In the example above, it is clear that even a simple design can cause problems. Because the sugar spout protrudes inwards, no sugar comes out once the sugar level is too low.
This is, of course, a simple example, but there are plenty more like it. Taps that lack a clear control knob, or where you really have to search for it. Where the design took precedence over how it actually works. The user experience has been subordinated to the function.
User Interface (UI) design
This has traditionally been the domain of product designers, but nowadays, in this age of digital devices such as smartphones, tablets, computers and other gadgets, it has become a new discipline: that of the ‘UI designer’. The designer of user interfaces, or UI for short.
Jasper van Kuijk has published a few interesting books on this subject (‘How hard can it be?’ in 2016; ‘Is it just me?’ in 2019 and ‘How easy can you make it?’ in 2024).
Time and again, it becomes clear that thinking carefully about product design and ease of use is a specialised skill in its own right.