On A Scale of 1 to 9, How Cold Is It?
This afternoon, I opened my freezer for some Chapman’s ice cream (Heavenly Hash, which is excellent, by the way), and it was a bit soft. So, I thought, why not make the freezer a bit colder? Then I remembered why not; the keystone cops of usability had designed my freezer.
My newish GE fridge/freezer (freezer on the bottom, which is brilliant) has very clearly-labelled dials to guide me when setting the temperature in the fridge and freezer. Clearly-labelled and completely useless. It goes from 1 to 9. 1 to 9 what? When I studied physics, I would’ve gotten a failing grade for leaving out the units of measurement. Is 1 colder or warmer than 9? Is it measuring the amount of effort the compressor’s putting into it or the resulting temperature? I’m sure it’s completely obvious to the designer(s), much like the internationally-meaningless circle/bar symbols that represent on/off, but it’s beyond me.
I guess I’ll just have to spoil my ice cream to find out.
