Two Kindle Design Flaws | Hacker News Reader

Two Kindle Design Flaws

mm207.blogspot.com.au

2 pointsMarkMc5 comments

There's a difference between a design that you use the first time and a design that you use all the time. It doesn't make sense to change the buttons just so you can figure them easier on the first time (I had no problems by the way with it). When I'm spending large stretches of time reading I actually enjoy having the buttons on each side go to the next page. I'm not staying in the exact same position as I was an hour ago, or maybe the same side. If you're lying somewhere you want to spend as little effort as possible just to go to the next page.

I agree. The button placement makes sense for commodity sake, and that should trump first use in this case, as it is not something you take long to learn.

I have a touch, and this is one of the small issues I have with it. If I'm holding it with my left hand, my thumb will have to travel a larger distance to turn the page, than if I'm holding it with my right. It's not much of a problem though, and it beats having to physically turn a page. But I wish there was an option to have touching the screen on either side turn the page, and if I want to go back, I could just use the swipe gesture.

As for this guy's first issues, my memory is a little hazy, but I could swear that my kindle came with a drawing of the device in the display clearly indicating where to turn the device on. Is it different on non touch kindles?

That's the fundamental UX/IxD dilemma. You can design something incredibly easy for new users, but those same users ultimately become power users down the line. At the right time scale, I think all users will choose efficiency over discoverability. The iPhone is a great example. How long did it take people to realise that bulk delete was needed for email?

Jeff is a great designer. He completely got that there's left and right handed people in the world and the catered his design towards that. While you hold your Kindle (left handed or right handed) you always have your thumb on the next page button and you can easily slide your thumb upwards to go back.

I was annoyed by the page turn buttons the first time I used them. But the button placement works really well for reading while lolling around, it's actually one of the ways in which reading a kindle is more pleasant than reading a paperback novel.

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