable is quite delicate as well, which is what we would expect with #40 wire. Mini and Micro USB connectors do save space, but I would be very pleased to buy a product that had larger and much more robust connectors. Unfortunately, the concept of refusing to purchase poor quality products has been removed from many people's brains, it seems.
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sudo
1/15/2012 5:38 PM EST
WK: "Unfortunately, the concept of refusing to purchase poor quality products has been removed from many people's brains, it seems."
Yes, that is a problem but unfortunately, even informed consumers aften don't have real alternatives. Just recently, I was reading a review of the supposedly 10 best ADSL wireless routers. I was all cashed up ready to buy but unfortunately, they all had some annoying problems which would be a dealbreaker for me and the single acceptable one is very difficult to find.
Manufacturers also tend to follow fads, so often there is no real choice. A few years ago, after the tyranny of black, manufacturers of consumer electronics devices decided that silver is a way to go. At the time, I was buying my (probably last) VHS player for the ability to occasionally play some old casettes. I wanted black to fit in with the surroundings and any other electronic gadget around it. Even though there were several different players on the shelves, it was IMPOSSIBLE to find a black one. I went through the same thing with a clock radio, although I found a black one which had a subtle but annoying fault, as I later discovered. (Despite battery backup, time wasn't kept accurately during a blackout, even a very short one - like pulling the mains plug and reconnecting immediately. The time would come back just 1/2 hour or so out - not easy to notice but enough to make you late. Thanks, "Phony"!!) Superficially it looks like we, comsumers, have choice but in a large part it's an illusion. It's just more of the same.
Adding to that, some problems are only obvious after you bought the product, sometimes much later. Like my time keeping problem but I'd have several more examples of odd bugs.
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DutchUncle
1/16/2012 8:37 AM EST
Second the motion. Sometimes it seems as if every item in a category is really the same chassis out of a single factory, and the only difference is the nameplate. This is especially annoying with processor-based items, in which you'd think differentiated features were easier to create (more timers, different timing increments, etc.)
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Earl54
3/2/2012 6:34 PM EST
Perhaps another problem is that we, as well as the public in general, don't complain to the manufacturer. When did you last write a letter, send an e-mail, or call and rant, politely, of course, to someone that could forward your complaint to the design department? I know I'm guilty of thinking I ought to do so, but run out of "round to it's". At least the groups I've worked in, we love to get customer feedback so we can make products people like to use. As customers, though, we rarely provide that feedback.
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