The UX of the Dash Button is great, shopping for laundry detergent is boring, just one press and it's over. Managing your personal finances has zero to do with the dash button user experience.
The whole point is pushing the button provides no immediate feedback at all. People are used to pushing a button doing something immediately, not pushing a button and *MAYBE* something happens 48 hours from now.
As such, these buttons are unlikely to gain any kind of popularity.
Even without RTFA, the whole premise of the things is stupid. Even children have smartphones now. A smartphone can play the same little game. a QR code that one-clicked you a replacement whatever would be at least as useful.
Because pushing a single dedicated physical button is, surprisingly, much easier than finding / pulling out your phone, opening an app and selecting an item from a list. It provides no interruption to the flow of your activity. When I'm doing heavy cooking, I use a voice recorder (hardware, not app on my phone) to record ideas, tasks and things to put on the shopping list. It makes a huge difference in time and attention compared to taking even a tiny break from my current task. If it queued up user designa
I not only RTFA, I have several dash buttons now. I get immediate feedback through a notification on my phone which lets me know it was ordered and the estimated arrival (as well as giving me the option to go to the app and cancel if it was a accidental order). I get routine updates as it moves through the delivery process - shipping, updated delivery times if it will be late, delivered.
It's handy as hell. Take the last paper towel out of the closet and the button is right there, just a press and new paper towels arrive and I don't have to cart them home.
Why not just have a cell phone app. Open the app, see a list of easy to order items, click on the items you want to order and hit send. That's it. Very simple to use, and the user knows that their order went through. You can also alert them of any number of inventory problems. You can also make it work for any item you sell, not just a very small number of products that you think somebody might want to order frequently. If you figure out the frequency with which they order the item based on their account
Because the best solution to every problem isn't an app. Believe it or not there sometimes are better and more efficient ways to solve a problem.
Open the app, see a list of easy to order items, click on the items you want to order and hit send. That's it. Very simple to use, and the user knows that their order went through.
All of which is harder than just pushing a button. You just described a 4 step process than in reality has even more steps. (turn on phone, log in, find app, open app, scroll through list, select item(s), select send). Compare that with pushing a single button on a wall and it is absurdly complicated.
Look I don't have any use for these Dash buttons myself but I understand what they are trying to do. The less steps someone has to go through the more likely they are to buy. The founder of Coke basically built his business around making sure his product was "within arm's reach of desire" which is why you can easily find a coke product almost anywhere on the globe even in some of the most remote corners. They made buying their product VERY easy. Amazon is trying to do similar things. Maybe the Dash buttons won't work out but the principle of what they are doing makes sense. Sometimes a more general solution isn't the better one.
In other words, people have become disgustingly lazy. God help us if there are robots that can feed people because some will loose the ability to do even that.
In other words, people have become disgustingly lazy.
The target demographic for these is the exact opposite of lazy. It's aimed at people who are very busy and who are willing to trade a bit of money for time. Just because someone thinks time spent shopping for and buying dish soap is wasteful does not make them lazy. It makes them prudent if anything. I buy stuff online all the time so I don't have to waste hours pointlessly driving around so I can buy things - a complete waste of my life. I'd rather spend the time doing something else. This is just a
I don't know, I'm not part of the new-school where everything possible has to be done online. I spend 10 seconds in the dish soap aisle at the grocery store, because I have to be there for food anyway. Doing it the old way means I don't need all kinds of gadgets to run my life and is probably way more efficient.
The immediate feedback is the button push and knowledge you ordered the laundry soap. Also, there's no *MAYBE*, the purchase is sent and the soap will arrive later. (Most people don't wait for the empty box to get more soap and so don't need it to materialize on the spot, they put it on a list and get it later. Much the same logic as the button.)
Exactly. If you want the cheapest price on something, cut coupons and brave the crowds at the local Walmart. The dash button is about convenience. For people who have all the time in the world, then it makes sense to go out to the store whenever you discover you are out of something. For people who only have time on the weekends, it makes sense to make a shopping list and inventory the consumable products in your home and stock up as needed. But if you have other things that you want to do on the weekend, t
So I assume you clip coupons, right? For $3 you can pick up the Sunday paper, peruse the advertisements, and work all morning so you can save (typically) $5-15. And of course you dig through the store leaflets to decide which store you go to based on where the sales are. That's good for another $5 or so. This only takes a little bit of time and over the course of the year will save hundreds of dollars.
