The fun of it

In a washing machine the objects that are being washed move around. It’s a dynamic process, that is unpredictable and always unique. Watching the movement is fun, it indeed gives a sense of control to the user, even if it is not actually required. Quite a few people even find it relaxing to watch the washing machine. In a dishwasher the items don’t move. Making a window in the dishwasher would not expose anything interesting to watch at all. Given the working principle of a dishwasher (same water being reused as much as possible), watching this internal process might actually give you a bad appetite and convince you to hand wash the dishes. A dishwasher also does not fill the whole machine with water. It actually uses very little water.

The practicality of it

On the washing machine, the window prevents users from trying to open the door when the machine is filled with water. In addition, it might be useful to some people to actually see what is being washed. If I come home, and see that the washing machine is packed with white fabric, I know I can wear my favorite white shirt soon. Opening the door while this machine is filled with water would not result in water pouring out of the machine.

In the event of a stopped dishwasher (due to electrical fault or buggy software or something) the water in the device streams out of ordinary drains inside, and the water sprayers stop adding more water. If you were to open it after it had shorted out, you aren’t going to get soaked.

That’s not true of a front-load washing machine. If one of these is forcibly stopped at certain points in its cycle, then it remains full of damp clothes resting in soapy water. Opening one of these without knowing what’s inside would lead to a rather unpleasant surprise. The window helps you see what’s going on inside in the one case when you do need to interact with it mid-cycle: when it’s broken.

Another argument not to have a windows in the dish washer is the benefit of having a dish washer is that you can just put any dirty dish, cup or whatever straight into the machine, thus making the kitchen look more tidy. If you would have a window in the dishwasher you would be looking at dirty dishes again for 90% of the time.

On the other hand, dish washers with a window DO exist. Electrolux brought the Visi to the market after “market research”, but it appears to have been removed from their current product range.

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The design shows the web application’s “shell” (top header and left sidebar) and how the calculator fits into the current design but giving the user a better experience of a complicated calculator with many inputs.

College Calculator

Note: Framerjs only works in Webkit browsers (which I didn’t find out until after I had sent it to my client who uses Firefox.) :/

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Demo:

See the Pen no img white-space by Bobby Smith (@b00y0h) on CodePen

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And therein lies a paradox.

Form has become a critical (dare I say “functional”) element of any product. It conveys information, like the amount of time that went into something, the quality, or whether or not it is durable. Form speaks louder than any instruction manual or user guide. In this regard, form has a powerful purpose. The classic example is comparing the packaging for Apple products to Microsoft products.

Which media project would you rather buy?

With the web, the line between form and function becomes even more blurry. Websites and web services live and die on their design. For example, in the old days it was a pain to find the right flight at the right price and the right time. Then Orbitz.com and other travel websites came along and put (almost) all of that information in one place. But they botched the interface so badly it allowed Hipmunk.com to enter the market simply by being easier to use.

Likewise, it used to be a pain to find the right movie at the right theater at the right time. If you had three theaters within driving distance, three friends with different movie preferences, and some timing issues, it was hard to narrow down the choices. Then Fandango.com and other movie websites came along to put all of that information on one website. But they botched the interface so badly it allowed Wigglehop to make a space for themselves simply by being easier to use. (It’s both a website and an app for iPhone and iPad.)

Many more botched interface markets are waiting to be exploited:

TiVo does a great job for television shows but I think there’s still another level of Interface improvement out there waiting to happen in that field.

GPS is wonderful technology, but I haven’t yet seen a wonderful GPS user interface. They all seem tedious and wordy to me. That’s a botched interface in my opinion.

Correct me if I’m wrong: where anyone has an opportunity to jump into a market by just looking at a great web service with a terrible interface and providing the same service with a better interface, they can win. First impressions are critical on the web. Think about it… how likely are you to buy a book from this website? While “function only advocates” would be more concerned about the site’s utilitarian function, function doesn’t even matter if users aren’t going to stick around to click a few links.

The paradox is that form isn’t “just form” anymore.

In todays world, form is function.

If you’ve ever tried to use software that’s nearly impossible to figure out you understand what I mean when I say that a poor interface is a functional issue. It makes the work more time consuming and frustrating. It affects the quality of the work you can do. Form and function are two sides of the same coin.

Even flowers which appear to provide no functional benefit are miracle workers if given while apologizing to your wife, or making your girlfriend feel special. In this case, the beauty of the flower IS what flowers are all about. It’s the same with an oceanside view or a stunning sunset. These things have value despite the fact that they perform no task. Beauty is their task, and aesthetics has inherent value.

The design led competitive advantage is no surprise when you think of how swiftly and strongly a design experience shapes our opinion of that brand, company or store, for good or bad. For instance, we know quickly when a website is bad. And we associate this feeling of frustration, or worse, disappointment with that brand.

Design-oriented organizations invest in thinking this stuff through. They put design at the heart of their company to guide innovation and to continually improve products, service and marketing. They recognize that a great design leads to differentiation, brand loyalty and higher profits.

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