row of lockers

This is a simple frustration I encounter several times a week at the gym. There are several sets of lockers available to use, and frequently they are nearly all in use. Additionally, the housekeeping staff endeavors to keep the doors shut on any open lockers. In the end, this means having to literally try the door on all of them until you find one that is open. Or, you can look for a tiny red led. Here’s the part that bothers me – the led lights up when the locker is in use. In a grid of lockers, wouldn’t it make more sense to have designed the light so that it lit up when NOT in use? So that I could scan the rows and look for one that is lit up, meaning AVAILABLE?

It’s the details, folks.

Self serve grocery scanners

I saw these at a grocery store in Provincetown, MA, while visiting. Using your grocery card, you check out one of the scanners from the wall display, and grab some empty grocery sacks. As you shop, you use the scanner gun to scan each item (the big yellow button) as you put it in the bag. When you are done, you put the scanner in the checkout machine and pay.

Scanner in the cart holster

While I’m sure the novelty of laser-shooting your groceries (pew! pew!) would wear off, what I liked about this system was the ability to see a running total on the scanner. (Shown in the photo as $1.00) It also shows sale items via ads displayed on the scanner, and I have a feeling I’d be susceptible to that as well. The scanner with its few buttons is easy to learn, and offers the ability to scroll your items in the list and remove them. I wasn’t playing close enough attention to see if the checkout system verified weight to reduce theft, but I’m assuming it did.

I’d use it.

While I remodeled most of my kitchen about two years ago, I have not yet replaced the built-in oven. The oven still works, but it’s clock and timer was set with a plastic knob which over the years grew brittle and broke off. I’ve come to rely on the timer on my microwave — an over-the-cooktop model — to conveniently track goodies in the oven, on the stovetop, and even for non-cooking tasks like napping.

Unfortunately, the folks at Maytag have unnecessarily limited the timer function to four digits. The actual display is six or seven digits long, but the timer can’t be set for longer than 99 minutes, 99 seconds. If I’m slow-roasting garlic, then I have to set it twice. Or use my iPhone’s timer.

It’s frustrating, but a good lesson. Customers may use your product differently than you think they will. Their particular context may create uses for your product which you very likely will not anticipate. If you want your product to have maximum usefulness, then take the time to talk to your customers and visit them where they are using your product. It’ll be time well spent.