Embarrassing UX: Part 1 — Bathrooms
In this series I will discuss where bad UX has caused the dreaded emotion of embarrassment. The irritating thing is it’s often is due to careless or unthoughtful design, and the sort of problems that would spring up from the smallest sample of testing.
First up, bathrooms.
And before you click away thinking this is going to put you off your lunch, it’s not. It’s got nothing to do with that stuff that happens in a bathroom.
We’ve all been there. A bathroom that doesn’t quite make sense. Whether it’s an odd layout, confusing signs or useless equipment.
Bad design 1: Signposting
I went to this hipster arts “festival” in Waterloo where everything tried to challenge the norm. Drinking out of jam jars instead of glasses, sitting on wooden boxes instead of chairs and food served on anything but a plate. Hipster heaven.
So I needed a trip to the boys room. However, when I saw the two doors in front of me, I couldn’t work out which one to enter.
One had the letter “G” and the other had the letter “L”. I instinctively thought G stood for Gentlemen and went in, only to my horror to find it was in fact the “Girls” room. Which therefore meant that “L” stood for Lads, or something of that ilk.
Moronic.
Why would you possibly want to mess with one of the longest standing design conventions that we rely on a daily basis? If you’re not going to write “Ladies” and “Gentlemen” or use the well known icons used in most other establishments then you’re putting your customers at risk of personal embarrassment in your establishment. That wouldn’t bode well for that person’s subconscious feelings about your place.
It’ll harm the experience and ultimately future business — don’t do it.
Bad design 2: Careless sinks and aggressive taps
This case of bad design is so common that comedies have mocked it for decades.
Think Mr. Bean and the wet crotch hilarity.
We all know what that makes it look like when you come out. It’s embarrassing. And yet still today you’re not safe from this happening to you. Some brainiacs still design sinks that allow this to potentially happen. Whoever you are, please stop. I’ve never designed a sink so I wouldn’t know but please just do some testing of your sink before you get it mass produced and installed into a pub I may go. Thanks.
Bad design 3: Badly placed appliances
Finally, a lack of planning in the early stages can cause a long-term effect of irritation. When I go into a bathroom I sometimes find it difficult to understand the thought process behind the layout. The picture below is from a colleague who was so unsatisfied by the bathroom layout she felt obliged to take the photo to show me.
Recently I’ve experienced a hand dryer that was positioned directly above the loo roll holder. Causing the loo roll to unravel when drying your hands. Not the worst of embarrassments, but annoying and wasteful for sure.
Unlike the last example, I feel I don’t need to have experience in designing bathrooms to know what is right and wrong to do. Simply, planning. And common sense.
Annnd, rant over.
It feels so much better when you get these issues out. That’s all I have to say about the matter.
If you have any examples of bad toilet design that causes embarrassment please comment below. And like any public bathroom, keep it clean.
Stay tuned for part of 2 of UX embarrassments, shopping.
This article was written by William George-Carey, UX Architect at Rufus Leonard.