There was a time in my life when I did that to save every little penny. Now I am in a totally different
I know iUsers think Android users are insane for putting up with such an non-responsive UI because it frequently takes Android a few milliseconds to respond to a touch or swipe.
I've just upgraded from Win 8.1 to Win 10 on a tablet, and - for whatever reason - I'm seeing the UI switch from more or less an instant response to delays of often a minute or more, depending on the operation.
But this button takes the take. I need some Imodium(tm) brand anti-diarrheal medicin
It's not clear you understand the use-case for the button. Mind you, I haven't yet bought into the button myself. But it's clear that this isn't to be used for something you actually need *right now*. It's decidedly NOT for one-off purchases either. Your example of needing medicine is (generally) one of *both* immediacy as well as a relatively one-time purchase; definitely not a good use-case for the button.
The use-case for the button is *more* like the use-case for Costco. Running low on toilet paper?
No, Costco is not the use-case for the button. Costco is where you go once a month to buy things cheaply. You don't go to Costco because you're running low on toilet paper. Going to Costco is a planned, methodical, activity that involves making an inventory, determining what will need replacement soon, building a list, viewing the special offers, and then visiting the store.
Costco is where you go once a month to buy things cheaply. You don't go to Costco because you're running low on toilet paper. Going to Costco is a planned, methodical, activity that involves making an inventory, determining what will need replacement soon, building a list, viewing the special offers, and then visiting the store.
"For some people, not so much." This. This is why I (try to) never go to Costco on the weekend. Whole families clogging aisles, huge crowds around the free food, people using the trip to Costco as some sort of fucking dystopian entertainment. WTF!
Me, I'm going on a weekday on my way home from work with my list on my phone, in, out as fast as possible.
The great thing about the hackability of the Dash buttons is that I can get a cheap Dash button which, when I press it, add that thing to my Costco shopping list (which is in an app on my phone).
I really don't like the fact TFA uses "but you can get Gillette razors cheaper on Amazon without the button". Bad example! Amazon has a huge problem with gray-market (or maybe just fake) Gillette razors that 3rd party sellers sell at a discount, but they only last about half as long. The reviews are full of complaints and advice on how to find the real product. I had almost given up on buying razors through Amazon, but now it's much easier to find the real ones, even if you don't use the silly Dash but
You might be interested in http://jet.com/ [jet.com] . I haven't used it yet (friend just told me about it the other day). But it seems a bit more targeted than Amazon at non-greymarket goods.
(Note: I don't work for them, or with them or anything... simply heard about it the other day and thought I would pass it on)
A better solution is just to give up on buying disposable razors, or at least the fancy ones. Go and get a butterfly razor [wikipedia.org] and then you don't have to buy the silly expensive blades and can get good cheap ones. The other option is to give up on safety razors all together and go and buy a couple nice straight edge razors [wikipedia.org] and learn how to maintain them.
Tried everything. The disposables are simply better and sharper, for reasons that make good physical sense - or at least they can be, not all brands are.
I was greatly annoyed that at my last trip to Costco I ended up buying the disposable razors for my partner, rather than just the blades of the same brand, because the disposables, despite the added plastic and size/bulk of the package and attendant shipping costs, I could get 14 instead of 8 for approximately the same price.
There are few retail scams bigger than the razor scam. Anyone who is buying "premium brand" cartridges or are buying them in a store are people who wouldn't mind piling their money up and setting fire to it.
Empirically false. I've found something that works for me at an acceptable price, and I tried several things that didn't work well. You're suggesting I should do some work and research to maybe halve what I spend on razor blades. It isn't worth it.
Just false. I've tried the cheap brands/models, they tear my face up. There's a great deal of materials science that goes into a modern blade, you know. And, of course, for a given material, the sharper you make it, the less long it's going to last. I'm sure I could double the life of my razor by shaving with cold water, too (corrosion is the major wear factor if you only shave your face).
And there's little difference in price between the stores and online, unless you're getting the knockoffs.
No, not any more. Sure, they're a step up from WalMart, but they've started to play some of the same games, and selection is quite limited in most stores every since they decided to copy WalMart and be a grocery store too. Plus, brick-and-mortar stores just suck in general.
The UX of the Dash Button is great, shopping for laundry detergent is boring, just one press and it's over. Managing your personal finances has zero to do with the dash button user experience.
Bullshit. It's about paying for convenience.
The UX would be great, but TFA explains why it's not.: "I buy Mach3 razors. (Now you know.) Gilletteâ(TM)s button wants to sell me Fusions, or, at the very least, Mach3 Turbo razors. If I buy my Mach3s through Amazonâ(TM)s actual website, not only can I spend les
It's a dark UX pattern: Take away user's options, present it as "simplifying," and then set the defaults to the expensive ones.
