The world around us

We interface with our homes as well as the web (in case you forgot). Here's a case in my own home, which frustrates me on occasion:


It's hard to tell exactly what this is, but it's a hallway closet door opening right into the hallway light. The architect/construction folks seemed to think it was a all right for the door to only open to 90 degrees from closed and smack into the light if there was any attempt to open it further. Every time I open the door, I cringe when I hear the door bang against the light. If I happen to not be paying too much attention and open the door quickly, I'm sure I'm going to break the lamp.

The hallway ceiling is very low, that's part of the problem. One solution would have been to install a canister light instead (and there is plenty of room above the ceiling for it; I checked).

What this article is really about is not necessarily that construction workers and architects are unthoughtful, but that there are multiple challenges that need to be overcome on large projects.

1) It's hard to see what the finally product will really look like until it's done. And in the case of an apartment, once the frame is up, things start to roll pretty quickly and small details like the placement of a lamp are often missed.
2) Cost is a factor. I might guess that someone actually pointed out the problem, but too late. By then, the lamp had already been purchased and taking it back and buying a new one was not in the schedule or budget.
3) Levels of indirection. Maybe the architect really did plan for a canister light or some other better solution (though considering the age and nature of the complex I'm in, I doubt it. Lowest possible bidder won out here). But the plans went through several hands and decisions where made. And in the end, construction workers really don't care about design; they just build according to what they're told or what the quickest, cheapest way it can get done

(side note: I'm really generalizing on construction contractors, I know. But I've met plenty of them and had work done by such folks and it's a rare few that actually think in terms of design and usability. And I treasure those contractors when I find them.)

The point is, usability and user interfaces exist more than on just the web or in a computer.