Accessible Microwave
A microwave interface anyone can use on the first try.
Shared office microwaves are a different puzzle every time. I'm testing whether a screen alone is enough, or whether people need one physical control beside it, with a motorized dial that sets itself when you pick a preset.
[A line from someone you watched use a microwave for the first time]
Nobody reads a microwave manual.
Most microwaves have a wall of buttons, and most people only ever use two of them. In a shared office kitchen you get a different microwave every time, and you're expected to get it right in seconds.
[A number or observation from your research.]
The person using this one for the first time.
I'm designing for office-kitchen users, where ease of use on the first try is the test.
- [What you saw people do at the microwave]
- [Where they hesitated]
- [What accessibility needs came up]
[A quote from someone you watched or interviewed]
It isn't dial vs. keypad.
I started by comparing a dial to a keypad. The better question was whether a screen alone is enough, or whether a screen needs a physical control next to it.
So I'm comparing screen-only against screen plus one physical control.
Many variants, one direction.
- 01[Variant A: screen-only]
- 02[Variant B: screen plus a dial]
- 03[Variant C]
A motorized dial is the strongest idea so far: it turns itself to show the time when you pick a preset, clicks down as it counts, and you can still turn it by hand.
[The current direction.]
- [Key decision 1 and why]
- [Key decision 2 and why]
[Is the companion app still part of it? Keep or cut this line.]
This is still in progress.
- 01[Test the variants with first-time users]
- 02[Accessibility testing: who and how]
- 03[Build a working dial prototype]
[Updated: Month Year]
- [Lesson 1.] [One line on it.]
- [Lesson 2.] [One line on it.]
[Close with one line in your own voice.]