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Sometimes the simplest design project shows just how hard it really is to create a simple, usable, yet elegant solution.

I’ve been on the road for work a lot recently, which has resulted in me being exposed to the different technologies in use in our offices across the United States. 

It’s always interesting to see the wide variety of solutions to the same problem, and the pros and cons of each design.

I found this design (above) to be confusing. The red button is clear, and I presume the blue one means cool or room temperature water. But what the heck is the green button for?!

This one is pretty clearly labeled, but – as evidenced by the mess on the backsplash – it’s hard to know where to position your cup to get the ice or water in your glass.

And this one. Cold water is clear, but I’m not really sure why there are two hot water buttons. I assume it’s temperature control, but where is the user feedback? Do you have to touch the water (and risk burning your hand!) to know if you’ve gotten the temperature you wanted? I’m sure this is a more cost effective control than one with a digital interface, but if you move up and down, what is the baseline? I don’t see a reset option, which means if you use the machine after someone, the starting point is complete guesswork. And, while it’s a nice idea to have a sanitation option, that just caused me to pay attention to how dirty the machine was.

Although this was a bit of a nitpicky post, I am trying to make a point. In the big scheme of things this is a relatively simple consumer device. Yet there is a lot of variety in how the problem was solved, and what kinds of outcomes were produced by the designer.

If you multiply that by the complexity of enterprise software, it becomes clear why user involvement and iterative testing is so important!