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.