Eric Smith wrote: > > Gary Crowell wrote: > > Every day I fume at doors with one word instruction manuals [...] > > Are you having trouble with the PUSH ones, or the PULL ones? :-) > > Seriously, though, what kind of doors are you talking about? As pointed out by Don Norman in "The Design of Everyday Things", any device as simple and obvious as a door, that requires an instruction manual (even a one word instruction manual, 'Push' or 'Pull') is a failure in design. When a door handle is a horizontal bar, the natural impulse is to push on it; a vertical bar naturally implies grasping and pulling. If you watch the traffic thru doors that oppose these natural affordances, even if they have instruction manuals, you will see a significant number of people attempt the 'wrong' action. Even people who have been through that door many times before, and know perfectly well which way it goes, will still occasionally be overcome by the natural impulse. The usual reaction is: "Stupid me, I know which way this door goes"; or "Stupid people, can't read the sign". But the proper reaction is: "Stupid designer, hasn't bothered to consider the simplest human factors." Norman's book is available in trade paperback, ISBN: 0385267746, and is, quite simply, a 'must read' for anyone who designs anything. Gary Crowell Micron Technology << and yes, the doors on this building are screwed up!