Indeed. You've explained very well why I consider the current UX trend of "simplifying" everything to be Very Very Bad: it's only simplification if your usage matches the preprogrammed one. If it doesn't then all that's happened is that everything has been made more complicated.
Nothing succeeds like the appearance of success.
-- Christopher Lascl
Actually great UX for everyone else (Score:4, Insightful)
Re:Actually great UX for everyone else (Score:4, Interesting)
I can tell you didn't RTFA.
The whole point is pushing the button provides no immediate feedback at all. People are used to pushing a button doing something immediately, not pushing a button and *MAYBE* something happens 48 hours from now.
As such, these buttons are unlikely to gain any kind of popularity.
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Even without RTFA, the whole premise of the things is stupid. Even children have smartphones now. A smartphone can play the same little game. a QR code that one-clicked you a replacement whatever would be at least as useful.
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So then, why wouldn't you just order the thing from a cell phone app (Amazon DASH app) in the first place?
The physical button is stupid.
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Re:Actually great UX for everyone else (Score:5, Informative)
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The button itself provides feedback. You push it, it blinks for a few seconds, then shows a green light if successful and a red light if not.
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Why not just have a cell phone app. Open the app, see a list of easy to order items, click on the items you want to order and hit send. That's it. Very simple to use, and the user knows that their order went through. You can also alert them of any number of inventory problems. You can also make it work for any item you sell, not just a very small number of products that you think somebody might want to order frequently. If you figure out the frequency with which they order the item based on their account
The solution to every problem isn't an app (Score:5, Insightful)
Why not just have a cell phone app.
Because the best solution to every problem isn't an app. Believe it or not there sometimes are better and more efficient ways to solve a problem.
Open the app, see a list of easy to order items, click on the items you want to order and hit send. That's it. Very simple to use, and the user knows that their order went through.
All of which is harder than just pushing a button. You just described a 4 step process than in reality has even more steps. (turn on phone, log in, find app, open app, scroll through list, select item(s), select send). Compare that with pushing a single button on a wall and it is absurdly complicated.
Look I don't have any use for these Dash buttons myself but I understand what they are trying to do. The less steps someone has to go through the more likely they are to buy. The founder of Coke basically built his business around making sure his product was "within arm's reach of desire" which is why you can easily find a coke product almost anywhere on the globe even in some of the most remote corners. They made buying their product VERY easy. Amazon is trying to do similar things. Maybe the Dash buttons won't work out but the principle of what they are doing makes sense. Sometimes a more general solution isn't the better one.
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Saving time on wasteful activities (Score:2)
In other words, people have become disgustingly lazy.
The target demographic for these is the exact opposite of lazy. It's aimed at people who are very busy and who are willing to trade a bit of money for time. Just because someone thinks time spent shopping for and buying dish soap is wasteful does not make them lazy. It makes them prudent if anything. I buy stuff online all the time so I don't have to waste hours pointlessly driving around so I can buy things - a complete waste of my life. I'd rather spend the time doing something else. This is just a
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I think it will catch on somewhat.
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The immediate feedback is the button push and knowledge you ordered the laundry soap.
"Knowledge" is not feedback.
The button push is only feedback that the button was pushed. It does not indicate that pushing the button had any effect.
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Exactly. If you want the cheapest price on something, cut coupons and brave the crowds at the local Walmart. The dash button is about convenience. For people who have all the time in the world, then it makes sense to go out to the store whenever you discover you are out of something. For people who only have time on the weekends, it makes sense to make a shopping list and inventory the consumable products in your home and stock up as needed. But if you have other things that you want to do on the weekend, t
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So I assume you clip coupons, right? For $3 you can pick up the Sunday paper, peruse the advertisements, and work all morning so you can save (typically) $5-15. And of course you dig through the store leaflets to decide which store you go to based on where the sales are. That's good for another $5 or so. This only takes a little bit of time and over the course of the year will save hundreds of dollars.
There was a time in my life when I did that to save every little penny. Now I am in a totally different
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Well, kinda. The latency is awful.
I know iUsers think Android users are insane for putting up with such an non-responsive UI because it frequently takes Android a few milliseconds to respond to a touch or swipe.
I've just upgraded from Win 8.1 to Win 10 on a tablet, and - for whatever reason - I'm seeing the UI switch from more or less an instant response to delays of often a minute or more, depending on the operation.
