Thursday
Feb192009
Gems of Unnoticed Problems
Thursday, February 19, 2009 at 1:16PM
Pleasure and Pain alerted me to a talk series not unlike the TED talks called the Gel Conference. One talk to catch my attention was by Oxo's Alex Lee. Alex explained how Oxo, a kitchen utensil company renowned for its comfy designs, is constantly on the lookout for the gems of unnoticed problems; those unquestioned and unnecessarily difficult things people have to do everyday.
Traditional measuring cup
Oxo measuring cup
I like his example of asking people "What is wrong with your current measuring cup?", which got answers like "it's sometimes slippery", or "the handle gets hot with hot liquids in it", but never
People didn't see the problem, until Oxo presented them with the solution. (Oxo actually didn't invent the better measuring cup design, they just improved on it and brought it to the masses).
UPDATE: As was brought up in the comments, a company called Smart Design does the design work for Oxo. In addition, Oxo recieves many unsolicited designs, which on rare occasion turn into real products. This cup is one example.
Alex Lee at Gel 2008 from Gel Conference on Vimeo.
Traditional measuring cup Oxo measuring cupI like his example of asking people "What is wrong with your current measuring cup?", which got answers like "it's sometimes slippery", or "the handle gets hot with hot liquids in it", but never
"it's actually hard to measure accurately without pouring a bit, bending down to look, pouring some more, bending down again…"
People didn't see the problem, until Oxo presented them with the solution. (Oxo actually didn't invent the better measuring cup design, they just improved on it and brought it to the masses).
UPDATE: As was brought up in the comments, a company called Smart Design does the design work for Oxo. In addition, Oxo recieves many unsolicited designs, which on rare occasion turn into real products. This cup is one example.
Alex Lee at Gel 2008 from Gel Conference on Vimeo.
tagged Design, oxo, unintuitive, usability in Video
Design, oxo, unintuitive, usability in Video
Reader Comments (48)
@Jough Dempsey: If you are using a liquid measuring cup to measure dry ingredients, you are using the wrong tool for the job. Don't blame Oxo. Get yourself some proper http://www.hardwareandtools.com/invt/u755157" rel="nofollow">dry measuring cups.
@Vincent: Multiple measuring cups and spoons. Pour out enough to fill the right-size cup or spoon. If you need some in-between amount, get a push-up measuring cup -- which is also indispensable for thick or sticky stuff.
@Jough: To measure out flour by volume, use a set of good dry measuring spoons/cups, as @Mr. Nosuch said. Far superior to any graduated cup (except a push-up).
@Peter: I'm also exact with my measurements, but I find the Oxo cups to be great for milk.
Still, I'd never get rid of my Pyrex measuring cups.
@ Telos
Blame my spell-checker ;). I _thought_ it looked wrong, but the spell-checker said, no, it's right.
I bought this years ago... I love OXO, but this isn't exactly new...
Sustainability was mentioned and is an interesting point.
Off topic, but I bought some measuring spoons from OXO... the printed numbers came off in the wash... and only after 10 washes.
Had they been stamped with their measure, I would be still be using them.
They have been replaced by some no name, aluminum spoons with STAMPED numbers. I will never have to buy another set again and being aluminum can be recycled or handed down when I die. OMG, I am going to die!!!?!
I have these. I dislike them. Yes, it's slightly easier to see the fill level, but it introduces another problem altogether: Clean-up.
It introduces a lot of hard angles on the interior of the cup. So if you use it to pour something thick (butter, etc) or even some gritty mixture (flour & sugar?), getting these things truly clean is a total PITA.
Have two; wish I had more traditional glass ones, with soft curves at the joints of the planes, a la the old Pyrex ones.
Hard to clean. Plastic is toxic when used in microwave. Plastic is an unsustainable resource. I'll stick with my old tried and true pyrex.
I have to interject on the "plastic is toxic in a microwave" comments sprinkled throughout this thread. This is a totally untrue statement
http://urbanlegends.about.com/library/bl-microwave-dioxin.htm
http://www.snopes.com/medical/toxins/cookplastic.asp
I own the 2 cup version. I like the fact that Oxo is trying to find a solution, but the changes are a marginal improvement at best and introduce new problems that don't exist with a traditional cup. It's still hard to accurately measure by looking over the top - you have to check the side anyway. The convoluted shape makes stirring harder than it needs to be. The plastic handle cover warped a bit, probably from the heat of the dishwasher, and now extends below the bottom of the cup. So the cup isn't level unless you keep it close to the edge of a counter so that the handle isn't in contact with the counter surface. So, thanks for trying Oxo, but there's more work to be done. This cup design hasn't changed for years so my guess is Oxo's design team has moved on.
@Dan
I agree. Was just saying that if you want to build a better mouse trap, you examine the limitations of existing solutions. If you want to create something completely new, you have to start with a need. I wasn't suggesting that OXO should have been trying to create something new from scratch here, just that there are two methodologies for identifying problems to solve, each suited to meeting different kinds of goals.
Many of OXO's clever innovations including features of these measuring cups, are actually the work of a product/UI firm called Smart Design. A website which claims any authority in product or UI design should be aware of this company and god forbid give credit where due.
Hi Andrew,
I totally agree — my line "Oxo actually didn’t invent the better measuring cup design, they just improved on it and brought it to the masses" doesn't give the full story.
You're right; due credit (or not) to Smart Design, and the random inventors submitting designs. I'll add an update to make that connection clearer.
Millions of professional kitchens. And my abuelita's, for at least forty years. Pyrex.
Case closed.
I really enjoy our set of Oxo measuring cups, wouldn't go back. Don't have any trouble cleaning them, and I have no need to microwave their contents. Are they renewable? No. But they are recyclable, and measuring cups aren't exactly something you change out often.
What I really don't have a need for is griping on some guy's blog about a product that is not his, but that he just pointed to a video of. I won't get high-and-mighty about the spelling either.
@ Kris I wonder if the USA will every 'go metric'?
@Telos
If you choose to correct Jake Agnew's spelling you could at least spell "pretension" correctly yourself.
Yours pedantically,
IR
@Pyrex Better
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bioplastic" rel="nofollow">Plastics can be made from vegetable oil, or other renewable resources.
I suspect Oxo went with something more affordable. But I simply don't know enough about the efficiency of their manufacturing process to criticize. I would imagine much more energy is required to work tempered glass than plastic -- but again I don't know.
I have many OXO products in my kitchen. Their stuff usually feels and performs great. My favorite is the can opener that cuts easily along the top edge. No more fishing dirty lids out of the contents of the can.
It did take a few dozen cans or so before I became a ninja can opener with OXO's tool. Lining it up was hit or miss initially.
About the measuring cup - wow. I've never heard so many people complain about needing to get an exact amount. I can stuff a cup of flour in my cup and pour half in no time, just by eyeball.
Your food will still taste good if you accidentally get .6 cups instead of .5.
That said, I'll stick with my pyrex as well. Also, the OXO knives on amazon.com do rust. They aren't premium priced, so I don't really care.
@Kieth Lang - I expect the USA will go metric at about the same time that they correct their spelling of "colour", "organise" and "aluminium" :)
And who in their right minds bends down to read the cup? I've always poured stuff into measuring cups while holding the measure at eye-level. Then again, I learned to cook in bush camps where tables were never level!
Hey! This cup was designed for OXO by Bang-Zoom designs here in Cincinnati, Ohio! They also designed the Elmo doll that falls down laughing and then stands itself back up. They're pretty cool to a budding industrial design student like myself.
@Vincent Gable
"It should be possible today to build a “pouring cup”, that pours out exactly the right amount without any measuring — at least on the cook’s part."
I tend to measure in what I need to measure out - i.e. if the recipe says add 250ml of milk I pour milk in to a measuring jug to the 250ml line, then I pour it out! ;-)
Here's another idea though. Here in the UK (and I suspect everywhere else) butter now comes with measuring lines on the pack, so you can easily cut off 100g, 200g and so on.
It's so obvious - it takes away the old thing of having to cut a little bit then weigh it, add some more, take some off. Now I never weigh my butter!
I think all products aimed at cooks and others should have measurements built in: milk cartons, sugar, flour etc. It wouldn't be 100% accurate but cooking never is - a little bit too much flour, a little under on the butter, who cares? That's the fun! (Well, the eating's the fun...)
@ Brandon-
I was always wondering who did that Cup- Go Cincy!
I think the bigger point here that the author missed is that 10 or 11 different design groups work for OXO, including Bally Design.
I really resent how Smart Design seems to get all the credit for much of the OXO Good Grips products when in reality they only handle a certain lot of products.
Thank God I don't use measure cups, so I don't have a problem with measuring.