About a year ago I was at Ikea with my family and we bought a stainless steel colander. One of our goals was to reduce the amount of plastic that we use, and the colander appeared to be the right size. Stainless steel is durable, clean, and aesthetically pleasing.
I brought it home, it worked, and I didn't think much of it. After some additional time using it though something started to bother me.
Before I say what it is, let's talk about what a colander should be. It needs to contain a variety of food shapes and sizes while allowing the liquid to drain out. I would say this is its primary purpose. Next, the food is emptied out and put back into the pot or another container. Finally, the colander is washed and set out to dry. All of these steps should be done quickly and easily.
My new colander almost meets the criteria I just outlined. It’s almost great. I almost love it, but I don’t. Let’s walk through my experience with it.
I pour the noodles and water into the colander.
I wait for the water to drain and the steam to subside.
I pick up the colander and gently shake it.
I pour the noodles back into the pot.
Some of the noodles don’t fall out.
I tap on it. I shake it. I hit the side of it to loosen the noodles.
The noodles fall on the counter, stove, or floor.
My brain says WTF…
As you may have noticed it has a usability problem. It doesn’t pour food out well. Food consistently gets caught on the internal lip. Noodles, vegetables, all kinds of food get stuck when it is almost emptied. It is irritating. Someone could say this is such a minor inconvenience, it’s not even worth thinking about. Just leave it in there and wash it out later. There are two problems with that statement.
One, minor inconveniences are amplified over time. They start off small and insignificant but they become big over time. This communicates to the user that their time and efforts are not important. Don’t design and sell products that say that. There is no brand loyalty there.
Second, the shortcoming of this design also makes it difficult to clean. Pretending the problem isn’t there, just delays the problem and makes it worse. Small parts of food get trapped when the colander is washed requiring the user to wash it several times before it is clean. This is unnecessary and inconvenient. It wastes water. It is not good design.
So, this brings up an important question: Why would someone design a colander that can't pour out food properly? I can only speculate. Aesthetically it looks very nice and clean without seeing the rolled edge on the outside. The product looks great. So, was it worth it? In my opinion, definitely not. Something that consistently interferes with the fundamental purpose of a product cannot be. Luckily, it’s an easy fix. Put the rolled edge on the outside surface.
Designs like this really bother me. Why? Usability problems that could easily have been identified and remedied drive me up the wall. Products need to be useful; therefore, those of us in product development should use our products before we release them into the world. There are no excuses. Here are some things to watch for when testing designs:
Compensatory Behavior: Do not listen to what people tell you. If they have become accustomed to a problem they will not notice it anymore and cannot tell you about it. Watch how they use the product and pay attention to what slows them down or doesn't work ideally.
Rationalization: People will do things they aren't aware of. They see themselves in a way that is different than who they really are. Often, people make decisions based on emotional reasons and backfill with rationalizations. Always ask if they can show you how they do something.
Ask why questions: This will help you dig for motivations. They help you understand people's behavior and decision-making process.
Do not ask future tense questions: People have a hard time projecting their behavior into the future. It is also difficult for people to imagine how they would interact with something they haven't used before. These questions sound helpful but the information you get usually isn't reliable.
Here is a great video if you are interested in more information about talking to your consumers/customers: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8tiuWYs5Z-A&t=15s
Don’t make things that are almost great or almost loved. Don’t let a small inconvenience prevent your customers from making strong emotional bonds to your products and your brand. Pay attention to the user experience and the small things that affect it. Test it, test it, test it. The details are what separate great products from the good. It’s how German cars and Apple products earned their reputation.
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