So there's a user experience associated every interaction we have whether it's with a web site, a person, situation or a product.
As I prepared my Singer sewing machine for the task of adding some finishing touches to my daughter's pretty teal green satin Sadie Hawkins Dance dress, my brain quickly focused on usability as I attempted to thread the needle with my aging eyes. These days not only is it impossible to thread the needle of my sewing machine without my glasses, it's even tough to thread it while I'm wearing them! I realized something important this week: Although necessity may be the mother of invention, usability plays a significant role in it as well.
Here's the breakdown of the scenario and the user experience.
I'm attempting to complete a task (threading the needle on my sewing machine) for which I now need an assistive device ie. my reading glasses. As I attempt to complete the task, I am required to take several steps that render the process inefficient. I turn the little light that is built into the sewing machine 'on' and realize it is of no value to assist me with task completion.
Then I get up and walk across the room to turn on the overhead light and sit back down at the sewing machine to again attempt to thread the needle, still with no success. What other ways can I reach task completion I wonder to myself. Idea.... I walk over to the jelly cupboard to pull out the flashlight so I can add the hand held spotlight to assist with task completion. Thankfully the beam of the flashlight provides the necessary light and the needle is threaded. I can proceed with the real task at hand which is adding some straps to the beautiful teal satin dress.
Over all my user experience related to threading the needle is not positive. In addition to the lighting being inappropriately placed on the sewing machine, I once again encounter the reality of the aging process.
The silver lining... The experience opened my eyes to a redesign opportunity for Singer or any other sewing machine manufacturer with regard to wattage and positioning of the light on a sewing machine. I would estimate that the average age of folks interested in sewing spans most age demographics and probably weighs more on the 35+ female demographics. Physiologically normal eye sight does begin to deteriorate in the 40+ demographics. Threading the needle is a critical priority task and therefore ways to improve ease of use related to design should be of value to purchasers.
So remember as you continue to become more aware of your positive and negative user experiences, look for the opportunities in those experiences because they may just be the mother of the next great invention!
Now I've got to go so I can finish some hand-stitching on that pretty teal satin dress.
2 comments:
So true so true! But one thing: The "aging" eye is occurring sooner than 40 these days because of the advent of hight computer screen use. Most people now own and use computers and they are getting smaller by the day. When most of your vision is centered in the midrange - which is what a computer is classified as - midrange vision - you begin to lose distance and up close at an earlier age. We seen so many people now who need reading glasses in their thirties because they work on computers all day long. And their distance needs are changing more rapidly than ever before as well. So computers have made our lives wonderfully efficient, but at what cost to our long term vision>>??
Very interesting trends in vision deterioration. To that point then, manufacturers of products like the sewing machine would benefit from designing products to compensate for the trend you've identified. Yours adds validity to the design recommendation made related to the sewing machine and lighting, or designing needles with larger eyes to feed through the thread.
Keeping this trend in mind I wonder which markets might be early adopters in product redesigns to support the changing needs of a younger demographic?
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