How lazy programming burnt my ass. Literally. | Hacker News Reader

How lazy programming burnt my ass. Literally.

gelform.com

15 pointscoreymaass13 comments

More pipe and more turns in the pipe leads to more maintenance trouble. Plumbing failures are expensive to correct and often cause expensive damage to the wall, which is why buildings tend to be built to have a minimum number of "wetwalls" (walls with plumbing in them).

Furthermore, can you imagine trying to get the temperature right when you have to go from one side of the shower, to adjust the knobs, to the other, to test the water from the faucet?

So his "solution" is more costly to implement, has substantial lifecycle costs, and is bad UI to boot.

This happens a lot in programming too. A user has a problem, and thinks up a solution themself. They then file a bug saying "product is missing feature/behavior X". A good programmer then knows to figure out why the user thinks they want that behavior, so he can determine what the real problem is.

In this case, the real problem is that water temperature in his building wasn't stable. The real solution would have been better compartmentalization of his water supply so his neighbor’s water usage didn't disrupt his hot/cold balance.

Ha! Great point. My next post will have to be about digging deeper into the real problem.

I don't picture the controls on the other side of a big, tub, just somewhere that they can always be reached. Is there a "better" shower design out there? Voice controlled temp? :-)

Moving the controls away from the supply pipes has maintenance, installation and cosmetic implications. Plumbers get their asses burned in the shower just like anyone else. The controls are directly on the supply pipes because that's the best place to put them when all factors are considered. Moving to motorized valves has it's own host of problems but more importantly most people aren't going to want to deal with the increased installation and maintenance costs associated with having a motor inside the wall of their shower.

The main reason you get burned in the shower when someone flushes a toilet is due to a lack of pressure in the cold water supply pipe when the second valve is opened (toilet tank refills) and the pressure in the hot water pipe staying the same. Moving the controls would allow you to adjust the temperature to reflect this but then you'll just have to do it again when the second valve closes and the pressure returns to the cold water supply. A better approach to solving this problem would probably be to attack the water pressure issue so that a consistent amount of water is always supplied to the shower regardless of other devices on the system using water from either of the supply lines.

Many designs of thermostatic shower mixers will throttle back the hot water, rather than allow the occupant to get burnt.

I could've used that...

This article has nothing to do with programming. It makes a general point about usability though: you should have it in mind when building a system.

You're right, Kleiba - it's not specifically related to programming. I was just trying to relate a lesson I've learned in a funny, catchy way, so people will remember it.

I thought it was great; very applicable to programming (though jordanb made a good point as well). :-) Sorry to hear about your head though, hope it wasn't too serious.

Thanks!

And as design and usability becomes the deciding factor in what people want, all the decisions that others make to their benefit are going to get called into question. Let the plumber dance around getting their feet burned!

Totally. No matter what your role, I think you can share the vision of the company, which should be to deliver the best experience to the customer. What's the story? A janitor at NASA was asked why he worked so hard. He replied, "Because I'm working to put a man on the moon".

This is a situation where adjustable showerheads come in handy. Just aim it at an angle that gives you some room to reach in...

Now I always have the hand-held shower heads, both for this and for cleaning pets. :-)

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