Zip code, try time zone at NRT. Landed there once and the "Altitude-Airspeed-Temperture" info screen was still on the displays. Turning off the runway at the farrr end out in the farmland, and the display is reading "Miles to Destination: 5". It's a loooong taxi. :D And stay off the new south 5th runway at ATL, it's down near Macon.

Actually, one real reason is if parallel runways are not far enough apart, then both cannot be used for landings in real instrument weather, which really slows traffic down during snow and thunderstorms, thus there is not one convienient close runway on each side of the terminal.

As for "I also have never understood why a boarding pass has to be so big." Either you are showing your age or I will show mine if I know the answer. :p You mean a card 3.25 inches wide by 7.375 inches long by 0.007 inches thick? Well back in the day when pistons still moved planes, the airlines and the ticket agents first computerized and due to a monopoly by a certain computer company, that computer company made printers that only printed on one size card which they were the sole supplier of. $$$$ All these years later, it would be unbelieveably expensive to scrap every ticket printer and reader in the world and replace them using something other than an IBM punch card. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Punched_card if you are under 40. :D

How about TV remotes that don't seem to have a closed captioning function, be it a specific button or a menu option. Every US hotel has accessible rooms but not every place has a TV with closed captioning easily enabled by the LodgeNet or other system remote. I can do just fine with my hearing aids but with TV I really need the captions for it to be of any use.

Great thread topic. All my peeves are about hotel design...

** Incomprehensible thermostats / HVAC controls.

** Mystery temp / flow controls on the shower.

** Insoluble alarm clock controls. I like the Hilton standard alarm clock / radio, I've figured it out and it's the only one I try to use any more.

** Overdesigned shampoo / conditioner / lotion mini-bottles that defy opening when your hands are wet and slippery. Caps should be ridged so you can get a purchase! And thick, viscous lotions can be impossible to extract from slim, small-necked bottles.

** Stylish lamps that you can't figure out how to turn on or off. I was just in a London hotel for three nights; spent two of them reading in semi-darkness before I figured out that my stupid bedside lamp had two different bulbs and switches, one almost completely concealed from view by its chic design.

** Weird light switch placement or function. Wall switches control lamps or lights that you don't expect... or not. I hate havng to hunt by feel for the bathroom light toggle in the middle of the night.

In short a hotel room, like a rental car, is no place for mysterious design that has to be deciphered.

The Polderbaan is one of them, but you may or may not use that one. There's still a chance. For CDG, ALL the runways seem to be in Belgium. Taxi time is never less than 15 minutes. JFK is also pretty bad.


I second that! ^

I actually enjoyed watching the news from my tiny bathroom mirror, as I had little time to sit by the tele to see what happened to the 2nd Time Climber.

I cannot understand why Airport security has lines and lines of queue for people but then only distributes the x-ray buckets right next to the machine.

This means that everyone has to undress and unpack everything while standing infront of the machine. On the other side, you have to return your bucket within a few feet of the x-ray and metal detectors, resulting in everyone hopping around trying to get their shoe on while holding their trousers up and trying not to drop their duty free - what a nonesense.

Instead, you should have x-ray buckets distributed at the beginning of the queue, with a canteen style slide all the way to the x-ray. Afterwards, you should have several tables, out of the way, to allow people to get dressed again without blocking the screening area.

This would result in much much quicker screening, and a more relaxed, flowing process for passengers.

Simple really.

Ah yes, the old matchbook covers "You too can be a keypunch operator"

My biggest design peeve is twofold: 1) toilet stalls in the airports that are too small to accomodate me and my carry-ons. Hello? I'm a traveller in an airport, why did you designers think I wouldn't have luggage? Or did you think I'd feel comfortable leaving it in a pile by the sinks where anybody could steal it? 2) more of #1 - toilet stalls with no shelves or hooks to put my carryons on. Why do I have to put my purse and laptop bag on the floor when the stalls have a 2-foot gap above the floor so anybody could reach under and yank my stuff away while I'm "going"?

