Muhammad Abdullah Malik | Lead Product Designer @ PosterMyWall

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The Tap Tales

Observations on everyday stuff

The Tap

You know, every time I turn on the tap to wash my face, I end up watching so much extra water getting wasted. It's like the tap is always wanting to pour way more than we ever ask for. All that perfectly good water just spirals down the drain, and it feels like we're losing a small, precious river right in our own baths.

That single rushing tap might not seem like much, but when you multiply it across millions of homes, the numbers get shocking. There must be some study out there that has some calculation of gallons of water wasted every year. So imagine the scale of waste from the constant, unnecessary flow from every tap in our daily routines...

As a designer, I may think of designing the perfect faucet that could solve this, but my head begs the question - will a faucet design make a difference and how practically adaptable is it by society? Ah, well - the short-term shift would be jarring, as we're wired for the convenience of taps that stay on. But if these designs became required in new builds and renovations, they'd become the unremarkable ‘new normal’ within a generation. True change hinges not on convincing millions of individuals, but on changing the universal default, which in itself is a feat...

I have seen those classic on-demand spring-loaded taps in parks and airports. It makes the faucet's natural off position its default state, so water only flows when you're actively holding it open. This simple mechanical fix removes the chance for forgetfulness, turning water saving into an automatic reflex instead of a daily chore.

Not so fast - the spring-loaded tap solves one problem but creates this new "use case" challenge. What if a person genuinely needs to keep the tap open to fill a bucket without annoyingly pressing it for so long?

There can be flip-lock attached to the spring-loaded tap? To fill a pot or watering can, you simply flip the tab down. It physically holds the spring-loaded handle in the "on" position. Nudge it back up with your finger when done, and the spring takes over again. It's intuitive, manual, and adds almost no cost.

What if I wanted to wash both my hands or use both my hands to wash my face... that’s how everyone does it. The flip-lock is just a tedious way of the default tap, people will still always keep it open, no?

Heck yea! Oh wait, in all these thoughts, I pressed the wrong elevator button... Again...

The Elevator Buttons

Have you ever incurred a scenario where you are inside the elevator and the door is about to shut? No one is outside and you are having the time of your life, when suddenly a mother with a toddler rushes towards the door and through that small gap left, you can see the kid’s judgmental eye.

I am a nice person, at least I like to think that I am nice. Every civilised person will press that open door button. As you reach the buttons, you realise that you just pressed the close button instead. Old aunty Shakeela in the elevator is now giving a judgmental stare (judmental eyes ++) until you just wait awkwardly for your floor to arrive...

Why do these 2 buttons look the same icon? Elevator makers, Why?

I have asked this question to many people and their answer: You know what, yeah - this happened with me as well, but then I moved on with my life and so should you.

But I don’t listen much to what society says. I’m not going to move on, I’ll fix this!!!

Lets set a few rules here. We can’t put labels or stickers or clipart whatever. We can’t use touch screens or an expensive solution, it must be dirt cheap and the nature should be like Dorman Noors... Norman Doors... Anyways...

What if instead of a button we have like a lever or a knob of some kind. Expanding it would open the door and compressing it would close the door. The point here is that the action needs to emulate on a smaller scale similarity with opening and closing.

Replacing these buttons with levers, what’s the cost of this change on a global level? Immense. Try again, use more brain?

What if we replace the button icons with protruding 3d shapes baked within the button? Each shape distinct from another. Opening could have a rhombus, Closing could have a square and in a while people will start getting used to the touch of the shape rather than the icon itself.

Which reminds me, I need to sleep early today. If I wake up late, I won’t be able to take a quick shower before going to work. Speaking of morning shower...

The Morning Shower

After 10 snoozes I woke up just in time to take a quick shower before work. Obviously I’ll be late for that stand-up meeting. Anyways...

1 degree to the left - its BOILING HOT, 1 degree to the right - its ARCTIC COLD... Shower, why you do this? There must be a way to fix this, give me more control to get the perfect temperature please.

Is it just in my head? Or, is it a physical thing? Like the body reacting to difference of temperature - like deep science sh*t?

Turns out, after some heavy research (30 seconds of ChatGPT), its not my body and there is a solution for it. 2 Dials, 1 dedicated for temperature with proper temperature readings and 1 for turning off and on and maintaining pressure.

Hmmm nice, but that must be expensive no? How do I design a solution that’s easily adaptable and dirt-cheap, is it even possible?

Let me do some brain-ing... It reminds me of an art tool’s size slider. It’s either too big or too small, but if the user can save their presets on the slider and it snaps to those on each use, this might be something. How do we translate this to a shower faucet?

A sleeve with adjustable presets that click or have notches to give physical feedback as they makes contact with the shower handle could do. You get to set your presets, and every morning, all guess work - hasta la vista.

What if the burner is a bit faulty and the warm temperature that day is not that warm?

I am late for work, here we go again...

To be continued...

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Hi 👋🏼. Thank you for your time.

