Musings on... Doorbell button designs.
TL;DR doorbells.
The little black plastic boxy doorbell, with the round white button, is the best doorbell design.
On hot summer days, metal doorbells can literally burn your finger.
Long rectangular doorbell buttons don't make sense. The tip of your finger is small and round, not long.
Any doorbell button that goes "click" but barely moves (like a Macbook keyboard key) is unsatisfying and I'll be sad when you open the door.
"smart" doorbells that play back a sound to you are weird cause
1) They barely ever work, and when they do the sound is scratchy and broken
2) Walls aren't that thick. When I press a regular doorbell I can hear if it worked or not anyway!
Camera doorbells like "Ring" are understandable if you want security. I'd prefer a regular home security camera but you do you. Also Ring doorbells aren't fun to press.
I can't find that ideal doorbell design online for some reason. It's pretty popular in middle/lower middle class suburban areas.
Musings on... Doorbell button designs.
@MutoShack it makes no sense to fit a singular button to the size of a finger, "what's this, a doorbell or an intoxication test?". I get it you might not want drunks in your house, but what if my hands are busy and I have to elbow it?
Musings on... Doorbell button designs.
@MutoShack slapping a a sharply protruding object? funny bone danger! If you are already kind of dizzy you'll be immediately incapacitated x_x
I imagined a small concave button, almost flush with box, that would go inside the box, cause that's what I would enjoy pressing despite my criticism.
Musings on... Doorbell button designs.
It's not sharp, it's a button; it's made to be pushed inwards! No broken funnybone.
You made some good points before about accessibility and I'm going to stand by those, so I'll say a button that is slightly outset is more desirable than a button that is flush with the box (although the kind you mentioned are pretty fun to use)
Musings on... Doorbell button designs.
@MutoShack ok, hear me out... if you're super clumsy... and it's a protruding narrow button... you might hit it at an angle (like the force vector will not line up with the button's movement path) and it will get jammed and get back at ya with equal and opposite force... also it has to have a sharpish edge, cause if it's entirely rounded and small you wouldn't be able to push it with your finger, right?
Musings on... Doorbell button designs.
@namark
I don't do any drugs, so it's not something I thought about, it makes sense though!
The button I'm referring to kind of jets out of the wall, so you could palm/elbow slap it if you had to, but yeah a larger surface area definitely doesn't hurt.