Which is the #1 reason I love Terminal D @ DFW-plenty of both. Whomever designed the bathrooms there should be nominated for sainthood! ^

That made me think of another space-design issue, this one involving airport bars and restaurants.

There is often no provision made for the fact that most patrons will have carry-on baggage. They try to make charming, intimate spaces with little cafe tables jammed close together. This would be fine if you were empty-handed, but you have to bull-moose your way through there with a rollaboard or shoulder bag knocking things over.

I was just in the IAH Term E Pappadeaux at dinnertime and fighting my way through the place to a kitchen-bar seat for one was very difficult with luggage.

Airport restaurants should have cubbies behind the hostess podium for bag storage, like airline lounges do.

Taking your #2 a bit farther - Many gripe about walking shoeless through security. However, the restroom floors in airports are the place I would never dare walk shoeless and I'd really prefer not to put my luggage on it either. Not talking rollerboards but the backpack style I use, and I would assume purses for most women. I've seen some terribly disgusting things in a men's room and I pray that women aren't nearly as unpleasant or disrespectful in their public restrooms.

They're working on new designs to address those issues.

http://www.tsa.gov/evolution/innovation.shtm

All of the above plus airport specific:
* No clocks on concourses - It's like your in Vegas, but wouldn't you think the airports would want you to keep an eye on the time. Next time your in DFW try to find a clock
*An airport plus is rental cars I can walk to. All my favorite airports have walk to rental cars. I used to love Baltimore then they went to satalite rental cars. I don't want to shlep my stuff to a bus, train, monorail to get my car
* Satellite rental cars that are 10 minute drives.
* If you must have Satellite rental cars make them so you can roll your bags on ie SFO monorail and not lift ie buses
*Keep rental car buses company specific. BWI has airport buses. The timing of these busses are bad, and their is no one to complain to. Car companies can't do anything about them as they are airport controlled

I'm really enjoying this thread; my neck is getting sore from nodding. Some more..

:td: Hotel doors that close too aggressively while you're juggling the room key, your carryon, and your checked bag. Why not just have a loop and a hook on the back of the door and adjacent wall?

:td: Not enough room for two toilet kits in the loo; it would be okay even if one uses a hook on the wall.

:td: Seat lights on planes that can't be re-aimed.

In Europe, I hate the idea that you have to put the room key in that little slot too turn on the lights. Which I always forget to take.

And who thought of these ideas for switches? One switch seems to turn on two lamps on opposite corners of the room, and two outlets no where near those lamps. But the outlet near the lamp is controlled by a switch on the other side of the room. except for that one lamp that you have yet to figure out how to turn off, since it is not controlled by ANY switch!

Oh, and airport waiting areas - why are the seats long rows - people don't sit right next to each other - I like it when they cluster them in groups.

Rental Cars With Non-Standard Controls
 

I must not be very adaptable when it comes to cars.

You get off your plane, rum-dumb from travel delays, hobble on over to the car rental place, throw your bags into the pre-opened trunk, and drive off to your hotel in the middle of the night.

After parking the car in hotel lot, you walk around to the trunk. Where is the key hole? No problem. Use the fob. No trunk button on the fob. No problem. Open the driver's door and find the obviously labelled lever. No lever. No problem. Must be a button somewhere with a trunk open icon. No button. No problem. It'll be in the owner's manual in the glove compartment. No owner's manual.

Now what?

This has happened to me a couple of times. Only on Pontiacs.

My solution? Don't allow them to give you a Pontiac. All the controls are screwed up. Also, until and unless I can figure out how the trunk opens, baggage goes in the back seat.

I hate that about the hotels in Europe. It was discussed somewhere on FT before and many of those things will work with a random card, it doesn't have to be the room card. I've been using one of my old FF cards which has seemed to work and this way if I forget it, it's nbd.

That is why I always carry a "spare" hotel card key or ask for 2 at check-in.

I do the same... though my pet-peeve with regards to the "Room key" switch is that when I leave my laptop/ipod/camera in the room to charge, the housekeeper comes in, cleans up, and takes out my keycard, thereby killing the outlets my electronics are plugged into.. leaving them uncharged.