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The Tap Tales

Observations on everyday stuff

The Tap

You know, every time I turn on the tap to wash my face, I end up watching so much extra water getting wasted. It's like the tap is always wanting to pour way more than we ever ask for. All that perfectly good water just spirals down the drain, and it feels like we're losing a small, precious river right in our own baths.

That single rushing tap might not seem like much, but when you multiply it across millions of homes, the numbers get shocking. There must be some study out there that has some calculation of gallons of water wasted every year. So imagine the scale of waste from the constant, unnecessary flow from every tap in our daily routines...

As a designer, I may think of designing the perfect faucet that could solve this, but my head begs the question - will a faucet design make a difference and how practically adaptable is it by society? Ah, well - the short-term shift would be jarring, as we're wired for the convenience of taps that stay on. But if these designs became required in new builds and renovations, they'd become the unremarkable ‘new normal’ within a generation. True change hinges not on convincing millions of individuals, but on changing the universal default, which in itself is a feat...

I have seen those classic on-demand spring-loaded taps in parks and airports. It makes the faucet's natural off position its default state, so water only flows when you're actively holding it open. This simple mechanical fix removes the chance for forgetfulness, turning water saving into an automatic reflex instead of a daily chore.

Not so fast - the spring-loaded tap solves one problem but creates this new "use case" challenge. What if a person genuinely needs to keep the tap open to fill a bucket without annoyingly pressing it for so long?

There can be flip-lock attached to the spring-loaded tap? To fill a pot or watering can, you simply flip the tab down. It physically holds the spring-loaded handle in the "on" position. Nudge it back up with your finger when done, and the spring takes over again. It's intuitive, manual, and adds almost no cost.

What if I wanted to wash both my hands or use both my hands to wash my face... that’s how everyone does it. The flip-lock is just a tedious way of the default tap, people will still always keep it open, no?

Heck yea! Oh wait, in all these thoughts, I pressed the wrong elevator button... Again...

The Elevator Buttons

Have you ever incurred a scenario where you are inside the elevator and the door is about to shut? No one is outside and you are having the time of your life, when suddenly a mother with a toddler rushes towards the door and through that small gap left, you can see the kid’s judgmental eye.

I am a nice person, at least I like to think that I am nice. Every civilised person will press that open door button. As you reach the buttons, you realise that you just pressed the close button instead. Old aunty Shakeela in the elevator is now giving a judgmental stare (judmental eyes ++) until you just wait awkwardly for your floor to arrive...

Why do these 2 buttons look the same icon? Elevator makers, Why?

I have asked this question to many people and their answer: You know what, yeah - this happened with me as well, but then I moved on with my life and so should you.

But I don’t listen much to what society says. I’m not going to move on, I’ll fix this!!!

Lets set a few rules here. We can’t put labels or stickers or clipart whatever. We can’t use touch screens or an expensive solution, it must be dirt cheap and the nature should be like Dorman Noors... Norman Doors... Anyways...

What if instead of a button we have like a lever or a knob of some kind. Expanding it would open the door and compressing it would close the door. The point here is that the action needs to emulate on a smaller scale similarity with opening and closing.

Replacing these buttons with levers, what’s the cost of this change on a global level? Immense. Try again, use more brain?

What if we replace the button icons with protruding 3d shapes baked within the button? Each shape distinct from another. Opening could have a rhombus, Closing could have a square and in a while people will start getting used to the touch of the shape rather than the icon itself.

Which reminds me, I need to sleep early today. If I wake up late, I won’t be able to take a quick shower before going to work. Speaking of morning shower...

The Morning Shower

After 10 snoozes I woke up just in time to take a quick shower before work. Obviously I’ll be late for that stand-up meeting. Anyways...

1 degree to the left - its BOILING HOT, 1 degree to the right - its ARCTIC COLD... Shower, why you do this? There must be a way to fix this, give me more control to get the perfect temperature please.

Is it just in my head? Or, is it a physical thing? Like the body reacting to difference of temperature - like deep science sh*t?

Turns out, after some heavy research (30 seconds of ChatGPT), its not my body and there is a solution for it. 2 Dials, 1 dedicated for temperature with proper temperature readings and 1 for turning off and on and maintaining pressure.

Hmmm nice, but that must be expensive no? How do I design a solution that’s easily adaptable and dirt-cheap, is it even possible?

Let me do some brain-ing... It reminds me of an art tool’s size slider. It’s either too big or too small, but if the user can save their presets on the slider and it snaps to those on each use, this might be something. How do we translate this to a shower faucet?

A sleeve with adjustable presets that click or have notches to give physical feedback as they makes contact with the shower handle could do. You get to set your presets, and every morning, all guess work - hasta la vista.

What if the burner is a bit faulty and the warm temperature that day is not that warm?

I am late for work, here we go again...

To be continued...

Done

Back Home

Done

Back Home

Done

Back Home

Hi 👋🏼. Thank you for your time.

