One of my favorite new activities, pulled from IDEO’s book of product design, is creating “bug lists” that capture any product deficiencies or pain points we experience in our own lives. Once you start noticing small product deficiencies in hardware products, GUI’s, or anything we interact with on a daily basis, you develop a keener eye for identifying issues with all sorts of products. This can be a fun skill in-and-of itself, but it also helps you improve your own product design skills since you are actively observing and recording issues with other products that you can avoid in your own. On The Geek Locker, the way that I capture my bug lists will likely change dramatically (potential for an audio discussion or images and proposed solutions?), but I wanted to get my first set of bugs down on the page and iterate from there.
One tip I’d have if you want to start your own bug list is that it really doesn’t matter how you capture the bugs at first, just that you do so. Once you start generating a bug list, you can form the capture mechanisms to match your style. But anyways, without further ado, here is my first short-form recorded bug list, which features a variety of travel observations and personal issues with products!
- Yachts in the harbor in Hvar, Croatia, needed to drop anchors in specific locations to be able to back into a spot at the dock, which was time-consuming and difficult to execute.
- I ran into a sink with a standalone basin that had a “joystick” control mechanism subtly mounted on the nearby wall. It was difficult to find and use well.
- One car in Croatia we saw with its nose sticking out of the garage with the door closed on top of it.
- Outdoor dining tables can make it more difficult to hear your companions if there is a loud group nearby.
- There was a bathroom door that when it opened, would bang into the ventilation system on the wall. There was noticeable wear/damage.
- Blenders are incredibly loud in small restaurants.
- The roads in some older cities are too narrow for normal cars and trucks, so they have some funny front-facing electric carts to transport goods like food and groceries around.
- With a bunch of non-partnered museums in Split, it was difficult to figure out the whole scope of museums and interesting spots in the city, and which passes applied to which attractions.
- Zola doesn’t work overseas, which can be a problem during honeymoons.
- Many toilets with smaller basins of water (still large flush capacity) cause issues with marking and cleaning.
- Many sailboats needed dedicated on-land assistance to dock at a port in Croatia, which seemed like it might be a problem if coordination with a port is poor.
- There was a shower with very high water pressure that had its joystick control stick out from the wall far enough that it was super easy to hit and move around when showering off.
- A footrest was out of reach before it could start ratcheting backwards towards passenger on bus, which makes it even more difficult for shorter legs to reach.
- A tourist cog railway up Mount Pilatus didn’t have great photography access for the people sitting in the middle of the cars.
- The Mt. Pilatus cog railway made a ton of loud sounds and creaks, which doesn’t inspire the most confidence on the steepest sections…
- The Apple Watch noise level notification goes off in shower and underwater constantly.
- The Babbel notification sounds are much louder than voices on the app, which makes it tough to use in quiet public locations.
- Nets used to keep out birds from the ceiling in a Zurich train station are not visually appealing/well kempt, which might cause more visual issues than the birds themselves!
- Car front door lock button does not lock the front door (just others), which is a definite crime hazard.
- Fillipo Ganna’s custom Italian Flag helmet and jersey had flag color orders reversed in direction, so they didn’t align between helmet and jersey, which looks less sleek/planned.
- Tinfoil used to hold pills in place is very difficult to open, even with nails. Probably even harder for older folks who need them more!
- When using the Messages app on a MacBook, when you try to select an emoji in the bottom right of the screen, you often end up clicking to create a quick note instead which is very frustrating.
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