Damnit.

Also, what's with those crap European half shower doors? I've even seen those things in people's private homes. Why not just put in a full door? Why do I have to slip and fall on my ... every time I come out of the shower?

At the central marketplace in SEA they have several food options and huge windows to watch the runway. It's pretty nice.

But they filled it with table/chair set to acocmodate parties of 4-6 people.

Are most people at the airport traveling with that many friends/relatives?

I understand they want to enhance the "community" feeling of this great "public space" but when I'm waiting for a flight, early in the morning, I really don't want to have to talk/associate with a bunch of strangers just so I can find a place to sit and eat.

I SO feel ya on this post! ^

And related: The issue of on which side the gas fill door is located has already been mentioned, but how about this variation: How to open up the gas fill door?? Sometimes it's a button on the dash, sometimes it's a button on the floor, sometimes it's a button on the door, and then my personal favorite: There's no button or lever anywhere, and no apparent way to open it from the outside either (no obvious indentation on which to pull it open)...until you realize you have to push in one side of the door, which "folds" the opposite side open (i.e., kind of like a "middle hinge"). What rocket scientist thought THAT would be a good idea at all, let alone on an unfamiliar rental car when you're in a hurry to get to the airport??? :mad:

There's even another variation: on at least some BMWs, you push it in and it pops open, unless the car is locked - like some kitchen cabinets.

I guess I don't find many BMWs on the Hertz #1 aisles. I do definitely identify with the lack of design standards across mainstream American cars, though. Seat adjustment levers and side-view mirror controls are other areas with crazy variations. Another reason why you go for familiar cars like the Taurus or G6 that you don't even like much. At least you've figured them out.

Ever rent a Prius? Took me 15 minutes to figure out how to turn the thing on - there IS no key, you put the whole key fob into the dash. Only National attached this little stick thing that kinda looks like a key. Which didn't help matters.

I guess though, that most car companies do not design their cars around rental companies needs. Maybe they should, I don't know.

Anyway, couple other observations - hand holds on the corners of the seats along the aisle like they have on trains. And better lights - more directional, or not in the ceiling, for overnight flights so one light doesn't light up the whole cabin. And how about some kind of head support in the seats, so you have something to lean your head against. And for those who use headphones, maybe a small light near the seatbelt sign, perhaps replacing that useless no smoking light - that lights up when they are making an anoucement. For that matter haven't we advanced enough technically that we can have special chimes used for Flight Attendant use instead of having to use the no smoking sign just to signal the flight attendants? And finally, why can't the make the fuselage more oval shaped, so you get straighter sidewalls?

When some friends of mine got their Prius, it came with a pad of basic instruction sheets they could give to parking lot attendants, valet parkers and so on so they'd at least know how to get it moving.

I rented a diesel Renault Megane in the UK last years that you started by sliding a black plastic plaque into a big slot, waiting ten seconds, then pressing a button with a weird symbol on it. That took some figuring out. :)

On the Pontiacs that National and Alamo seem so in love with, you hold the door-unlock switch on the drivers side for two seconds and the trunk will open.

Now this is what I'm talking about!
 

There is also something you can do with the door unlock control mounted on the driver's door. One of the Pontiacs (Lubbock of all places - no shortage of owner's manuals) I got stuck with had the owner's manual in the glove box.

I just don't think an automobile should be so complicated. The key lock controls on both the driver's door and key fob have different functions. One function activated by a single click and another function activated by a hold down for some indeterminate time.

Any human factors or industrial design study with real human subjects would easily uncover how user unfriendly this design is. I would argue that the design was motivated by cost cutting instead of user satisfaction. Each button has got to add at least $2 to the cost of the car.

The lid to the bin in aircraft lavs.
Why should it be so hard to push down the lid to throw away the paper after you've washed your hands ? I don't want to touch that dirty piece of metal now that my hands are clean.

Design Flaws

1. Seats shoul not be able to recline in coach.

2. The first light switch in the hotel room should actually light enough to see the room.

3. Hotel doors should always close themselves completely.

4. Bathrooms should have hooks to hang clothes for us shower steamers. I don't know how many times I have made some type of Rube Goldberg Eerector Set out of hangers and hung it from the air conditioning vent.

