Usability Hell

Analysis of Dyson’s Response to this post: Dyson’s Social Media Abortion

Dyson Airblade Hand dryer - a bar in London

I love what James Dyson has done - the wheelbarrow was OK but the vacuum idea was excellent. Dyson is a company that should be commended for thinking different.

It made vacuum cleaners, handdryers & fans sexy - lets see kettles and toasters next?

However - after the initial ecstacy of drying my hands with something cool wore off, I noticed….

The Airblade is actually a bit shit. Here’s Why:

• You put your hands in a tiny gap - its awkward and unnatural.
• Not rubbing hands together feels wrong and doesnt let you spread the water out for even drying. Inevitably part of your hands are wet at the end.
• I don’t want to ‘pull hands up in 10 seconds’ - that also doesn’t seem to work properly (hands still wet). I predict most people wont stick to that either.
• ‘The most hygenic hand-dryer’ - not if you touch the insides and top rim - which I often do as its so tight. See photo for how disgusting that gets - a dirty mouldy looking area that doesnt exist on regular dryers.
• It only dries one small part of each hand at once - it seems slow - 10 seconds doesn’t seem enough to me.

Better alternatives
> XLerator - Seems at least as powerful as airblade - but no awkward & gross tight area, lets you rub your hands together too. Also billed as using 80% less energy than regular dryers.
> There’s a few Airblade like - hands in the top dryers (specially in Japan). One has air jets all the way down (which certainly feels better).

Clearly conventional slow dryers needed improvement - but my vote goes to the XLerator which suffers none of the problems of the Airblade and probably has all the advantages.

Back to the drawing-board on this one James…
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