Review: Virgin Toilet poses Interesting Questions

The new Virgin trains have posh toilets, with curved sliding doors that swish open at the press of a button. Inside, there are clear labels around three vertically aligned buttons. The first closes the door. The second locks it, and changes from green to red to show it's locked. The third opens the door. All pretty simple.

There's quite a lot of space in there – more than one person needs, for sure, though I think it's to allow wheelchairs in and out. All the buttons have Braille labels too, which is good to see. Next to those door buttons is a large red one, for emergency use. I entered, and locked the door, and the green light went to red.

Sitting on the toilet, it's interesting to note that the emergency button is just out of reach... I guess if I lunged towards it I'd be able to press it, but I'm six foot tall.

However, one of the most interesting design features is the fact that the toilet flush button has been placed on the wall in such a position that when the toilet lid is raised it obscures the button. Therefore, in order to flush the toilet, you have to close the lid. A helpful sign points to the button in case you don't notice it.

I understand the logic – in order to flush the toilet you'll have to close the lid, and that's nicer for the people that follow you in. However, I'm not sure that it'll work, as hiding the button may make people not bother to flush it at all – a far worse scenario. Closed toilet seat versus cheeky floater – it's a bit of a drastic tradeoff.

I spent some time considering this, sitting there in peaceful contemplation, when I noticed one more interesting design feature. The red light indicating the door was locked had gone out... Was it just that the indicator had changed, or had the door unlocked? I lurched forwards, jabbing for the button, which turned back to red again. My worst fears were realised as this suggested that the door had unlocked itself whilst I was in there, without letting me know.

Was this done because playful kids would use lightning reflexes and a long stick to prod the lock button without being in the loo, hence making it unusable by anyone else? I doubt it, cos it seems you have to close the door before you lock it. So what is the reason? Some more experimentation is called for, though there could be a whole host of embarrassment in store...

All change at the top for System Concepts
Source: System Concepts Ltd, 3 July 2009
 
Leslie Fountain has been promoted to joint Managing Director of leading usability consultancy System Concepts.

Life in UCD immortalised in fiction: you couldn't make it up
Source: UN, 2 July 2009
 
Sarah Herman's fictitious book on life in a user-centred design company has hit the shelves and The Guardian's book pages...

Interfaces Magazine - Issue 79: The Education Issue
Source: Interaction Group, 1 July 2009
 
The latest issue of Interfaces is now available as a free download from the Interaction Website.

Two new Behavioural research Tools from Noldus
Source: UN, 30 June 2009
 
Tool updates make on-site behavioural data collection easier.

Cell Phones that Listen and Learn
Source: MIT Technology Review, 29 June 2009
 
New software tracks a user's behavior by monitoring everyday sounds.

Top Six Don’ts for Usability Testing
Source: FutureNow Inc., 27 June 2009
 
Six tips for creating quality usability tests to ensure useful feedback from testers.

Usability: ‘Lovely software. But I can’t work it’
Source: FT.com, 26 June 2009
 
In a recent survey by Global Graphics, 77 per cent of office workers estimate they lose up to one hour a week because business software is difficult to use.

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Source: Dexo Design, 25 June 2009
 
How do you describe your job role? Here are the results of a recent 'Preferred UX/UI Title' Poll.

Most Doctors cite Usability as critical to Electronic Health Record Adoption
Source: TMCNet, 24 June 2009
 
It's all about 'meaningful use'.

Glossy monitors look good but can hurt
Source: QUT, 23 June 2009
 
A new advisory cites research which suggests high gloss monitors make users sit awkwardly.