ALARM CLOCKS

alarm clocks are probably the most difficult product to deal with and yet crucial to my life. if alarm clocks are so necessary, then why is their design so complicated and not user-friendly?

it seems that when i buy a new alarm clock it takes a while for me to get used to it, like a month or so. in that month i am making critical mistakes, like not knowing how long the snooze is, or that i accidentally turned it off, or that i sent the alarm for p.m. instead of a.m.

one design flaw is the buttons on a alarm clock: they all seem to be the same size and shape and most of them do several functions. with mapping, the clock would be so much more useful. also, the buttons that seem to be the vital are located on the side of the clock, hidden from the user. these buttons are the volume for the alarm, and the type of alarm.

originally, alarm clocks had one function: to wake up the user and a specified time. now, they have too many functions for one to even utilize. clocks change colors, play the radio and mp3's, display the date, and have multiple alarms. what happens when the wrong alarm is turned on? speaking of alarms, new clocks now have the power to have separate alarms for different days of the week. i would find this very useful if i knew how to do it.

feedback is the most important part of the alarm clock. say you've set the correct time, and the correct alarm time, but you don't know if the alarm is turned on? how would you test it? you could wake until the alarm time and see if it works, but then it could be too late.

constraints could be used to prevent common mistakes, such as setting the wrong a.m. or p.m. for the clock or the alarm, or turning off the alarm when the snooze was intended. i don't know how these constraints would work, but it would definitely improve the design.

sadly, i bought an alarm clock for school and now i don't even use it. i find it so much easier just to use my cell phone as my alarm clock.