But this button takes the take. I need some Imodium(tm) brand anti-diarrheal medicin
Re: (Score:2, Insightful)
It's not clear you understand the use-case for the button. Mind you, I haven't yet bought into the button myself. But it's clear that this isn't to be used for something you actually need *right now*. It's decidedly NOT for one-off purchases either. Your example of needing medicine is (generally) one of *both* immediacy as well as a relatively one-time purchase; definitely not a good use-case for the button.
The use-case for the button is *more* like the use-case for Costco. Running low on toilet paper?
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First of all, I invite you to read this Wikipedia page [wikipedia.org].
But going onto your debunking of a joke:
No, Costco is not the use-case for the button. Costco is where you go once a month to buy things cheaply. You don't go to Costco because you're running low on toilet paper. Going to Costco is a planned, methodical, activity that involves making an inventory, determining what will need replacement soon, building a list, viewing the special offers, and then visiting the store.
The button doesn't give you anything che
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Costco is where you go once a month to buy things cheaply. You don't go to Costco because you're running low on toilet paper. Going to Costco is a planned, methodical, activity that involves making an inventory, determining what will need replacement soon, building a list, viewing the special offers, and then visiting the store.
For you it is. For some people, not so much.
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"For some people, not so much."
This. This is why I (try to) never go to Costco on the weekend. Whole families clogging aisles, huge crowds around the free food, people using the trip to Costco as some sort of fucking dystopian entertainment. WTF!
Me, I'm going on a weekday on my way home from work with my list on my phone, in, out as fast as possible.
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The great thing about the hackability of the Dash buttons is that I can get a cheap Dash button which, when I press it, add that thing to my Costco shopping list (which is in an app on my phone).
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I really don't like the fact TFA uses "but you can get Gillette razors cheaper on Amazon without the button". Bad example! Amazon has a huge problem with gray-market (or maybe just fake) Gillette razors that 3rd party sellers sell at a discount, but they only last about half as long. The reviews are full of complaints and advice on how to find the real product. I had almost given up on buying razors through Amazon, but now it's much easier to find the real ones, even if you don't use the silly Dash but
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You might be interested in http://jet.com/ [jet.com] . I haven't used it yet (friend just told me about it the other day). But it seems a bit more targeted than Amazon at non-greymarket goods.
(Note: I don't work for them, or with them or anything... simply heard about it the other day and thought I would pass it on)
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Tried everything. The disposables are simply better and sharper, for reasons that make good physical sense - or at least they can be, not all brands are.
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I was greatly annoyed that at my last trip to Costco I ended up buying the disposable razors for my partner, rather than just the blades of the same brand, because the disposables, despite the added plastic and size/bulk of the package and attendant shipping costs, I could get 14 instead of 8 for approximately the same price.
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There are few retail scams bigger than the razor scam. Anyone who is buying "premium brand" cartridges or are buying them in a store are people who wouldn't mind piling their money up and setting fire to it.
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Meh. I get ~3 years out of a ~$30 Costco size package of blades. But then my partner likes me scruffy...
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Empirically false. I've found something that works for me at an acceptable price, and I tried several things that didn't work well. You're suggesting I should do some work and research to maybe halve what I spend on razor blades. It isn't worth it.
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Just false. I've tried the cheap brands/models, they tear my face up. There's a great deal of materials science that goes into a modern blade, you know. And, of course, for a given material, the sharper you make it, the less long it's going to last. I'm sure I could double the life of my razor by shaving with cold water, too (corrosion is the major wear factor if you only shave your face).
And there's little difference in price between the stores and online, unless you're getting the knockoffs.
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Your have just described "Target"
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No, not any more. Sure, they're a step up from WalMart, but they've started to play some of the same games, and selection is quite limited in most stores every since they decided to copy WalMart and be a grocery store too. Plus, brick-and-mortar stores just suck in general.
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Bullshit. It's about paying for convenience.
The UX would be great, but TFA explains why it's not.: "I buy Mach3 razors. (Now you know.) Gilletteâ(TM)s button wants to sell me Fusions, or, at the very least, Mach3 Turbo razors. If I buy my Mach3s through Amazonâ(TM)s actual website, not only can I spend les
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It's a dark UX pattern: Take away user's options, present it as "simplifying," and then set the defaults to the expensive ones.
Indeed. You've explained very well why I consider the current UX trend of "simplifying" everything to be Very Very Bad: it's only simplification if your usage matches the preprogrammed one. If it doesn't then all that's happened is that everything has been made more complicated.