Bad User Interface: The Apple iPod

Nov-22-05, 2:28 pm by Hanford
File under: Mp3, Bad User Interface

Since 1995 there's been a joke going around that goes something like this:

Only Microsoft could design an OS so counter-intuitive that shutting down the computer is accessed from the "start" menu.

All too true, and I occasionally still see that gag on the web. But, many people don't realize that Apple one-upped Microsoft with the crazy-popular iPod. Here's my Apple version:

Only Apple could design a music player so counter-intuitive that shutting down the device requires pressing-and-holding the Play button for three seconds.

Furthermore, there is no text label on the Play button to let one know that it's overloaded with "off". And during this three second period while 'I'm holding the play button down, there's no visual indicator that anything is happening. And one out of three times when I'm attempting to turn my iPod off I get five to seven seconds into it before I realize that for some unknown reason the iPod is ignoring the command, so I have to let go of the button, wait a second or two, and try it again and hope for the best.

The iPod is far from a bad product, but it's filled with tiny little cases of Bad UI like that.

Update:

A bit more about this. Since turning something off is normally a simple procedure, the iPod's overloaded Off button can make first-time users who don't figure it out to feel, well, stupid. And a product should not make the user feel stupid.

I suggest Apple change the Hold switch to do double duty. Make it a 3 position switch, with it's normal position resting in the center. Slide it to the left, and it locks on "hold". Sliding it to the right makes temporary-contact as an off/on toggle. The right side is spring-loaded to return to the center. This allows the switch to rest only in the center (on) or the left (as hold), and this way the device can auto-power-off without the switch ending up in the wrong state. This also solves the problem I run into occasionally where I try to power the iPod down while the device is on Hold.

2 Comments | Retweet this

Feedback - 2 responses

Displayed newest to oldest. Leave a comment.

Hanford wrote: Feb-4-07, 3:50 pm

I agree, cell phones aren't much better.

Jim wrote: Feb-4-07, 11:06 am

And somehow this horrible "hold the play button for a few seconds to turn it off and hope it takes" is vastly different and more confusing than the "hold the stop button for a few seconds to turn it off and hope it takes" functionality found on every cell phone in the world?

That's the one I find really boggling. Pressing "stop" to turn the phone *on*. Why not hold the green(=go, start, on) initiate call button to turn it on instead? Or instead of "instead", make the phone turn on/off with a multi-second hold of either button?

(In the iPod case, the Play button is also the Pause button. So it's not that you are holding Play for several seconds, you're holding Pause for that long, doing as "super-pause". Okay, not that anyone would really think of it that way when trying to use the device…)

Comments are displayed on posts and visible to all site visitors.