Static Electricity Eliminator - No more dreading the shock...

It's winter, and static electricity is all over the place. For lots of us, there are times and places where we know that a nasty little shock is waiting for us - that one door handle, car door, desk chair, or mailbox, that just always gets ya. And when that's the case, you dread it - it's just a little shock, but you can't bring yourself to just reach out and touch it. We'd all be better off if we didn't have to play mind games with inanimate objects and the laws of physics.

Enter the Static Electricity Eliminator, which does exactly what you'd think. It fits on a keychain, so users can have it when they need it; the tip is rubber, so it won't scratch whatever you're grounding; and it even gives you positive feedback when you've grounded yourself (read: when you've dodged a shock). If that doesn't give you a good feeling, I don't know what will!
[via Gizmodo and Coolest Gadgets]

Popcorn Forks - Useful? Ridiculous? Can't decide.

We've seen some intersections between usability and ridiculousness before (Ramen Fan, anyone?), but this one balances particularly well on that line. The Popcorn Fork does what you'd expect it to, keeping your hands out of the popcorn and the popcorn off of your hands. It also stores salt in the base, the icing on the cake... er, salt on the popcorn. But aside from that last, totally unnecessary feature, the core functionality may actually be useful. Keeping the bowl sanitary is in everyone's best interest, especially if the movie is a tearjerker and extra mucus is flowing everywhere. And personally, I've always had to wash my hands after grubbing on some extra-buttery goodness, which requires an interruption of the movie. These could actually give the user a better movie experience! Especially if the home theater is dimly lit, so nobody will see just how ridiculous they look...
[via Gizmodo and Shiny Shiny]

Outgoing Voicemail Messages - Products we design for each other...

Designers or not, we all end up designing "products" that will be used by other people. Outgoing voicemail messages are a perfect example; are we thinking of the "user" (the caller) when we decide what to say? In most cases, no - we just repeat the same litany of time-wasting, useless info we're used to hearing when we get other peoples' outgoing messages. The Cranking Widgets Blog has come up with some instructions for how to make your outgoing message more user-friendly - things like "don't tell me to leave a message," "don't tell me you're unavailable," and "don't tell me you'll return my call as soon as you can," all of which are obvious if a message is being recorded in the first place. Also on the list: do say if you'll be gone for a predetermined time; don't tell me to email you (the caller is probably phoning rather than emailing on purpose!); and of course, "Don't. Play. Music."

Overall I'm a fan of these guidelines. But there's one exception - if a normal outgoing message is full of useless time-wasting information, that time can be used by the callers to mentally compose their messages. Which may mean more efficient, coherent messages left on your machine... which may be more user-friendly to you!

Magazine/Cameraphone Ad - "Cross-platform" usability...

This is a photo of an ad I encountered in the print edition of Newsweek recently, where the reader is encouraged to recruit good volunteers for Big Brothers / Big Sisters by (1) taking a cameraphone photo of the orange square on the page, and (2) sending that image to a friend who'd fit the role well. Besides rating high on the "cute" factor (note the aiming aids to the left and right of the target area, and the reminder to adjust your zoom), this is actually an ingenious usability idea by the advertiser. Most magazine ads require a reader to cross platforms - that is, they have to remember (or clip) something from the printed magazine, and then either make a phone call or look up a website. This design enables the reader to leap nimbly from the magazine to the sent photo message, without having to remember anything, or even cobble together a unique message to the friend. That lowered barrier could definitely make a difference in the number of people who go through with the whole routine!

The next step: smartphones which can identify the "bbbs.org" URL in the photo, and make that portion of the image a clickable link. Technology can do it, if designers can just think of it!

Umbrella Water Gun - Fun in the rain...

Why let all that water just roll off the side of your umbrella and go to waste? Why not have some fun with it? Alex Woolley has figured out how to make adults play in the rain: an umbrella with a funnel-shaped top which guides water through the pole and into a water gun. With a few good shots, your adversary may as well have never brought an umbrella in the first place!

Gas Pumps with Google Maps - Get directions, keep your pride...

Good user-centered design puts what people need when and where they need it. Great user-centered design lets them feel good about using it. In this case, drivers (ahem, men?) who are lost and too proud to stop for directions can stop for gas and, hey, just happen to get directions! Engadget reports that Google Maps will soon be available on certain internet-enabled gas pumps - free, supported by coupons that print out along with maps and directions. It's not admitting weakness because it's part of another task. That kind of denial often is a valuable part of self-image - and one that a great design will take into account.

RedesignMe.org - Make your voice heard...

ReDesignme.org is a new site which allows anyone to upload design gripes - that frustrating cellphone, that confusing bunch of buttons, that flimsy POS product - to be "redesigned" by other visitors to the site. It's a neat idea, even if most of the problems are very simple and the solutions straightforward - but then, the posts on this site sometimes fall into that category too! Check it out, and see if there are any design problem's you'd solve in an interesting way. Oh, and resist the urge to submit the site itself as a problematic design...