We own a 2007 Equinox built by General Motors. Besides being a little heavy on gas usage by today’s standards, it is a good vehicle. It is comfortable, handles well in winter, has plenty of room. I have never been a fan of North American vehicles. I personally tend to favour Acura, Audi, and Mazda, but the Equinox at least got me feeling better about GM vehicles. Then I had to change the headlight.
The passenger headlight was no longer working. When I went in to get the oil changed, one of the technicians informed me that it was out. I asked if they changed light bulbs. He said they do, but not on this vehicle as they did not stock the bulb. What he said made sense and I knew he wasn’t lying, but something about the way he said it bothered me. A couple days later, my Mazda was at Canadian Tire getting the brakes done and the summer tires put on. I asked the mechanic if they could replace a light bulb on a 2007 Equinox. He said they could but it would be at least an hour in labor charges. How hard could this be I thought to myself? So I purchased the light bulb for $10.00 and thought I could put it in myself. The manual had a single page with 3 diagrams and 4 steps each a single sentence. With instruction manual, light bulb and required tools I was Clear to go …. or so I thought.
In order to get at the light bulb to change it, I had to remove 11 screws, one of which is way down through a tiny hole that you can barely get your arm in, let alone the ratchet tool needed to undo it. The first 8 screws loosen the front grill, so you can bend it back, so you can get at the light. You have to loosen and pull the light unit out to replace the bulbs. The actual bulb replacement was easy, took 2 minutes. Then you get to put everything back together. Needless to say I was happy I accomplished it, but frustrated it was so much work. I now understand why mechanics charge an hour of labour to replace a headlight.
I think something went wrong during the design of the Equinox, they lost the perspective of the end user. I expect to have to do certain tasks to maintain my vehicle in good working condition. The end user will have to put gas in it, check the oil level, check the washer level, check the tire pressure, change light bulbs. When designing a vehicle these things should be easy to do. Removal of an entire front grill, reaching to find screws in small confined places to remove a headlight assembly are just silly. Where was the person that during the design process said “Wait a moment. The end user will not be able to replace a burnt out light easily. We need to re-think this.”?
This whole situation reminds me of the security industry I am a part of. So many of us are paranoid, constantly trying to ‘lock’ things down, create multiple steps that a user has to go through to get access or maintain access to networks and data, often to the point of inconvenience and annoyance. One of my first managers, now retired constantly complained about this type of behaviour. He was a very smart person and I learned a lot from him technically. I also learned a lot from him about large financial institutions and people. One example was the password requirements. It was required that every 3 or 4 weeks, you had to change your password. The password had to have so many characters, including a numerical as well as a ‘symbol’ character or two. He kept changing between two passwords. Then someone in security got the brilliant idea that in order to increase security, they would remember the last 30 passwords so that users would be forced to create new ones. That would increase security right? He was so annoyed that he changed his two passwords to a single password with the month and year on the end. Every time he needed a new password he would simply change the month and year. Problem solved. It was unique and predictable.
If we are designing vehicles, applications, network security, or procedures it is important to include in the design the answers to typical human behaviour. How will end users will respond and react to design decisions? Is this response what we wish? What ways could it be mis-used? If you are not satisfied with the answers, you should re-consider the design. In the case of security, it is important to accurately assess what you are protecting and design security accordingly. By attempting to enforce more security than is necessary, you may actually increase and not decrease the risk of what you are trying to protect.
One thing for sure, the next time I purchase vehicle, I will be checking how much work it is to change a headlight.
I usually drive in early to work and my drive is a bit of a distance along back roads. If I don’t have the time in the morning to make a coffee, I usually stop at one particular Starbucks that is not too far out of the way. It has a drive-thru, but I prefer to go in. I like to see the staff and patrons, for no particular reason, but it is more interesting than the drive-thru. This Starbucks has a manager that personally I could not work for. She makes a big deal about talking to the staff loudly giving them directions. I feel she does this so that all the customers in the store know she is the one in charge. It is not necessary, but it seems it is necessary for her. I have often sat with a coffee working when she has been working, observing the staff and customer interactions in detail. Her behaviours and mannerisms scream low self-confidence.
