Stupid Usability #58 - Washing Your Hands 101

From the mind of Brian Haukos, Marketing Support at High Monkey: This post may seem fairly simple but I don’t know how many establishments actually do something like this. Early last week I had come to work without bringing my lunch. This meant I needed to find a quick place to grab a bite to eat.  After thinking about it for a bit I had decided to head to the local Kentucky Fried Chicken. As I arrived and entered the building I had to use the restroom. As I went to wash my hands I couldn’t help but notice the "How to wash" guide that was posted on the wall. Although I am glad to see a sign like this to help remind people to wash their hands, I was slightly disappointed to see that although the tips offer great suggestions to being sanitary, at this select KFC it was impossible to follow the easy 6 step guide. After washing your hands it is always good to remember to turn off the faucet using a paper towel to prevent getting the germs you just washed off back onto your hands. Here is where the stupid usability part comes in, this bathroom didn’t have paper towels. I can appreciate the going green effort and saving trees by having automatic hand dryers, although it kind of defeats the purpose of washing your hands when you get the germs you just washed off back when turning off the faucet. My suggestion here would be to have automatic faucets installed if you are going to have automatic hand dryers. Providing automatic faucets would allow you to surpass the whole turning faucet off thing J.