I thought I was the only person who routinely had trouble with hire cars so had to laugh at some of the posts on this thread. There have been times when I've had to go back to the booth and ask very politely if someone there can tell me how to open the door, to start the car... and, I've had my gold license for a long time!

[QUOTE=vietbet;9878786]Design Flaws

1. Seats shoul not be able to recline in coach. [QUOTE] During day flights, I completely agree. Overnight, everyone reclines so that's a different matter. Anyway, I swear I don't work for this guy, but I keep wondering if people have heard of these,

http://www.gadgetduck.com/goods/kneedefender.html

It's an FAA thing.
 

Because the lav trash compartment has it's own automatic fire extinguisher the door must be auto-closing in order to contain any possible fire. You sometime see similar "trap-doors" on galley trash bins.

While it IS gross to touch it I always use a piece of toilet paper to hold it open and then throw the tissue in the toilet and THEN flush. When working I try to spray the flush button, trash door, faucet controls, door lock/handle with disinfectant every so often.

Mis-aligned/badly aimed individual seat lights on airplanes.

Really really dim seat lights on airplanes.

25-watt reading light bulbs in 3-4 star hotel rooms...

And (from a height-challenged person) the miserable 'head rest' on airplane seats. I read somewhere that it's assumed that the flier will want to recline. I find it forces my neck to an uncomfortable position even reclining and it is really really bad sitting upright. Particularly evil if I'm in a seat with an unusually deep (front to back) seat - no lumbar support and a head rest forcing my head unnaturally forward - yikes! :mad:

And chewing gum in packets that, once opened, allow all the rest of the gum to fall out too easily.

I have been tempted to get a knee defender, for now I just fold up newspaper or a magazine and it works most of the time.

[QUOTE=vietbet;9878786]Design Flaws

1. Seats shoul not be able to recline in coach.

1. hotels that designed their sink faucets with spherical knobs. how could anyone be that stupid? ever tried turning a sphere with soapy hands?

2. El Paso airport signage lettering. Someone thought it would be great to use southwest style heavy block letters that have no readability and are just awful as you drive around the circle trying to figure out where to go. Real smart, guys. http://www.elpasotimesrealestate.com/images/airport.jpg
http://farm1.static.flickr.com/47/13...1a0836.jpg?v=0

Couldn't agree more. It wouldn't be so bad if they were tables for two - sharing with a single person is usually not a problem, as the tendency is to respect the other person's privacy after the initial greeting. But when you're a single sitting at a table with a family group, it's impossible to feel comfortable as they go about their conversations, etc.


Also:

Newly-constructed airport terminals that do not provide "moving walkways" for concourses that are spread out, requiring Battan-Death-March length walks to reach connecting gates.

Hotel furnishings that are selected 100 percent for their aesthetic look, zero percent for comfort and functionality.

[QUOTE=Kimberley;9878934]...1. Seats shoul not be able to recline in coach. This has been widely discussed on FT. It comes under the category of a device that prevents a part of the aircraft from functioning as intended and is therefore, at least in the U.S., illegal. Posters here have reported FAs telling the device's users to stop. Not obeying crew orders can, as is well known, get one into real trouble.

Like it or not, and while courtesy should always be part of the equation, passengers have a right to use the recline feature that was designed into their seats.

I feel that I should be able to recline to my heart's desire, as that is how the seat is intended to be used. I feel that the non-reclined position is to facilitate load-in, load-out, and emergency procedures.

As this is a thread about design flaws, my feeling is the reclining seat is the design flaw. Just make seats that do not recline, or recline an inch or two.

[QUOTE=Efrem;9884492]

[QUOTE=vietbet;9884868]As this is a thread about design flaws, my feeling is the reclining seat is the design flaw. Just make seats that do not recline, or recline an inch or two.



Geez the tiniest bit of comfort in whY and you want to take it away. Reclining on long flights is the only way to tolerate them.