Door Trouble

Though watching someone walk into a door is quite amusing, when it's you who happens to crashing to a  door, it becomes not so funny. One of the biggest design flaws i've ever encountered belongs to a building right in the middle of my college campus.  A door generally has a hand placed vertically for someone to pull it, as our mental models of other doors has taught us.  However this particular set of doors is the complete opposite.  Instead of having a push bar or something that says "push", a vertically placed handle rests on the door.  Though the door still affords the capability to be opened and closed, it causes constant errors with users as they leave the building.  This particular design flaw is quite interesting in many ways.  After encountering the door multiple times during my college career, I still mix up whether I should pull or push the door open.  The handle is aesthetically pleasing and matches the rest of the wood work within the building, however creates errors that leads users to encounter mistakes many times.

From a usability standpoint I propose a solution to this issue that is not expensive and can be easily done.  Instead of having to take off the handle and replace all the parts and the door itself possibly, I believe that by simply removing the handle and placing it horizontally on the door will solve the issues.  Our past experiences with doors tell us that typically when you see a horizontal handle that is long and along the center/side of the door, we should push it (not pull).  This will also save the college money due to not having to replace the door or handles and can simply just shift their positioning on the door itself.  By doing this, the college won't have to spend money on replacing any handles, and individuals such as myself, won't crash into the door any longer.

It's Always too High or Too Low....Table Issues

One of the most annoying things I can think of when in a house is when the table is either too high or too low.  Though most of us don't think about this too often thanks to our mental models of a table, we use them how they're supposed to be used anyways. When sitting at an ordinary table, we can generally rest our hands and arms across the table at a comfortable position. However when we rise or drop the table height by a few inches it becomes extremely uncomfortable.  

Due to "The Great Marquette Flood of 2015", I am currently staying with some friends in their apartment.  While staying here I've noticed that the island in their kitchen that is supposed to be used at a table is very high and poses design issues.  The individuals residing at the apartment have a variety of chairs around the table and none of them are the ideal height to use this table.  I've have personally seen many occasions when visitors try to use the table with the chairs they have and end up pushing the chairs away and just standing at the table instead due to height of the table.  

To solve this design issues of the table in the kitchen, I have a few proposals that could solve the issue and provide a comfortable and usable piece for their apartment.  My first idea to fix this issues would be to ask the LandLord what the model of the table is and find the chairs that are built to fit this table exactly.  These chairs may be the exact height that would allow an individual to enjoy the table and allow it to be used for its original purpose, rather then a standing post for individuals to lean on.  My second idea to fix this problem is a bit more radical and may not be the most cost efficient option.  The owners to the apartment could replace this table/island and instead provide a normal kitchen table for the kitchen.  Though this isn't the most efficient option, it would eliminate the issue entirely and provide an item that individuals would be more comfortable using.

Exit Through the Wall

When sitting at dinner this past week, I noticed something very odd with the wall right besides my table.  Our dining hall at college has temporary walls that can be moved and rearranged to accompany different dining situations that are needed.  These walls afford the capability for different designs and larger dining sessions, however when they are moved they can afford some different uses by accident.  This specific situation deals with one of the exiting signs found along side of the wall in the cafeteria.  This situation could afford a serious health risk if something were to arise in the cafeteria and if individuals used the mental model of an exit sign and went to leave through this specific door.

Though this isn't a huge design flaw, and most would recognize that the doorway wouldn't actually work for what they needed it for but it could be considered a design flaw because of its mapping within the cafeteria at this time.  The original purpose is an exit which it says along the top, but the position of the door states that it is not being used for this purpose.

Bathroom Issues

Recently I was visiting a friend of mine who lives in a dorm on campus, and we started talking about issues that they have with their dorm.  Besides the typical "the rooms are too hot" or "my roommate is the issue", the bathrooms were on the top of the list.  So upon hearing this, I went to the bathroom to investigate what the issues was.  Upon walking in, I noticed right away that the stall door inside the bathroom gets hit by the outside door every time it is opened.  

When looking at the door from the inside, it looks like everything fits just fine and there should be no issue.  However, once the bathroom is actually being used, the issue becomes very apparent and there is definitely a problem with how the bathroom is designed.  The bathroom fits very well and looks very neat, all the stalls fit perfectly and the doors all open.  But when actually being used by individuals (Human Centered Design), we can see that the main goal was left out of the equation when built.  The use of a mental models states that typically you would pull open the door (as the handle suggests), however if the outside door is being open then the error in the design arises. I would consider removing the inside stall if it were to be rebuilt, thus eliminating the usability flaw in the design of the basement bathroom.