Coffee is vital to survival! - Usability of coffee machines could be key ...

I love coffee. - The taste, the smell, the process of brewing and preparing, ...

Now, if dinosaurs became extinct because of not having coffee, or just because of incredibly poor usability of coffee machines would be an interesting subject to study.

For me personally - usability of coffee machines is key!

As a long time user of the Nespresso coffee system - which I overall really like - I have to say that many things have been done right by Nespresso.

It is not that easy to develop a robust end to end system with third party manufacturers of coffee machines, brewing units, and probably a high heterogeneity and complexity in coffee production, roasting, and packaging processes in order to deliver a reliable and reproducible coffee at the finger tips of the end consumer..

However, there is that one trap I am falling into every single day at least once. - The empty water tank trap!

To put out a quote of a famous author of usability and user experience literature - "Don't Make me Think", Steve Krug. 

Products that require the user to think are just not finished!

It goes into same category as "any product that needs a manual to work is broken"- Elon Musk.

Now, how is this this with Nespresso coffee machines?

- Need for a manual: I can not remember that there is a need for that!

- Making me think: no, it does not make me think! - Nevertheless, I repeatedly fall into the same trap of missed usability! - The empty water tank!

Obviously, one key precondition for brewing a good tasty coffee is supply of water. With a non industrial coffee machine - a consumer model - where there is no direct and continuous supply of water filling up the water tank, and making sure that there is a critical level of water in the tank prior to starting the coffee brewing process becomes a user task.

Now, my problem!

It feels like every time I am approaching that Nespresso coffee machine in our kitchen, the water tank is empty. Given the fact that I do not like to think and the machine does not prevent me actively from pushing the button to start brewing a short or a long coffee, I am wasting quite a number of coffee capsules on water shortage events. - Why on earth has none of these coffee machines a clear and simple indicator on the front side of the product for low water supply levels? - Why?

Here some examples. The machines are well engineered - no doubt. The machines exhibit appealing designs - no doubt. The main operating functions - assuming filling water supply is not a main operating function which might be the major mistake of this set of product requirements - are easily reachable from the front. There was some usability engineering - no doubt. To place the water tank at the rear of the machine. That's not the worst thing to do. But, it's not the most convenient place when it comes to inspecting water supply levels. - A clear miss in assessing usability risks. Or, if it has been assessed correctly, then the mitigation is just a desaster!

I remember the early days of Nespresso machines. On the first generation machines the water tank was kind of a drawer at the bottom of the machine. And, there was a little indicator - mechanical, hence not expensive - which showed the current water levels from the front.

Now, there is that one argument of product designers - "the user will learn".

In my case - good, I might not be the average and most representative user - I do not learn about it. And my level of disappointment if the water supply pump runs dry is ever raising.

To conclude there are two questions remaining.

One, how big can such usability pain grow before a critical level for users to change product is reached?

And, two, what if dinosaurs became extinct due to poor coffee machine usability and not due to not having coffee available?