Resume

The Tap Tales

Observations on everyday stuff

The Tap

You know, every time I turn on the tap to wash my face, I end up watching so much extra water getting wasted. It's like the tap is always wanting to pour way more than we ever ask for. All that perfectly good water just spirals down the drain, and it feels like we're losing a small, precious river right in our own baths.

That single rushing tap might not seem like much, but when you multiply it across millions of homes, the numbers get shocking. There must be some study out there that has some calculation of gallons of water wasted every year. So imagine the scale of waste from the constant, unnecessary flow from every tap in our daily routines...

As a designer, I may think of designing the perfect faucet that could solve this, but my head begs the question - will a faucet design make a difference and how practically adaptable is it by society? Ah, well - the short-term shift would be jarring, as we're wired for the convenience of taps that stay on. But if these designs became required in new builds and renovations, they'd become the unremarkable ‘new normal’ within a generation. True change hinges not on convincing millions of individuals, but on changing the universal default, which in itself is a feat...

I have seen those classic on-demand spring-loaded taps in parks and airports. It makes the faucet's natural off position its default state, so water only flows when you're actively holding it open. This simple mechanical fix removes the chance for forgetfulness, turning water saving into an automatic reflex instead of a daily chore.

Not so fast - the spring-loaded tap solves one problem but creates this new "use case" challenge. What if a person genuinely needs to keep the tap open to fill a bucket without annoyingly pressing it for so long?

There can be flip-lock attached to the spring-loaded tap? To fill a pot or watering can, you simply flip the tab down. It physically holds the spring-loaded handle in the "on" position. Nudge it back up with your finger when done, and the spring takes over again. It's intuitive, manual, and adds almost no cost.

What if I wanted to wash both my hands or use both my hands to wash my face... that’s how everyone does it. The flip-lock is just a tedious way of the default tap, people will still always keep it open, no?

Heck yea! Oh wait, in all these thoughts, I pressed the wrong elevator button... Again...

The Elevator Buttons

Have you ever incurred a scenario where you are inside the elevator and the door is about to shut? No one is outside and you are having the time of your life, when suddenly a mother with a toddler rushes towards the door and through that small gap left, you can see the kid’s judgmental eye.

I am a nice person, at least I like to think that I am nice. Every civilised person will press that open door button. As you reach the buttons, you realise that you just pressed the close button instead. Old aunty Shakeela in the elevator is now giving a judgmental stare (judmental eyes ++) until you just wait awkwardly for your floor to arrive...

Why do these 2 buttons look the same icon? Elevator makers, Why?

I have asked this question to many people and their answer: You know what, yeah - this happened with me as well, but then I moved on with my life and so should you.

But I don’t listen much to what society says. I’m not going to move on, I’ll fix this!!!

Lets set a few rules here. We can’t put labels or stickers or clipart whatever. We can’t use touch screens or an expensive solution, it must be dirt cheap and the nature should be like Dorman Noors... Norman Doors... Anyways...

What if instead of a button we have like a lever or a knob of some kind. Expanding it would open the door and compressing it would close the door. The point here is that the action needs to emulate on a smaller scale similarity with opening and closing.

Replacing these buttons with levers, what’s the cost of this change on a global level? Immense. Try again, use more brain?

What if we replace the button icons with protruding 3d shapes baked within the button? Each shape distinct from another. Opening could have a rhombus, Closing could have a square and in a while people will start getting used to the touch of the shape rather than the icon itself.

Which reminds me, I need to sleep early today. If I wake up late, I won’t be able to take a quick shower before going to work. Speaking of morning shower...

The Morning Shower

After 10 snoozes I woke up just in time to take a quick shower before work. Obviously I’ll be late for that stand-up meeting. Anyways...

1 degree to the left - its BOILING HOT, 1 degree to the right - its ARCTIC COLD... Shower, why you do this? There must be a way to fix this, give me more control to get the perfect temperature please.

Is it just in my head? Or, is it a physical thing? Like the body reacting to difference of temperature - like deep science sh*t?

Turns out, after some heavy research (30 seconds of ChatGPT), its not my body and there is a solution for it. 2 Dials, 1 dedicated for temperature with proper temperature readings and 1 for turning off and on and maintaining pressure.

Hmmm nice, but that must be expensive no? How do I design a solution that’s easily adaptable and dirt-cheap, is it even possible?

Let me do some brain-ing... It reminds me of an art tool’s size slider. It’s either too big or too small, but if the user can save their presets on the slider and it snaps to those on each use, this might be something. How do we translate this to a shower faucet?

A sleeve with adjustable presets that click or have notches to give physical feedback as they makes contact with the shower handle could do. You get to set your presets, and every morning, all guess work - hasta la vista.

What if the burner is a bit faulty and the warm temperature that day is not that warm?

I am late for work, here we go again...

To be continued...

Done

Back Home

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Done

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Hi 👋🏼. Thank you for your time.