• [from julienorvaisas] Do You Know What This Symbol Means? [Yahoo! Autos] – [If people can't figure out what a warning symbol is warning them about, does it still qualify as a warning symbol? Should warning symbols require a public education effort? How does one measure whether a symbol is idiot-proof? How many idiots should be queried?] The issue here seems to be that the public hasn’t been properly educated on the warning symbol, which is supposed to be “idiot proof” and understandable across a wide variety of cultures and languages. Yet 46% of drivers couldn’t figure out that the icon represents a tire and 14% thought the symbol represented another problem with the vehicle entirely.
• [from steve_portigal] The importance of futility in innovation [Pasta&Vinegar] – [See our various rants against finding "pain points" as the pathway to innovation.] This discussion echoes with the notion of “needs” and the desperate quest lead by big companies to find “new needs”. Looking for these so-called new needs is not a matter of asking people what they want or asking them what they would crave for. Instead, observing how products and services that may seem futile at first can be adopted, domesticated, appropriated and tweaked for other purposes is a better strategy.

Tags: automobiles, design, innovation, invention, needs, quickies, symbol, tires, users, warning

One Response to “ChittahChattah Quickies”

At least twice with my car I’ve pulled over on while on the road to see what the hell that means. That icon lights up when a tire is low, sure, but in my car it also lights up and flashes when there’s a problem with the sensors. And there’s a problem with the sensors in my car, so pretty much anytime I hit highway speed that indicators starts flashing. Forget about the intermittent, unrelated to an actual fault (except in ITS sensor) and visually obscure radiator fluid warning light.

Comment by Steve Portigal 08.20.10 @ 11:50 pm