How many design flaws can you find in this microwave's UI?

This is a true disaster. There are so many things wrong, I don't even know where to start. Perhaps I should tell the story of my first attempt to use it.

I grabbed a can of soup from the pantry, dumped it in a bowl, threw the bowl in the microwave, and... and... uh. Hold on. Hm.

The can said heat between 2:30 and 3:00, so I was thinking 2:40. Well, there were no numbers. I guessed the bigger button was a knob, despite having no markings. So, I tried turning it clockwise to add time. No dice. Nothing happened.

Maybe I had to start by clicking Start. I tried that, and again, nothing happened.

Next, I thought, well, sometimes, there's a "time cook" or "cook" button you have to hit before you can get started. So, I scanned for it and found it in the lower right hand corner. I pressed Cook, and it brought up a menu of which only part of it was legible in the display window at the top. I didn't want a menu. I just wanted some warm soup.

I found Off/Clear in the upper right hand corner and hit that button. Good, menu gone.

Then I noticed that below the knob there was a power button. Maybe the whole thing was powered off or something? I pressed it and still nothing happened. Wow. This thing is killing me.

I stood there for a sec, stunned I couldn't get a microwave to work. Then I remembered that the namelss knob was a little wobbly. Maybe I had to press it to start. Well, it turns out it is a pressable button, but it also does nothing. Finally, I resolved to actually read every individual button, and I finally saw Time Cook on the left side. I pushed that and then rotated the knob, which added time in 15-second increments. I then pushed Time Cook again to confirm and start. Nothing. So, I pushed the button/knob. It beeped but didn't start cooking. I scanned the buttons above and saw Start (only after dismissing it originally because it was also labled as Pause). Finally, I pushed Start and heated the soup for 2:45.

It might have been easier to cook it over a campfire.

So, what's wrong with this piece of shit. I could count at least ten independent things, almost all of which are noticeable just by looking it, and I'm sure there are many more build into the actual interaction.

Here are the flaws I found:

1. No number pad. If I learn it takes 2:35 to boil a cup of water, that should be easy to do over and over again. Punch 2-3-5-Start. Done.
2. Labels between buttons. If you glance at the left column, you can't tell which button corresponds to the Defrost label. You have to read the other labels before you can tell that labels are above buttons rather than below. Placing labels closer to their corresponding buttons would help.
3. No context for Combination. The word "Combination" is a poor button label without context: combination of what? I guess it's a mix of convection cooking and standard nuking. This could be clarified by the relative position of the button, but at the top of the list, you just can't tell.
4. Missing toggle indicator for Convection. I can hit Convection, then add time, but there's no indicator that it's actually on convection mode. A simple light embedded in the button would suffice.
5. Floating Power button. I assume microwaves are always in "standby" mode, so it's probably not the same kind of "power button" my DVD player has. Changing the label to "Power Level" would resolve the confusion.
6. Cook, not Time Cook. Obviously, you're cooking it for some amount of time, so what's the difference between Time Cook and Cook? Cook is a Sensor Cooking option so is a variable amount of time, but unless you also see that there's a separate Time Cook option you wouldn't know that.
7. No label for the big knob. Other than sticking out farther, there's no indication it's actually rotates. Afer you turn it, there's no indication you can push it, which you can (or what pushing it would even do).
8. Applicability of Sensor Cooking. Is the Options button inside or outside the Sensor Cooking section? It's not obvious, and yet would probably influence the user's expectations when clicking the button, perhaps even the context of the menu items listed after it's clicked.
9. Defrost isn't Sensor Cooking. It turns out that Defrost is both a sensor and timed option. So, why does it not show up in the Sensor Cooking section? Once you push this button, you can push it again to toggle between sensor and timed options. So why is there one button with  toggle for "defrosting" but two separate buttons for the corresponding "cooking" options? Jeez.
10. Misplaced Clock and Timer buttons. Almost all microwaves are guilty of this. Why not put them next to the actual clock? I mean, I see the time. I also see it's wrong. I want to update it. The first button I see should be the one I need to push.

I thought I'd spend 15m taking a stab at an improved version of the interface without actually changing any of the functionality, settings, options, etc. Better? You tell me... but, God, I sure hope so.

 

Comments

[Mtillman]

For one thing, it's glossy which is just an eyesore. Giant nobby thing for time, though I recently used a microwave who's keypad was only visible when you had the door open. Popcorn buttons don't actually work. How long do you have to hold the clock button to set the clock? Off / Clear, Pause/Start...ARGH! TOO MANY CHOICES. Doesn't comply with an early article of yours regarding the amazingness of iPhone. Off not Power? WTFT? Who bought this thing?! Oh, and it looks ugly but I like your bar stools.

[Ziv R.]

Hmm..looks like the most important buttons are spread all over the device. If you use the big lower button to open the microwave door, than you'll want the most important buttons like Start, Off, Power and the Dial nearby. No need for your fingers to start traveling without any need.

Besides that, in general all of the other buttons could have been arranged better, perhaps with some fine graphics that divides between the sub functionality

[Vinny Magno]

Omg I bet everyone at Opower has had this same experience with this microwave. I felt like an idiot the first time I used it. I vaguely remember pushing the knob button in twice out of frustration (nothing on the screen indicates I should have done that though) and then it started cooking indefinitely. I timed it mentally and took my soup (odd, why are we all gravitating towards this microwave for soup?) out when I thought enough time had passed. Awful.

[Janet Dulsky]

You are not alone in your horrible microwave experience. My microwave has a defrost button that toggles between defrosting by weight or by time. Unfortunately, despite the fact that all other buttons on the microwave are based on time, this one button defaults to weight. I can't tell you how many times (even after several years of use) I defrost things into oblivion because I thought I was defrosting for 35 seconds but instead I defrosted a 3.5 pound item! Who even knows how much the item they want to defrost weighs? This product manager clearly didn't actually use their product.

[Jonwhite123]

I wonder how Apple would design a microwave?

[Jkittock]

Expanding on Ziv's comment about things being spread all over, the UI has little sense of hierarchy. Other than one button (knob, in fact) being huge, there's no real sense of the relative importance of the other buttons.

Having frequently-used things more prominent is a really nice way to organize a UI, as it reflects the way people organize their lives. Think about the tools in your kitchen you keep at the ready, vs. those you have buried in a drawer somewhere.

Our microwave at home has a UI fail in this regard. There is one button that is overloaded to be used both for setting a kitchen timer and for setting the clock. So first you have to hit this button, then hit 1 for setting the timer or 2 for setting the clock. If you take a second to think about how often you would ever set the clock vs. use the timer, it's obvious that this is silly. Not to mention that if you accidentally set the clock when you meant to set the timer, it's very annoying (and might even result in burnt food if you don't realize your mistake).

A more general problem I have with microwaves is that they offer too many features. Somewhere along the way, it seems that microwave product managers got the idea that people need lots of features on their microwave. Yet I'd be willing to bet a fair amount of money that 95%+ of microwave usage consists of setting an amount of time and cooking on high. Industrial microwaves are actually designed this way: even today, many of them just have a big knob with a number of minutes on it.

Of course, I don't work in the appliance industry, so maybe there is data that shows that microwave sales is somewhat dependent on the number of buttons offered. In that case, there's still no excuse for such a horrible UI.