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It’s a lazy Saturday morning. I woke up, brewed some coffee (helping myself to some more right now), sat down at my computer and started browsing through my RSS feeds. That’s when I came across an article by Adrian Shaughnessy, on Design Observer, Look and Feel / Nip and Tuck.

It’s kind of a silly thing to write a follow up on, at least at first glance. I set out for a languid read and then found myself involved. So the question, to unjustly reduce the article to a sound bite is this.

Today, the term [”Look and Feel”] has seeped into everyday usage, and it has become widely used by commissioners of graphic design. Why?

The speculation goes on to consider its’ increase use, on the importance of usability in modern design, to referencing overall branding within design. Needless to say, “look and feel”, as a term to describe anything, is vague at best (unless of course you are talking about a car, and even then, it begs for articulation).

In scanning through some of the responses to Brian’s article, one jumped out at me with a poignant questions:
Are we trying to keep this shit a secret?

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I’m not one to think of products like soap or tube socks, as having a user interface, but in the practical sense, they do. We tend to lump product user interface design, into the parent category of product design. None-the-less, there is a distinction here. In some products, we can refer to the user interface as Ergonomics, such as the chair I’m seated in. In others, this doesn’t seem to be appropriate, such as a bag of cookies (or, in my case, a can of cookies).

Thursday night, after a nice meal at Yo Yo Sushi, we decided to stop in and pick up a few things at the drug store. While we were standing in line to check out, Lauren buckled at an impulse rack and purchased some cookies that were on sale 2 cans for $5.

I have to say, they didn’t look bad. They were described as Delicious Caramel Toffee Cookies, and two for five bucks. Okay, maybe the sake from the restaurant was helping this impulse, but the deal was sealed and we never looked back.

Fig. 1

That is, until the following morning when we were having a hankering for some delicious caramel toffee cookies. That’s where the bad cookie UI design comes in.

First, Lauren tried opening the can. She removed the strip of tape from around the lip of the lid and proceeded to try to pull the lid to the can off, with her fingers. Grunt, Moan, Whimper! Next, being a man (and feeling I should do something about that), I decided to step in and offer my manly strength. Grunt, Moan, Whimper! ( ego crushed ).

So indeed, serious problems call for serious solutions. Out comes my all-in-one, portable cookie tool ( pictured at the top ), which by the way was purchased from an impulse rack as well.

Bang, Crunch, Slice! ( see Fig 1.)

Ah, cookies at last (wipes sweat from brow). They were lousy by the way. But as I reached in for another, I noticed the cause of all my frustration, Poor UI Design!. Seriously. This wasn’t like a bag of potato chips you can’t open. That’s just poor manufacturing or wrong materials. This was a case of poor design. The lid, you see, did not fit over the top of the can, as you might expect, seeing as the lip was on the outside. It actually went inside the can and then curled over the top of the can to form a pinched lip. This is similar to how the top of a can of soup is sealed to the can. The difference being, they expect you to use a can opener to get to your soup, not to your cookies.

There is something to be said for making resolutions. I don’t necessarily attach these to a particular time of the year or particularly special occasion, but I do make them. Resolutions help you grow, right? At least, that’s the intention.

There has been an interesting buzz trending around the internet, for the past few weeks, that shouldn’t go unmentioned. The buzz word in this trend is critique. Whether it’s criticizing ourselves, criticizing others or criticizing how others are criticizing us, the venom is in the air. ‘Tis the season, right?

I think critique is healthy. It can be a method by which to grow, much the same as a resolution. In fact, at best, healthy critique can lead to thinking, reflection and ultimately resolution.

On December 13th, Andy Clarke stirred up the bees’ nest by calling for a disbanding of the CSS Working Group. Two days later Jeffrey Zeldman responded to Andy’s rally, with rather harsh criticism.

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