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Comment by mathiaspoint

4 months ago

Good product development really does seem to require some sort of leader who demands quality and smacks people when they don't deliver. Linux is nice because of Torvalds for example.

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mathiaspoint

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Lio  4 months ago

Completely agree.

I was given a small electric fan. It’s great in that it’s portable and I can use it in some of the crummy hotels I have to stay in.

Unfortunately, it has a bright blue LED on it so it’s a pain to use at night when you’re trying to sleep.

It’s so bright that even covered with tape it still shines through the thin plastic of the fan body.

What really gets me is why they bothered putting an operating light on it in the first place?

It’s a fan. The fact that it’s working tells you it’s working.

A Jobs or Torvalds type character would have pointed that out.

I suspect though that it’s often a case of people noticing these type of design flaws but not having the authority to fix them while those with the authority don’t care.

  • Aurornis  4 months ago

    I've worked in physical product development at some companies that include names you'd recognize.

    More often than not, those annoying features are direct requests from the person up top who smacks people. They want that feature because they think it will sell, and it's no use trying to argue with them because you'll just get smacked again.

    • Lio  4 months ago

      Yeah I think that was one of the unusual things about Jobs; he really cared about product design for its own sake and not just for profit.

      I think that is pretty unusual in large companies.

  • netsharc  4 months ago

    Can't you improve this product with a screwdriver (to open it up) and wire-snipper (to cut off the LED)?

    • Lio  4 months ago

      Oh yeah, it's definitely solvable if you can be bothered with it.

      It was more just the observation that an unnecessary light had been included that degrades the performance of the product.

      I find it intriguing how that comes to be. On paper it seems like adding the light wouldn't hurt the product even if not useful but no body actually used it it seems.

    • psyonity  4 months ago

      There is a chance the led is also used as a important diode in the circuit, plainly removing it can greatly reduce the lifespan of the device. (more common in cheaper products)

      Adding a appropiate diode in it's place is advised.

      2 replies →

  • seszett  4 months ago

    > I suspect though that it’s often a case of people noticing these type of design flaws but not having the authority to fix them while those with the authority don’t care.

    Kinda related but also not really, my own pet peeve is the pouring spout in many products, coffee machine, water jugs, buckets... they might look effective but I find that more often than not, they are curved too much and drip all over when actually pouring.

    And I always have to wonder, after serving coffee from one of those things, did the person who design it never even try it just once? Didn't they ever use such a thing, they never ever poured water from a pot?

  • dmd  4 months ago

    People in stores look towards bright lights. Objects with bright lights on them sell better.

    • seszett  4 months ago

      Do you have an actual study on this or is it just a belief held by some people who don't have any better idea to make others think they are useful?

brabel  4 months ago

I have to agree with that as a lead. Most developers claim to be done with a task without taking care of the small details that users will immediately notice. It’s a constant struggle to try to get them to care about what is actually the value of the feature they are implementing, let alone chase on their own initiative the small issues unless painfully listed in some requirements document.

  • polishdude20  4 months ago

    As a dev Im always noticing these little problems in my designs but my boss just wants the thing done asap without worrying too much about it being nice to use.

    • MortyWaves  4 months ago

      Same here to the point when I do leave it’s going to be one of the reasons given.

      One example is how this product manager type, because of company politics, isn’t really under the same department as the other software teams.

      Because of his very very narrow horse blinkers approach, he doesn’t see or even comprehend why we’d want to align with literally anything in any other team and that includes visual UI stuff.

      That’s why we have a bright neon pink “Back” button. Right in the literal center of the screen. It’s insane.

  • ponector  4 months ago

    There is a special role for that: Test Engineer. However, testing is a cost center and is underfunded in most companies.