Inappropriate Feedback Design…
The title of this post is regrettably vague — sorry about that. After reading this, maybe you’ll see why.
My workplace has a parking lot that I visit sometimes four times a day: park, go to lunch, park, leave. Invariably, someone will lock their vehicle and I’ll be met with a rude and unwelcome honking of a mysterious horn. If I’m lucky, I get one honk. In some cases, they come in multiples.
I don’t want to get off on a rant here, but who thought honking a horn was a good feedback mechanism for car locking and unlocking? It seems very selfish to me. I’m forgiving of a headlight flash, but I’m not forgiving of the noise pollution from a horn. An unexpected honk makes me skip a step and curse under my breath at the car owner. It starts my working day with an edge or leaves a bad taste in my mouth at the end of my working day.
And is it just a little bit ill-conceived? If I’m deaf and my only feedback is a horn, how do I know my car is locked? Clearly we allow the deaf to drive. I think the better choice is to flash the headlights. After all, every driver is required to be able to see. Last I checked, we do not let the blind drive. Of course, I do accuse many of driving blindly, but that’s a topic for another day.
Just my opinion, I could be wrong…