Say Hello to Your Door

Donald Norman, the author of books such as The Psychology of Everyday Things, has argued that the perfect user interface is invisible. No user should be forced to wonder how to operate a certain gadget--it should be so intuitive that the gadget, or at least the use of it, would hardly be noticed. Think of the ABS brakes in your car, for example: when you apply pressure to the brake pedal, you don't pause to think about the computer that analyzes your driving conditions and takes care of the braking system. In fact, I'm rather sure you don't ever want to think of a pop-up window asking you to confirm your decision to brake. It would bring an entirely new meaning to the term "computer crash," I'm sure.

Many everyday objects have user interfaces that we would consider intuitive. For example, you'd think your door has a very intuitive user interface. You turn the knob, and the door opens. Or, if you live in Europe, you twist the handle, and the door opens. Or, you turn the knob the other way if the door won't open. Unless it's locked. If it's a handle, maybe the handle budges because the door is locked, or because you need to move it upward instead of downward. Of course, it may be possible to turn the know or twist the handle and still be faced with a closed door, because it's locked. All of a sudden, perhaps it isn't all that intuitive after all? For the person that was raised in a society unfamiliar with door handles, the door could be eternally locked. It is clear that opening a door requires a certain amount of social schooling in the use of everyday things.

Naomi Thellier de Poncheville suggests a design, aptly named the "Hand-le," that literally lends a helping hand to those that might wonder which part of the door requires manual operation. Her page unfortunately only illustrates the design and does not describe how the handle is to be operated.

A visual inspection of the hand-le design indicates that the handle turns clock-wise or counter-clockwise. If the Western greeting practice of grabbed the hand firmly and shaking it were to apply, the hand-le would require at least some sort of up/down toggling motion, so unfortunately the conventional greeting gesture will probably not cause the passage to open.

The circular motion indicates that the hand-le is a modification of the American door knob, and that the hand-le is to be grabbed and rotated rather than shaken. Compared with the European handle that may be operated with an elbow if the user's hands are occupied, the hand-le inherits the door knob's inherent disadvantage in that respect.

By Donald Norman's user interface standards, I'm afraid the hand-le would receive a thumbs-down rating for a design that is no more intuitive than the usual door knobs and handles, as it would require the same social training as the conventional handles.

I'll hand it to the hand-le that it looks quite good, but I've seen door knobs and door handles in many shapes that I considered much more appealing. I suspect the primary design motivation was the designer's wish to make a pun.