New York MTA's Money Games

You know to avoid 3-card monte other shady street games, but what if NYC is playing a different game to win your money? Ben Wellington recently discovered that the purchasing system for the subway seems to be rigged. He gets into the nitty-gritty numbers, but suffice it to say that it's very tricky buy a card for a whole number of rides without having a leftover balance. That means that visitors leave NYC with unused balances on their MetroCards - which amounts to free money for the MTA. It's a nefariously brilliant design, and one that was either fully intentional or a coincidence that some MTA accountant should claim credit for! You can fight back, and Wellington tells you which magic odd amounts will result in whole numbers of rides. But wow - it's not paranoia when they really are out to get you!
[photo by Ben Wellington]

Tooshlights, for no more door-peeking...

Finding an open stall in a large public restroom can be an awkward process, involving tentative presses on the door (hoping the locks are functional) and peeking under the door (hoping not to embarrass anyone, including yourself). A company called, yes, Tooshlights (stoplights for your toosh!) uses technology to help: when the door is locked, a light above the stall is red, while green means, well, "go." Similar systems are already on many airplanes, indicating when all lavatories are occupied - and honestly, they're handy. Battery-powered Tooshlight door sensors decline the opportunity to link with hardwired flush sensors - but those have their own problems. So overall, not a bad idea - and restrooms need all the good ideas they can get!
[via Core77]

The Epic Share-Icon Battle Royale!

No matter what device or service you're using these days, you're probably being offered a button to "share" it. But this need is new enough that the icon for "share" hasn't yet been standardized - and the variations are quite, well, varied. Min Ming Lo gives a great overview, begs for standardization and/or sanity, and even suggests a new and clever milkshake-based option. I'm sure we'll see these variations weed themselves out over the next few years, so place your bets now: who will (or should) win the Epic Share-Icon Battle Royale?!?
[via Gizmodo]

"XBox On" - Problems with voice commands...

Microsoft understandably wants to show off the new tricks its XBox One is capable of, including voice control. But a smooth demo for potential buyers becomes a real annoyance for existing owners, as this ad with Aaron Paul saying "XBox On" is causing real-life units to power up unintentionally. The design of controls becomes tricky as the triggers become smarter - anticipating intent that can be subjective, varied, unreliable can easily result in false fires, unresponsive triggers, or (remarkably) both. In other words, it's no longer as clear-cut as pressing a button!
[via Engadget & BBC News]

Airline Food Trays: A little design saves a lot...

Airlines are a design area where a little change can have a big impact, because every product gets multiplied by millions of passengers and by the fuel cost to repeatedly lift that weight to 30,000 feet. With that in mind, MAP's redesign of Virgin Atlantic's food trays stand to save the company quite a bit: shrinking the tray by a third and reusing it for multiple courses, and using a non-slip material that eliminates the need for disposable paper liners, the overall weight of the service setup is reduced by 291lbs per plane. There are quite a few other details to the design, discussed in Wired and Gizmodo articles - worth a quick read!

Toilet-Paper Sensor Block: Adapting to adaptations...

I've written about the frustrating false-flush tendency of automatic toilets before, but here's a new salvo in the arms race between man and machine: putting toilet paper over the sensor to prevent accidental flushes. This would seem to make sense - until you realize that we're creating a complex adaptation for a device that was designed to adapt to our inability to use a simple system in the first place. Seriously, when it gets to this point, shouldn't we just be using a manual mechanical flush handle? The usability path has come full circle, and it seems we should have stayed where we started.
[Photo from Duey Rando]

Seat-back tablet holders for budget entertainment...

Good design can happen in airplane seat-back entertainment systems, but usually doesn't - and regardless, those systems add cost to the plane (plus complexity, weight which increases fuel use, and the expense of licensing content). Meanwhile, travelers more frequently carry their own fully capable entertainment systems with them, in the form of tablets and smartphones. UK carrier Monarch has done the math and opted for tablet holders instead of seat-back systems on their new lower-cost seats. It remains to be seen just how "universal" these holders are - from the photo, it looks like only full-size tablets will work - but the idea is a good one which feels better than DIY alternatives. I'll entertain myself, thanks - you guys just concentrate on flying the plane, and maybe serving up some drinks.
[via Gizmodo]