Fake power outlets at airports??


Kaiser, you can do better than this!

I know health care is complicated, but really, "amount you owe or have already paid"?? How about adding "or we owe you, or it's a different amount entirely." The customer's cognitive disconnect between services and pricing is already a big cause of complication in the health care market; every little bit counts.

And the award for Most Unnecessary Signage goes to...


Emergency-alert buttons should be unpressable!

Recently, poor UI design led to a false incoming-missile alert in Hawaii. This is a terrifying accident - and a failure not of the user, but of design. According to reports, the alert was in the same drop-down menu as test alerts used regularly for various internal purposes; the addition of an "Are you sure?" dialog box didn't help, since most people cruise through dozens of those every day. Buttons with serious consequences really should be unpressable - it should take unusual thought or action to press them. These kinds of designs already exist at all levels; examples from severe to mundane include the classic "turn two keys at once" to launch a missile, "break glass" to pull a fire alarm, the recessed "panic" button on your car keys, even the slightly-longer press required to engage caps lock on a Mac. I hear the employee who pressed the button has been reassigned - but the designer of this button is truly at fault.

Hey, pressure-washer warning label...

...if you don't want me to do it, don't make it look so fun!

Bricking Unsecure Devices: Good, Evil, Both?

Millions (or tens, hundreds of millions, or billions?) of IoT devices are shipped with default usernames and passwords, which users seldom change, and which malicious hackers can then use in attacks. A hacker by the name of Janit0r released his own virus for these devices, which simply bricks them before they can be used for larger bad deeds. And so the moral question: is this bricking of devices good, evil, or both? Gizmodo's Adam Clark Estes seems to argue for the "good" side, but there are good arguments for each. I'll stay neutral, and make sure to change my default passwords!
[via Ars Technica]

Theft Deterrence by Disguise, AirPod Edition

[via Gizmodo]