UCD Week 2

Bad Design in Everyday Life..

Kovan Hawker Centre

A very busy, crowded place with the hustle and bustle of people buying and selling food.
Long queues at selected, famous stalls together with crowds of people ‘eyeing’ for tables and seats to have their meals.

Observation of how people use the space:

- When a woman is pushing the pram in between the tables, another elderly lady sulks with the unhappiness that she has
to give way to the woman with her pram.

- Customers are frustrated and become restless when they have to wait for their food for a long time during the busy
lunch hours.

- When a man buys his food and wants to take a seat at his table, a family blocks his way looking around at the different
stalls despite many ‘Excuse me’-s from the man.

- Repeated pleas to buy tissue packets from the elderly resulting in a rude refusal from people seated at the tables.

- Stall holder moving on to the next customer in the queue because of an undecided customer at the front of the queue
on what he wants to buy.

- Tables are wet and dirty with the remainings of the food yet the cleaner takes a long time to clean them.

Some Services/ Items that are built for human use

- Wash basins
- Toilets
- Food stalls
- Tables

3a. What is the item/service?
Wash basin

b. Who uses it?
Everyone who patronizes the hawker centre

c. When do they use it?
Before/after having their meals at the hawker centre

d. How did they use it?
- They turn on the tap
- Wash their hands together with some soap
- They turn off the tap

e. Is it easy to figure out the purpose/ function of this item/ service?
Yes, because it is one which is of daily use both at home and outside home.

f. Is it clear and easy to tell how the user is supposed to interact with it?
Yes, because it is something we actually use since our young age.

g. Does the item/ service take human behaviour into account?
Yes, because the physical condition of the wash basin depends on the human behaviour itself. The proper use by the people would result in a long lasting basin. Similarly, a harsh use would result in a stale and deteriorated basin.

h. Is it logical?
Yes, because it is essential for the sake of cleanliness.

i. Is it safe?
Yes, because there is no form of danger or risk such as sharp objects involved.

j. Is it pleasing to look at?
It depends on how well it is used by people and where it is located at.

k. How flexible is it to use?
It is largely flexible to use except for the fact that the height of the wash basin might be an issue for children.

l. Can people with special needs use it?
Everyone can use it, however if the tap is too tight, it might affect the aged people as they would require more strength to turn on the tap.

m. Which aspect of needs do you think this item satisfies?
Physical: For cleanliness.
Social: It is essential for the public use.

4. One very poorly designed item/service

One very poorly design item in my home is the flight of stairs located at the living room leading to the rooms on the second level. The handrails and even the steps are often slippery and might be a danger to elderly people who might have little strength to actually grip the handrails tightly. Also, the number of steps leading to the second level might actually be a hassle and tire them.

In addition, the narrow steps might also pose a danger for the elderly who have to take extra caution when climbing the steps. When the stairs are already narrow and slippery, one could actually imagine the extent to which it might be slippery in case the stairs are wet. This is definitely a danger to the elderly as it is in no way suitable or safe considering their age and the strength they might actually need to possess to grip the handrail tightly and climb the stairs.

5. What improvements would you suggest?
- Rubber surface on the handrails to provide tighter and easy gripping when climbing the stairs

- Texture of the stairs’ floor surface to be rough so that it would prevent slipping