Description:
This is from my current dorm room (my third semester living here). Door is locked by pushing the button on
the handle. For 6 months I have locked myself out multiple times and could not figure out how. Turns out,
sometimes when I opened the door too much to leave the room, the button pushed into the wardrobe, locking me
out. Bad learnability (cannot figure out how it fails) and bad efficiency (I have to go down to the lobby to
ask for a temporary room key when it fails), OK security.
Solution:
Use locks that work by rotation which don't trigger as easily.
Problem 2: Door lock that does not unlock when opened from the inside
Images:
Image for demonstration, not the actual door.
Description:
This is from New House where I had to live for an emergency end of IAP 2021. Door lock works by locking the
handle to be used from outside. Opening the door from the inside does not unlock the handle. I have locked
myself out twice in the one week I had to use this room. Bad learnability (if I can open the door, I am
assuming it is unlocked) and bad efficiency (see problem 1), OK security.
Solution:
Use locks that lock the door instead of the handle. Or make the door unlock the handle when opened.
Problem 3: Stovetop tea kettle with a hard lid
Images:
Image taken from Amazon, not the actual kettle.
Description:
This is from my Airbnb last summer. I am an avid tea drinker. The way you use this is that you open the lid,
put water inside the kettle, close the lid, put it on the stove, and let water boil. However, this one has a
hard lid, so when you try to open the lid to see if the water is boiling, the steam burns your hand before
you can get your hand out of the way. Learnability OK (or maybe not, perhaps you are supposed to just use
the steam coming out of the beak as an indicator of the water boiling, I am still not sure), bad efficiency
(have to boil water for longer because I can't be sure if it is boiling), bad security (hurts my hand).
