Design Sojourn

Interesting, the first time I’ve seen one of these apart from the Dyson Airblade of course (is it the same concept?)

It does look like a trash can but also about the towel dispenser when you take one of those and dry your hands, what’s your instinctive next action? For me it’s to move, I don’t want to stand in the same place to dry my hands. So maybe that’s another contributing factor as to why people put their towels in the hand dryer.

Excellent. I just posted this picture http://www.flickr.com/photos/steveportigal/3968684997/ of a bin for used towels with a too-subtle visual cue and a lack of acknowledgement for natural actions. From the IDSA09 conference last week!

I wonder how would something as simple as a grille or a mesh on top of this serve as a cue that “no, objects don’t go in this opening” without the expense of a complete redesign.

Great stuff DT.

The Dyson Airblade has the U-shaped channel and while the aesthetics communicate the function well, it’s kind of awkward ergonomically. I would prefer to sick my hands straight out and have them dried, but I guess I don’t know all the constraints.

@david and @cameron: Spot on, this product is very similar to the Dyson Airblade, of which is the first time I’ve seen it. So thanks for the heads up. I do like that dual subtle curve that is used to communicate where you would slide your hands in and out.

@steve: Thanks for stopping by and sharing that link! Now that’s what happens when designers come together, the problem spotting I mean, not the hygiene.

@kevin: For this to work you can’t have a grill, you need to slide your hands in and out. Check our the Dyson Airblade for an idea.

Thanks for re-directing me back here DT. As I said there are quite a few more well designed U-section style ones here in Japan. I was just thinking whether the lights could be more of an orange to indicate warmth, and also deter throwing paper in there – alah fire, in response to Kevin’s suggestion of a retro-fit.

Hi Karl,

Thanks for that heads up and for sure a different color will work, unless the interior designers / architects want it to blend into the environment more.

@DT – the fact that the unit is meant for you to stick your hand through is not communicated clearly – I think this may be a case where a very specific utility is used regionally, but not internationally, so while for the original designer it would have been an obvious design, for those not familiar with the unit, the obvious purpose of a stainless steel vertical unit with an opening on top near the paper-towel rack would be a trash can.

This is where pictography would come into play, with an illustration of the operation of the machine clearly displayed. Either in the top or along the front (maybe that’s already the case?)

I just looked at the dyson airblade. The open and curved design of it makes it obvious it’s not a container, and there is a pictograph along the top illustrating it’s use.

So, in this case, i think that while the unit may be technically superior (I see airvents along the sides in addition to the front/back) – it’s simply not communicating it’s intended purpose clearly enough.

@kevin, spot on and thanks for sharing.

there’s also the rather interesting result that the designer is essentially asking the users to shove their freshly cleaned hands into what appears to be a public bin. So even the ones who don’t throw paper in it aren’t likely to want to use it for its intended purpose.

@shane – yeah, i look at that and my reaction is “Yeah, i’m not sticking my hands in there”.

now here’s a timely piece!

http://www.core77.com/blog/object_culture/new_dyson_invention_intended_to_blow_your_hair_back_14925.asp