Assignmnet 0 (Bad Design Product)

This is a warm-up assignment for this module before the actual race commences. Ha-ha. In this assignment, we are supposed to find a product that we or other users think that it has a bad design, and to capture the users’ reaction towards that product, and our reflection on the product & the users’ reaction.

Wow! This sounds interesting but how are we going to do it. Suggestions? Well, I think I just have to look through previous semester’s work.

Well, actually I have thought of a product. That is contributed by my family & friends. But I believe that anyone will also have an experience of it too. It is the FM radio function of a Nokia hand phone. However, I think that this is quite common, thus, I’m still keeping a lookout for other products.

Nokia’s FM Radio

• Users’ Reaction
  
  • User’s Feelings:
  
   My family & friends feel that it is a chore to use this function. The reason is that every time when anyone wants to listen to the FM radio, he/she will have to connect the headset to it, regardless of using the headphones or the speakers function in order to activate this function. They feel that it is a very troublesome step.
  
  • Lesson Learnt:
  
   This means that if anyone wants to use this function when on the move, they will have to bring along the headset, if not, they will not be able to use it. They commented that if they had forgotten to bring along the headset, then they will have to do without it.
   While there are also others who feel that this doesn’t really affect them as they still prefer to use other portable device for music, like mp3 players.
  
  • Impression on the brand:
  
   They feel that this doesn’t have much effect on their impressions of the brand as they still think that Nokia’s phones are still very user-friendly and easy to comprehend.
  

My Reflections

Basically, I feel that it is also quite redundant to connect a headset to the hand phone every time when I want to use the FM radio function. Why can’t it be like the mp3 player function where one is able to choose whether to use a headset or the speakers? I believe that this will be a better choice. This is my personal thoughts as I have been using Nokia hand phones for the past few years.

Thus, I’m able to understand the frustrations of my friends as I also faced the same problem too. Forgetting to bring along the headset, means that I will not be able to use the FM function and the journey to any place means – no entertainment. This implies that this function will be of no use or become “disabled” without it.

Up to now, I think all users, including me, have already been used to this type of “unique design” and bringing along the headset has become a habit of mine, if I want to use this function.