Our new kettle is pushing my buttons
– posted February 17th, 2009 by Elizabeth Browne Comments (18)
I have a usability problem with our new kettle that I want to share. The most obvious button, the one on top of the handle that falls right under your thumb, doesn’t turn the damned thing on. Instead it makes the lid of the kettle flip open. So every time I go to switch it on, I end up opening the lid instead. The button I really want is at the bottom of the kettle and is hidden underneath the handle. Unless you are a leprechaun, or a very short consultant, this isn’t really in your line of sight.
Now, the amount of tea drunk during the day in iQ Content would float a battleship, so I have no doubt the top button will break soon from too much use, most of which was unintended. Then I will have no choice but to avail of my 2 year manufacturer guarantee and ask them to replace my €57.43 kettle, and as anyone here at iQ Content will tell you, I have the power to nag them until they do!
In the interests of full disclosure, I have to admit that I picked the frigging thing. How was I supposed to know that some genius in ‘unnamed manufacturer’ was trying to innovate his way out of the recession? It just goes to show that it’s possible to get a design completely wrong, even if it only has two buttons. Maybe I should bring one of the usability analysts with me next time I go shopping for a kettle?
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Categories Design, Technology, Usability
18 comments so far
1. Operant Conditioning? on Feb 17th, 2009 - 14:30
Maybe you should glue an upturned thumb tack to the offending button? A rapid and efficient way to train yourself and your colleagues!
2. John Wood on Feb 17th, 2009 - 16:33
Liz, thinking about this, we have a case of a kettle user interface that has been optimised for filling rather than boiling. The lid-flip button right under the thumb when you lift the kettle is 100% perfect for filling it from the tap. But for the other use case, boiling, it’s too obvious while the on/off switch is too in-obvious.
This is a real design problem, not resolved well here, it must be said. I wonder if anyone has seen a better kettle design out there. I must have a look.
3. Alan O'Rourke on Feb 17th, 2009 - 16:33
Our kettle here works similar and i have to say i find it very natural. Why would you be holding the handle when turning it on? Wouldnt you only be holding it that way when filling with water?
Dear Kettle makers, dont change a thing, i love it
4. Des Traynor on Feb 17th, 2009 - 16:37
Those kettles wreck my head. I have to confess, I just fill them through the spout anyways, so those “open” buttons are useless anyways.
Liz, would you consider getting some data on which is a more frequent task, filling or boiling. Anecdotally I’ve found that a kettle is boiled more times than it is filled as most people tend to fill a kettle to brim for even one cup of tea.
Hmm, one wonders.
These are the sort of problems you want Dyson to sort out.
Don’t get me started on lawnmowers.
5. John Wood on Feb 17th, 2009 - 17:33
Alan – it’s not that we’re holding the handle when turning it on, it’s that the only obvious button is the lid-opener when you look down on the damned thing.
Also, after you fill it and sit it back on the base, a common problem is hitting the lid button to switch it on as that’s right under your thumb. Gotta be a better way?
6. Alan O'Rourke on Feb 17th, 2009 - 17:44
I am waiting for a remote control for mine…
7. John Wood on Feb 17th, 2009 - 17:49
Remote controls are so twentieth century. Personally, I’m holding out for a touchscreen kettle, which should be along as soon as the minor “Scalding” defect on the UI is resolved.
8. Liz Browne on Feb 17th, 2009 - 17:54
I agree with Des this button is wasted on the kettle! Good idea Des re Data search
One example of another option - the Simply lift the OXO GOOD GRIPS Pick Me Up Kettle by its handle and the spout opens automatically! No awkward buttons or levers, just lift and pour!(or fill - added by Liz) The soft, non-slip handle is heat-resistant for added safety and contoured to fit your hand. Polished stainless steel construction is durable and easy to clean. The Kettle has a loud whistle to let you know when your water is ready and has a 1.8 quart capacity. Spout opens when Kettle is lifted. Soft, heat-resistant, non-slip handle. Durable polished stainless steel finish. 1.8 quart capacity. Hand wash only.
9. Liz Browne on Feb 17th, 2009 - 17:56
P.S. I want a voice recognition for my kettle.
10. John Wood on Feb 17th, 2009 - 18:11
The problem is, Liz, these are stove-top yankee kettles, so they have no power switch. Boiling a kettle with an electric element at 110 volts is painfully slow. So no good to us. I do love OXO Good Grips though, and you may be on to a winner with the grip-to-flip lid control.
I feel a new recruitment exercise coming on…
11. Ruairi Galavan on Feb 17th, 2009 - 18:12
What about using scratch input. I could boil the kettle from my desk.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2E8vsQB4pug
No need for a button on the kettle at all.
12. Laurence Veale on Feb 17th, 2009 - 22:46
Boiling a kettle with an electric element at 110 volts is painfully slow - John I’d suggest replacing the water with alcohol - it will boil at a lower temperature (78 Celsius) and hence a lot faster.
13. The Pot on Feb 18th, 2009 - 10:51
Black
14. Liz Browne on Feb 18th, 2009 - 15:39
Des I have no doubt after my lunchtime research the kettle is full more often than not and therefore boiling is the most frequent task. Especially if its individuals for e.g. in the office enviroment where only one or two cuppas are made at any one time and the individual may boil the kettle more than once due to distraction before the actual tea is made then his/her colleague appears sees plenty of water and hits the on button AGAIN! My research found ‘Overfilling the kettle is the biggest issue’
The real problem is that we are liable to boil more water than we need.
For e.g. Overfilling kettles in the UK wastes £1,000,000 a week in energy and contributes greatly to Carbon Dioxide emissions. An Environmental Change Institute survey quoted by the former Department of Environment, Transport and The Regions (DETR) suggests that, of the 97% of households who have kettles, overfilling by 100% is commonplace. Kettles are known to be energy-hungry appliances, consuming 29% of the energy attributed to cooking appliances (compared to electric ovens - the next greatest at 25%). Concerns over the energy wasted through overfilling kettles are sufficiently great to have been featured in the DETR’s “Are You Doing Your Bit?” TV campaign in 2000, and more recently with the Energy Savings Trust’s Tips for Energy Efficiency Week and again for World Environment Day, in which they suggest:
“Boil “only” enough — If everyone boiled only the water they needed to make a cup of tea instead of “filling” the kettle every time, we could save enough electricity in a year to run more than three quarters of the street lighting in the country.”
Furthermore with the Goverment quoting potential savings of £1,000,000 a week if we as a nation boil only the water that we need, every government energy saving website, council advice site, and electricity company website in the country carries the same energy-saving advice:Don’t overfill your kettle. Boil only the water that you need.
15. Piers on Feb 19th, 2009 - 17:49
After breaking out kettle last christmas we bought a Brevel Lightmaking Kettle.
When the kettle is plugged in the inside is bathed in a blue light; and when you boil the water it kettle lights up red. Simple
http://images.reevoo.com/produ.....15;500.jpg
16. I. G. on Feb 21st, 2009 - 21:32
Pot calling the kettle black?
17. Pranab Salian on Mar 11th, 2009 - 13:39
Could it be that the electric power button is located in such a position as to minimise the possibility of liquids dripping on to the button?
18. john on Mar 13th, 2009 - 13:25
That is entirely possible, Pranab. But it occurs to me that the switch’s location beside the electrical connection to the base of the kettle is most probably a matter of manufacturing expediency and cost saving. It’s simply cheaper and easier for the manufacturer to place it there, which is a wholly legitimate concern in Industrial Design.