If you ever had these questions, and felt like a dumbass, you are not alone. This is a classic example of Bad Legacy Design(BLD).
We encounter this design almost everyday and billions of people around the world too.
When I first encountered this design, around 10–12 years ago, I was totally confused; and even now, I often press the wrong button. (Or simply both, when I don’t want to stress my brain!)
After struggling with it for years, I finally decided to come up with some simple solutions to make life easier.
Solution 1:
How about making the actions obvious by using text?
In the above diagram, there are less chances of error as the text makes the intention clear.
But wait a minute, what if the person doesn’t know English? Or what if the text is written in French? If you don’t know French, how will you know what it means?
Solution 2:
Instead of text can we use understandable diagrams?
Using diagrams will convey the meaning universally so, we don’t have to worry about the language.
Although Solution 1 is more clear to the person who knows English, Solution 2 has a universal reach, even though it takes a tiny bit of time to interpret and understand the diagram.
If you saw the above elevator panel in a random hotel in Mongolia, how would you interpret the meaning of the diagram? (Add a comment below)
Solution 3:
How would you solve this?
Please share your ideas in the comments below. And don’t forget to clap if you liked the article!
Together let’s design a better world!
Brain Game(Go extra mile) : What if there are 10 elevators? Will the same design work? Or can we design a better system?
In the current system if there are 5 people in the elevator they might go to 5 different floors. People going on higher floors have to wait longer.
Is there a way to combine the people going on same floors so travel time can be optimised? How about asking the destination floor beforehand and direct the person to the elevator that would take him there fastest? How about fixing an elevator to go only on particular floors?
Well, we can go on and on.. who thought a simple thing like an elevator can be so complex! Anyways, its an interesting design challenge to work on!