The other morning, I left my flat to find a few of my neighbours conversing by the lift.
“Oh James, maybe you can help us with this!” one said.
What dilemma could I possibly help with, you might well ask. Well, it was this one: “If we want to go down in the lift, should we press down to go down, or up to call the lift up to us?”
I was amazed that not only one person could be so clueless about something so simple, but FOUR intelligent people (including at least one PhD!) genuinely didn’t know the answer to such a seemingly obvious question.
I’ve since realised that a sizeable minority (I’d guess about 30%) of people in my block of flats don’t know which button to press either: “Oh, is it going up?” “Of course it’s going up, you pressed the [expletive] ‘Up’ button!”, I don’t say. What I actually say is, “Yes”.
Lift buttons: a complicated thing. Who knew? I guess that’s why it’s always important to test things, even when it seems obvious…
At Bunnyfoot, we’re online and offline usability experts… yes, that includes lift buttons. If you think we can help you improve the experience you provide your users, get in touch.
Learn more:
- Blog: Usability: It’s About Humanity, Not Technology
- Blog: 4 Usability Tips from Don’t Make Me Think
- Training course: Certified Practitioner in User Experience (CPUX)
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