Of all the cool things about Germany, one thing stuck with me: the luggage carts! This thing isn't just an ordinary luggage cart. Oh no. As luggage carts go, this thing is a Cadillac! It's easy to push. No wobbly wheels. It's formed perfectly to fit several large pieces, and also some small ones.
So I'm walking in the Frankfurt airport and I'm pushing one of these smooth luggage carts. The man I'm walking with, John Carmichael, tells me I can take the luggage cart right up on to the escalator. I have to admit I'm a little dubious. So I give it a try.
I push it onto the flat part of the bottom of the escalator. He says: "just let go." So I let go. The brake automatically comes on when I let go. I didn't even know I was pushing a brake lever! The wheels are perfectly spaced so that one fits at the back of each step. And when the angle starts to pitch upward, the cart just leans back! I try to catch it, thinking it will fall. But it just works! The wheel guards have plenty of space so that leaning back doesn't set the wheel guards down on the step and the cart is balanced such that the cart just effortlessly glides up the escalator and is ready for me to start pushing again at the top. Amazing!
OK, doesn't sound like a big deal, right? How many airports you've been to have this feature? Not many. But someone carefully sat down and planned this feature of the airpot to create a better user experience. And then made it happen! They could have included a rear-view mirror and a horn, but they kept it simple and solved a big problem with baggage carts in an airport (namely having to wait for an elevator).
I'm sure it cost more, but it left me with a great impression of that airport.
Software developers could learn a lesson from this bit of engineering.
- Does our software just work?
- Does the user have to think?
- Do we solve important problems, and leave the unimportant problems alone?
Our industry can vastly improve our output. We should take a lesson from the Germans.
I worked at Novell right after they bought SUSE Linux (German company). Also, I am a graduate student at Georgia Tech, and I am currently working in an augmented reality project in collaboration with a German student. All I can say is, Germans write very well designed, cleanly organized and extremely neat code.
ReplyDeleteSomeone mentioned that I should have compared the cart to a BMW rather than a Cadillac. Good point. :)
ReplyDeleteAn interesting observation. On the other hand, commercial software is written for profit, not for perfection. Open Source, unless backed by commercial funding, does not have the coersion of employment to ensure quality.
ReplyDeleteIn this example, one might assume that the airport authroity (presumably the government) paid money to have the carts work on escalators. The carts likely cost much more than a "standard" cart. Where does that extra money come from?
Still, by applying intelligent design methods to products from the start, a far superior outcome can be achieved. This starts at the top. It appears Bro. Dehlin has the right idea.