PDX Critique

I just got done watching David Rosen’s take (video) on “World of Goo”, it’s a game that I’ve been playing on the wii for a few weeks now. It’s a great game and all but what struck me most about Rosen’s video is how complete it is. You can tell right away that he’s smitten with the game but is still able to give a very competent review that covers all aspects of the game. Rosen explains how the interface works, what’s going on but most importantly why this matters. Through the entire video he basically follows the same formula:

• Address topic (ie: the cursor)
• Show how it works here (ie: it’s black with a grey outline, it gains a tail as you move it )
• Why this matters (ie: the tail makes it fun to play with, the color choice make it easy to see on all background colors)

With this simple formula, just repeated over and over we end up with a very wonderful example of a great critique. Just an example that I felt like sharing.

All my life I have despised wearing socks. All that extra fabric that bunched around my pinky toe getting twisted up in my shoes and served no purpose other than to annoy me. My solution has always been to wear shoes that do not require socks. In recent years, as life would have it, I have been resigned to wearing custom orthotics and primarily super expensive cushioned athletic shoes and thus, socks.

Keen Footwear, a Portland based company, to the rescue. One day while pursuing a store for no real reason, I came across the most amazing pair of socks. They were designed for the left and right foot. I thought, well that makes sense, we have shoes designed for the right and left foot why has it taken so long for socks to catch up?

Not only do these socks resolve the issue of extra fabric gathering at the pinky toe, they are made of recycled and renewable materials. The packaging makes me smile a big sustainable grin as the socks simply hang off a piece of cardboard that is 100% recyclable. This is truly great design, a product that works exactly as it should. Each sock is labeled with a little R and L to let you know which foot they go on. The toes and ankle are reinforced and they come in different thickness and heights for your varying needs. Now, if you lose one in the dryer, you can’t simply match them up with any old random sock out of the drawer, but at least you will know if you lost the left or right one.

For more information: http://keenfootwear.com/sox.aspx

Consider the bra strap. Its purpose is to hold up a triangle of fabric that supports a breast.

Two and a half weeks ago, I started a new job. Instead of working from my home office, where I could wear sweats with a minimum of under garments, I am now working in an office with other people. I must wear under garments. I must wear a bra. I went and bought some. It has literally been years since wearing a bra was a daily requirement; so, for years, I have duly ignored the design of the bra strap. Until the other day. I was sitting at my desk, in my hip, loft-space, cubicle-free office, and my bra strap stretched until it was too long to do its job. It went: flop, scurried over my shoulder, and landed on my upper bicep.

I discreetly shoved my hand into the neckline of my polo shirt, seeking the strap-tightening metal gadget to tighten up the stretched-out strap, properly ensconce my breast, and thereby restore order to the world. My fingers quested without success. They went up and down the front of the strap, seeking the little metal gadget in vain. I finally gave up, went to the Women’s Room, shut myself into the large stall for persons with disabilities (who wouldn’t be able to get up the stairs to my office in the first place, but this isn’t a post about accessibility.) I yanked open my shirt and peered at the wandering strap. Holy cow. The little metal gadget I was looking for was on the back of my shoulder. Not the front. Somehow, in the intervening years since I last sported a bra, Fashion Design had mandated that the metal gadget should now go on the back of the strap, not the front.

Why?

I can only guess at what goes on in the minds of Fashion Designers. In this case, I guess that They think that the strap-tightening metal gadget could create unsightly lumps when deployed beneath tight outer garments. Metal gadgets are not beautiful. However, placing them on the forward portion of my bra strap means I can adjust the straps while wearing the bra. Placing them on the back of my bra strap means I have to remove my shirt, remove the bra, adjust, try on; lather/rinse/repeat until the strap is the right length. This process, in the middle of a work day is, to say the least, not very user friendly.

Yo. Fashion Designers. Would you please put the gadget back on the front of my bra strap? In this case, I really need usability over beauty. That is, until you can invent the fabric for the strap that doesn’t stretch out of shape half way through the work day.

Thanks. Love ya.

(Note: First posted on TingeyTen.com)