Living in an apartment building, we all know that every once in a while a repulsive stench can creep in from the halls when a neighbor cooks. This is why one of my favourite objects, helps to fill the air in my apartment with a pleasant fragrance. My oil burner.
Affordance: When looking at the oil burner, you can instantly notice the two parts. It is divided in two and manufactured with distinct characteristics: the candle holder can be identified by the circular indentation at its base, and the placement of the oil at the top can be identified by a half spherical cup.
Constraint (physical): The depth of the indent allows the candle to sit in place and not fall out of its containment, and the depth of the cup allows the oil not to spill out over the edge.
Visibility: There are no colored lights or levels to indicate any procedures (ex. no red light to show that the candle is burning). The start-shaped holes on the side of the burner act as indicators. If the opening of the candle holder is opposite you, you can tell that the candle is lit by looking through the holes and seeing the flame or light. The oil starts to smoke when the flame under it heats it up enough, acting as an indicator that it is actually working.
Mapping: The height of the cylinder plays a big part of the oil burners purpose. Since there are only two parts, one on top of the other, someone placing the candle automatically knows it has to heat up the oil so it goes on the bottom and the oil on top. There are no add features to confuse anyone.
This piece of technology brings boredom to an end but at a cost: no patience for the stress it brings upon you. It is still on thing that fascinates me; but the way in which it is made should be improved. The object I chose that I hate most is my KOSS DVD player.
Constraint (physical): The biggest problem I come upon with my player is when a disc is inserted on the tray that slides out. When the tray is fully extended, the top's edge overlaps the indentation in which the disc is placed. When inserting the disc, it has to be put in at an angle which, most of the time, is impossible, and ends up being placed accidently over the edge of the indentation. Once the tray slides back in, the disc skips repeatedly and gets scratched. Most people would wait to see if the disc is inserted properly, but another problem with this player is that about ninety percent of the time, the tray slides out and then slides back in automatically. So, by the time I have the disc halfway into the holding spot, it retracts and catches the disc, bringing it into the player in the wrong position.
Visibility: In light-colored blue, the play symbol is lit to notify the user the disc is playing, but the distance people are from the player, it is impossible for them to see it. Like the old VHS players, it would be better to see a green light, located appropriately. , along with a red light to show it is stopped.
Mapping: As always, I forget where I place objects in my home. Most of the time this includes the DVD remote controller. The DVD player can help in four ways if I misplace the controller: it has a play, stop, pause, on and off buttons. One thing I hate most of movies, are the ads. But I can't fast-forward through them because there is no button on the player. Also if I have missed a part in a movie, I am unable to rewind because of no rewind button.
Laptop Screen Cleaner
