What really puzzles me, though, is that when a manufacturer figures out how to automate an otherwise mysterious operation, I would expect the resulting device to be simpler. Nope. Here is an example: Siemens developed a washing machine that, to quote its Web site, “is equipped with smart sensors that recognize how much laundry is in the drum, what kind of textiles the laundry load comprises, and if it is heavily or lightly soiled. Users only have to choose one of two program settings: hot and colored wash, or easy-to-clean fabrics. The machine takes care of the rest.” Hurrah, now the entire wash can be automatic, so only two controls are needed: one to choose between “hot and colored wash” and “easy-to-clean fabrics,” the other to start the machine. Nope. This washer had even more controls and buttons than the nonautomatic one. “Why even more controls,” I asked a friend who works at Siemens, “when you could make this machine with only one or two?” “Are you one of those people who want to give up control, who think less is better?” asked my friend. “Don’t you want to be in control?” Strange reply. Why the automation if it isn’t to be trusted? And yes, actually, I am one of those bizarre people who think that less is better. It appears that marketing won the day. And I suspect marketing was right. Would you pay more money for a washing machine with fewer controls? In the abstract, maybe. At the store, probably not. Marketing rules-as it should, for a company that ignores marketing is a company soon out of business. Marketing experts know that feature lists influence purchase decisions, even if the buyers realize they will probably never use most of the features. Notice the wording: “pay more money for a washing machine with fewer controls.” An early version of this material was published in Interactions, the magazine for professionals in the field of human-computer interaction. The editor flagged the sentence as an error: “Didn’t you mean `less money’?” she asked. Her question makes my point precisely. If a company spent more money to design and build an appliance that worked so well, so automatically, that it only needed an on-off switch, people would reject it. “Why does the simple one cost more than the more powerful, complex one?” they would complain.
We all have a desire to be in control. And with products, sometimes we are always impressed by those that have more features when even, in the case of the washing machine, the extra features actually meant less automation and less saving of your time. Interesting anecdote on how marketing demands can affect the development of the products we use.
