At least there's a good reason there - they're easier to clean. That's not much of a concern with microwave controls.
But I disagree with the idea that we don't need precise times on a microwave. The article / book disagrees with that, and the think I most regularly microwave (milk for my kids) needs 1 minute 50 seconds. 2 minutes and they'll reliably complain it's too hot.
The real problem with microwave UX is that the interfaces are often simply bad. People think the power/time dial interface is good but that's because it's difficult to mess it up (though they usually manage anyway by having them go up to 30 minutes or whatever).
It's really easy to mess up a button interface but you can also do it well. My microwave is close to doing it really well. You press a high/med/low button, then 1s/10s/1m/10m buttons to the desired time, then start. The only things they got wrong are that it requires pressing the power when 99% of the time you want high, and you could probably get a more useful distribution of time increments (I'm literally never going to use the 10m button).
But apart from that it's nicer than dials, which are often very cheap and imprecise.
I've never had an issue cleaning the dials. They're smooth hard plastic, and they don't get particularly dirty.
>though they usually manage [to mess up the interface] anyway by having them go up to 30 minutes or whatever
What's the issue? I've microwaved that long before.
>My microwave is close to doing it really well. You press a high/med/low button, then 1s/10s/1m/10m buttons to the desired time, then start.
We're very different people! That UX sounds dreadful to me, one of the worst I've heard (and unfortunately encountered).
Enter time on the keypad, optionally press Power and enter that, press Start. Also needs a Plus 30s button. This is the one and only correct way to implement a push button microwave. ;)
I count five presses instead of 3 to get 90 seconds, including one way that's just pressing the same button 3 times (+30s).
>needs 1 minute 50 seconds. 2 minutes and they'll reliably complain it's too hot.
Seven presses?
The dial microwave I use can distinguish between those two. It helps that the shorter times are given more room, so you can adjust them more precisely. 1:50 vs 2:00 will make a difference in my experience, but 7:50 vs 8:00 generally won't.
You could have a hybrid approach of course, but then I suspect the engineering tendency would be to "lock in" the time after starting the oven, so it can't "accidentally" be changed.
Looking for a photo of my microwave dial, I came across this surprisingly relevant post:
> What's the issue? I've microwaved that long before.
Really? What for? Anyway the vast majority of microwaving is going to be in the 1-5 minute range. By making the dial linear and giving it a huge range up to 30 minutes, you end up making e.g. 30 seconds and 1 minute impossibly close.
The commercial microwave oven someone else linked had a solution - make it logarithmic.
> Seven presses?
Eight actually, but it really is quicker and easier than doing the same with a dial though. I agree it could be optimised though. It shouldn't be necessary to select the power and a 30s button would be good (down to 5 presses).
I have used only microwave ovens with rotary knobs.
They had a finer resolution of 10 seconds for short times, then the resolution was progressively coarser for longer times, e.g. of 30 seconds for times over 10 minutes.
This is perfectly adequate for finding optimum times, and I cook in a microwave oven all the food that I am eating, from raw ingredients.
At least there's a good reason there - they're easier to clean. That's not much of a concern with microwave controls.
But I disagree with the idea that we don't need precise times on a microwave. The article / book disagrees with that, and the think I most regularly microwave (milk for my kids) needs 1 minute 50 seconds. 2 minutes and they'll reliably complain it's too hot.
The real problem with microwave UX is that the interfaces are often simply bad. People think the power/time dial interface is good but that's because it's difficult to mess it up (though they usually manage anyway by having them go up to 30 minutes or whatever).
It's really easy to mess up a button interface but you can also do it well. My microwave is close to doing it really well. You press a high/med/low button, then 1s/10s/1m/10m buttons to the desired time, then start. The only things they got wrong are that it requires pressing the power when 99% of the time you want high, and you could probably get a more useful distribution of time increments (I'm literally never going to use the 10m button).
But apart from that it's nicer than dials, which are often very cheap and imprecise.
I've never had an issue cleaning the dials. They're smooth hard plastic, and they don't get particularly dirty.
What's the issue? I've microwaved that long before.
We're very different people! That UX sounds dreadful to me, one of the worst I've heard (and unfortunately encountered).
Enter time on the keypad, optionally press Power and enter that, press Start. Also needs a Plus 30s button. This is the one and only correct way to implement a push button microwave. ;)
I count five presses instead of 3 to get 90 seconds, including one way that's just pressing the same button 3 times (+30s).
Seven presses?
The dial microwave I use can distinguish between those two. It helps that the shorter times are given more room, so you can adjust them more precisely. 1:50 vs 2:00 will make a difference in my experience, but 7:50 vs 8:00 generally won't.
You could have a hybrid approach of course, but then I suspect the engineering tendency would be to "lock in" the time after starting the oven, so it can't "accidentally" be changed.
Looking for a photo of my microwave dial, I came across this surprisingly relevant post:
https://ux.stackexchange.com/questions/90769/why-do-microwav...
> What's the issue? I've microwaved that long before.
Really? What for? Anyway the vast majority of microwaving is going to be in the 1-5 minute range. By making the dial linear and giving it a huge range up to 30 minutes, you end up making e.g. 30 seconds and 1 minute impossibly close.
The commercial microwave oven someone else linked had a solution - make it logarithmic.
> Seven presses?
Eight actually, but it really is quicker and easier than doing the same with a dial though. I agree it could be optimised though. It shouldn't be necessary to select the power and a 30s button would be good (down to 5 presses).
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I have used only microwave ovens with rotary knobs.
They had a finer resolution of 10 seconds for short times, then the resolution was progressively coarser for longer times, e.g. of 30 seconds for times over 10 minutes.
This is perfectly adequate for finding optimum times, and I cook in a microwave oven all the food that I am eating, from raw ingredients.
I noticed, it's an unfortunate regression.
What's amazing is how the vibe of using the microwave completely changed. Before it was:
"Okay, how much time?? I've gotta get this right, I only get one shot. Think!!"
to:
"Probably 2 minutes." moves knob, cooking starts "Eh, maybe 90 seconds actually." moves knob again
That alone probably reduces the error rate, and it certainly reduces annoyance.
With the new stoves, I've noticed people are starting to dread using their stove the same way they dread the microwave. Hopefully we can fix both.