DoDD: The Seatbelt

TL;DR

It’s dope. Good to know that I can travel safely without having to be choked to death.

Quick Intro

I don’t travel in the passenger seat of my car very often but not too long ago, I did. While riding shotgun, the seatbelt was digging into my neck, making it uncomfortable to wear. Usually, I’d just adjust the height of my seat but that capability is only possible on the driver’s side.

My Goal

I wanted to travel safely and comfortably. Not much else to say.

My Experience

Because I’m most used to traveling in the driver’s seat of my own car, my automatic solution for this seatbelt issue would have been to raise my seat; however, since that wasn’t an option on the passenger side, I almost accepted that I was going to be uncomfortable for the whole ride. Almost. I even resorted to holding the seatbelt in a more comfortable position for the first 20 minutes of my two-hour road trip.

Then it dawned on me: can’t I just adjust the seatbelt height like I can in other cars?

Girl, duh.

Pressing down on the button pictured below allowed me to easily adjust the seatbelt’s position; it slid right on down with no problem.

Pressing the button helped me lower the seatbelt height with ease.

This is super obvious now and it seems like I was just being slow to think of something so simple but this phenomenon happens so much more than we realize. We get so used to doing something one way that we get in the habit of thinking that it is the only way. Keeping this in mind as a UX professional is imperative — it’s important to know who you’re designing for, what they’re used to, and how that translates into how you design/what you include in your product(s). Ever tried to use a microwave that requires you to press “Time Cook” before entering an actual time when you’re used to something else? Gets me every time!

Dope or Dead?

This is dope but it isn’t just about the fact that I could adjust the seatbelt — even though that was great. What stood out more to me was the orientation of the button.

To increase the height, I’d just need to add my thumb to the bottom and push up.

It’s already physically awkward to reach back and pull the seatbelt forward in order to put it on, especially when it’s not in a place that requires the least amount of effort to grab. With the button being in this “awkward place,” I didn’t expect pressing it + adjusting to be as easy as it was. It’s hard for me to believe that there was no extra effort or thought put into how this button should be designed. It was easy enough for me because I was decreasing the height which, essentially, only required me to pull down with a little more force on the button than necessary to actually press it. I imagine increasing the height may require a bit more force (because, gravity) but all it’d take is for me to push upward with my thumb while pressing the button — not much more additional effort in my opinion.

The makers of my vehicle could have designed that button any way they wanted to (positioned it on the side, as a latch, as a knob that requires users to pull, etc.) but they went with something I thought was simple and helpful. Although there are probably a few other designs I’d find pleasure in, this was one that did not add to the aggravation I was already experiencing from to trying to hold the pre-adjusted seatbelt in place while nodding off…and I appreciate that.