This started as an assignment for Designing for Constraints, where we were tasked to examine a digital appliance that we deal with, analyze its usability, and suggest improvements. The example we looked at in class was an alarm clock, but as I don’t have one (I’m the cellphone alarm type), I started looking around at other things in my apartment that confound me on a daily basis. The one that stuck out, and for very similar reasons to the clock, was my oven.

This sounds like a stupid idea: it’s an oven, it just heats stuff, right? No. This is an oven with a digital interface (complete with clock) and it annoys the hell out of me. I can never figure out how to get it to time and cook and such. I work with technology all day. I’m getting a master’s degree in technology. I should not be bested by a cooking appliance, but yet, here I am writing about my struggles with it.

This is the beast in question:

And then here’s the closeup:

In case that’s hard to see, there’s a blurrier but brighter shot here as well.

The process I examined here was setting the oven temperature and the cook time, which as noted above, is an awful lot like setting an alarm clock.

1. Task: Set the time from 12:00 to 11:59
2. Buttons: [CT]Cook Time [T]emp [S]tart [M]inutes
3. Notation: / press \ release * repeat task s- seconds to complete

And here’s the video of me attempting to set the oven to cook something for 25 minutes at 430 degrees (not that I know what would ever need to be cooked for that long at that temperature). As is visible in the video, I even screw it up a bit, hitting the wrong buttons — and this is something I use! It’s in my apartment!

[Video]

The notation for the use is as follows:

[CT/ \ ] [M/ -6seconds] [T/ -5seconds] [S/]
or

[CT/ \ ] [M/ \ *25 -11seconds] [T/ \ *16 -5seconds] [S/]

Analysis — this is much like the alarm clock analysis as well:

Honestly, the process is frustrating, but it’s much better than your average clock. It’s much better than your average nearly anything. It has up and down buttons, which is much better than most clock-based interfaces. My issue is the same as the Timex example we looked at for class — either you get frustrated while holding down the up or down buttons (for both temperature and time) but wait, or you get frustrated and start tapping out each increment (which is equally annoying). I’d suggest a boost in speed for each two-second period you hold the up or down button for, which would greatly speed the process along.

In terms of things I’d wish it had, the microwave-style keypad would be WONDERFUL, especially since it’s a digital interface to begin with. That would allow for super-speedy settings for everything, and would make me feel like much less of a tool every time I use the machine. Also, and this is a blatant steal from Michael Chadill’s post about synths and keyboards, but a jog wheel is such a wonderful, wonderful concept. It gives such a precise amount of control over setting parameters, but it’s of course a little less sleek-looking, at least for how the oven’s panel is now. Granted, that’s not all that sleek now, but still.
I asked my girlfriend how she felt about the process, and how difficult it was for her to use, and her only response was “what the hell is wrong with you?” — in this case meaning she has no problem with it and is quite comfortable with its operation. Maybe it’s just me.

So, this is how it would look if one were to use a keypad instead. I wanted to have it actually *on* the subject in question, so there was less of an issue about whether the study was affected by location and situation.

SO much faster. The user can now set both parameters in just a few seconds, and (in my opinion, at least) the confusion/frustration levels are much lower.

Interesting to note:
- First off, when I first did the post-it with the keypad on it, I forgot to put a zero. I did one through nine on the top nine boxes, then start, clear and off as the bottom three. My subject noticed this immediately. Interesting what you’ll glaze over, even when you think you’re completely focused on something.
- Secondly, my subject preferred to use the buttons already on the oven to start the timer, even though I had buttons for just that on the keypad. As she explained, habit often wins over practicality.

And so, here’s the final redesign:

And here’s the the Processing mockup: