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A project to make businesses more aware of their customer experience, and how to fix it. By Mark Hurst. |
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Broken: Windows error
Julian Graham writes:
The screenshot was taken on Windows 2000 Professional while trying to free up some disk space. Apparently, file deletion requires the use of some kind of disk cache, which, of course, may be unavailable if your disk is full.This message struck me as a great example of why Microsoft's filesystem code is particularly broken.
Broken: Voter registration form
Peter Steinberg writes:
Here's a voter registration form for New York State. The headings on the instructions say..."You can use this form to:"
"To register you must:"
"To complete this form:"
"Deadline information:""Need more registration forms?"
"Questions?"
But nowhere on the form, absolutely NOWHERE does it tell what to do when you COMPLETE the form... nowhere to mail it. Nowhere to carry it in person. I suppose you're just supposed to fill it out and they use ESP to read your information off of it.
Update: David B. writes in from New York City: "While I think the American electoral process is broken (low voter turnout, overly partisan, special interest driven, etc.), the comments on the voter reg form miss the boat. NY State voter reg forms are mailers... the flip side of where the voter writes their info is Business Reply Mail pre-addressed to their local Board of Elections (or in a minority of forms, with blank address lines that refer to a chart that has all the county Boards' addresses)."
Second Update: Peter Steinberg writes back:
I don't think I missed the boat at all... while this form may have a pre-addressed envelope on the flip side of it, I wouldn't know. I downloaded it as a PDF from the NY State Board of Elections website. Ultimately, returning to the site led me to a page where I could look up the address I needed, but a lot of good that did me after I already downloaded the PDF, printed it, logged off, and shut down my computer.
Broken: Net connection sign
Meg Lauber writes:
We were in Vancouver recently, and while waiting at the Pacific Central train station we noticed these signs.I wasn't brave enough to see if there actually was a computer in there, much less whether it was hooked up to an outbound network.
As always, click the graphic to see the whole story...
Broken: Banner ad
Jay Bienvenu writes:
I snapped this on weather.com last year as Tropical Storm Isidore approached the Louisiana coast. I live in south Louisiana and was monitoring the storm. Reserving a tee time was high on my priority list at the time. :) Though it might have helped my score!
The ad in question was part of a set of mini-ads that rotated at that location. It appears that weather.com has removed the ad.
Broken: Exit sign
Iain Tait writes from London:
It's almost surrealist in its absurdity.From a recent trip to the States, the photo was taken at the Aladdin Hotel in Las Vegas.
Broken: ATM buttons
Rui Patrício writes from Portugal:
Here's a nice picture of an ATM in Portugal with the buttons in the wrong order.Update Oct 2: Bruno Figueiredo writes from Portugal that this is "not an error in design. Vandals take off the buttons with a knife and glue them back on in a different order."
Broken: Airline safety card
Ole Hopland writes from Norway:
This image is taken from the safety card on Premiair Airlines. I interpret it as follows: I should buckle up, and place the seat in an upright position. I guess I'm supposed to be in the seat while doing this, but OK. Am I really expected to place my hand baggage under my own seat, from behind? And should I fold up the table belonging to the person behind me? I guess the illustration in the circle is telling me I have to unbuckle in order to do this.The final preparation for take off is to take the life vest out from under the seat and throw it out of the window, and watch it float in the water alone.
Broken: TV in taxi
Tracey Haun writes in:
This photo of the [Microsoft Windows] "blue screen of death" was taken in a taxi in Manhattan a few weeks ago. So which one is more broken, the operating system or the fact that cabs have video screens?
Broken: Subway door warning
Haim Hirsch took a picture from inside a New York City subway, and writes:
The "Do not lean on door" sign is pretty good, but how about "Do not hold doors": How would someone read that sign [affixed to the door] when the door is open - the time when they should not do the holding?(And do they really expect New Yorkers to heed that sign ;-) - perhaps some uncomfortable - but not actually dangerous - bristles along the edge of the doors to dissuade door-holding.)
Broken: Hotel exit sign
Steve Jackson writes in:
This is from the Tremont Hotel in Chicago. The dueling exit signs appear to point to the door in the middle, which is actually room 607. I'm guessing whoever's in there isn't real happy whenever a fire alarm goes off.
Broken: Sign on paint machine
Julius Welby points us to his photo of a sign on a paint-mixing machine. He writes: "You know what I was itching to do, don't you?"
Broken: Store hours
Andrew Rollason writes from London:
I was just about to pick up some groceries from the Marks and Spencer store down the street.The website has a decent online store finder, but unfortunately their opening hours are shown as a decimal.
Broken: PSI markings on tires
Kevin Shira writes:
Tire manufacturers delight in obscuring the PSI (Pounds per Square Inch)
information with tiny fonts in the same color as the tires themselves. (See the first photo [above], taken under perfect lighting conditions.)Imagine: it's late afternoon, the light is fading, and you need to inflate your tires. But what's the correct PSI? 32 pounds? 36? 44? With many tires, you won't be able to tell.
For most of us, finding the correct inflation level is impossible without a flashlight and magnifying glass. The easy solution? Make the PSI information twice as big. (See the the second image [above], which I edited.) Better yet, make the information bigger AND set it off in a white font.
The PSI on tires is the maximum inflation. The PSI you should use is always posted on a placard on the door jamb of your car. Car manufacturers "tune" their cars' suspensions to the tires and rarely use the maximum pressure. I work for a major tire manufacturer, by the way.
Broken: Blackout photo
This "photo" of the northeast U.S. blackout was passed widely around the Internet.
Unfortunately, it's a fake.
As described on this page, someone apparently grabbed an old satellite image from the NASA website, then used Photoshop to black out the appropriate part of the image. An easy but effective hoax.
The lesson: Don't trust anything you receive via e-mail unless you check the source online (i.e. via the Web address) - and don't forward it along to anyone else. If there's no Web address listed, don't trust what you see.
Broken: Macy's outdoor display
Fred McCann writes:
I almost walked right past this on the way to work. This is the big Macy's sign on the corner of 34th and 7th in Manhattan. [Picture taken August 4, 2003]
Update Aug. 25, 2005: The original two pictures are down, but Billy Scott supplies us with this more recent example from summer '05.
Broken: Newark Airport
For the next several weeks, do not fly into, or out of, Newark Liberty International Airport. Instead, use either of New York's other major airports: JFK or LaGuardia.
One of Newark Airport's runways is being resurfaced for the next month or so. As far as I can tell, every single flight going into or out of Newark is delayed.
There's also a safety issue, as I found out last night, flying into Newark (on a delayed flight, of course). As we came in for landing, the pilot gunned the engine, aborted the landing, and flew around to get back in the long line of planes for another landing attempt.
Why did he abort the landing? There was another plane on the runway. In the pilot's words, "too many planes and too little runway space."
Safety issues and across-the-board delays: do not fly Newark.
Broken: Same-day delivery
Barnes & Noble (bn.com), based here in New York City, offers to deliver almost any product same day for customers in Manhattan. That's pretty bold, setting such a high expectation.
The last time I ordered from bn.com, the "same day" delivery took several weeks to arrive. I alerted them via e-mail and never received an apology, let alone any compensation. That was two years ago, and I've never ordered from them since.
Now Phil Terry writes in with his recent experience on bn.com:
I experienced a problem with Barnes & Noble's (supposedly) Same Day Delivery in Manhattan when the courier service did not get to the delivery location until after 7pm. The name "Same Day Delivery in Manhattan" seems to imply guaranteed same day delivery; however, when you read the fine print, you find out that the service is in fact not guaranteed.
Broken: Office signs
James L. sends two pictures from his office:
The first picture is a sign inside the bathroom stall. Sadly, the very reason you're in there doesn't seem to be allowed.Second is the sign pointing to the emergency exit. This photo is taken as you come into the office, ie, the exit is behind you. Right now the sign points to an office with no exit.
Broken: Bike path signage
The bike path on the west side of Manhattan is a local favorite. Don't get me wrong - we love the bike path.
The only problem is that the signage can be confusing. In the first picture, two stop signs compete with two green lights. Should the cyclist stop or go? Also notice that it's hard to tell that the trail isn't for walkers. Painted on the pavement just above the cyclist icon is the rollerblader icon, which looks an awful lot like a person walking.
The second picture shows the markings on the pavement - triangles and perpendicular stripes - that (I assume) tell cyclists to slow down, stop if necessary, and allow pedestrians to cross at the crosswalk. But that's just a guess.
Thanks to Peter Frishauf for the photos. He points us to www.transalt.org: "They are actually taking
legal action over the stop signs.....apparently they are a violation of state law."
Broken: Office phone
Look closely at this office phone and you'll notice something missing: the Redial button! I count 46 buttons on this phone, including mysteries like "Inspct," "HFAI," and "Feature." But Redial - possibly the most important button after the digits and Mute - didn't make the cut. Needless to say, I haven't figured out speed dialing, either.
And don't get me started on the voice mail system that came with this phone. (To delete, press "2-2-2". To save, press "Star 1". To remove the design flaws, throw the phone out the window.)
Broken: Tattoos
Taking a long weekend (for Labor Day in the U.S.). Until we come back, just for fun...
Broken: Getting tattooed in a language other than your own.