> People tend to place all of that blame on top-level management or developers within a company. They do deserve the blame - but not all of it. Designers cause a lot of these issues all on their own and it's easy to understand why.<p>Not to get defensive — I am a designer — but there are two things missing from the conversation when you lay blame at the feet of designers.<p>First, you bought that over-complicated appliance for the same reason everyone else does: it has more features, and you like features. Everyone wants features. If you want to sell an appliance today, you have to cram in more features, and do it more cheaply than the competition.<p>If you want companies to produce simpler, higher-quality products, then search out and buy those products. Vote with your feet, and your wallet. Companies build what sells.<p>Second, that designer likely has as much real agency as the engineers building the firmware for the control board. Corporate mandated 12 months ago, “A coffee maker with features A, B, and C and price point P and trim level T.” The designer likely has no place to argue with any of that. A product marketing executive made these decisions, and for one reason — to build what sells.<p>The author is totally right that companies often ship software that’s too complex, or solves too many problems and does so poorly. This is mostly because the design/engineering team (a) takes directions from Corporate rather than from users, (b) Corporate wants more features so the product stacks up vs. the competition.
Keurig coffee machines are garbage. They are expensive and make terrible coffee and they are designed to do one thing only: to lock you into the pods which are very high markup and have negative externalities because they go straight to landfill etc.<p>If you want a coffee machine and don't want to spend a lot, I implore you buy something made for making great coffee like an Aeropress[1]. You can also do worse than say a chemex[2] or a French press/cafetiere[3]. Then when you can afford it buy a nice grinder[4]. Aeropress in particular is really cheap to buy, really easy to make coffee and clean afterwards and makes fantastic coffee.<p>[1] <a href="https://aeropress.com/" rel="nofollow">https://aeropress.com/</a><p>[2] or other drip maker but chemex is a classic. <a href="https://www.chemexcoffeemaker.com/" rel="nofollow">https://www.chemexcoffeemaker.com/</a><p>[3] I don't know what brand mine is because it was a gift but it's weirdly blue with white spots. Basically everyone in France is issued a Bodum by (I think) the government or something to the extent that they don't call them a cafetiere even though that's the French word, they call them a Bodum. <a href="https://www.bodum.com" rel="nofollow">https://www.bodum.com</a><p>[4] Mine is a mahlkoenig which is expensive but it was a gift from my wife (similar to when Homer buys Marge a bowling ball with his name on it) so I would make her nice coffee <a href="https://www.mahlkoenig.com/" rel="nofollow">https://www.mahlkoenig.com/</a>
Simplicity isn't a measure of quality. I have a "pro" $800 espresso machine with lots of fancy functions that is used many times a day and has been working perfectly with near zero maintenance for >10 years now. I can guarantee that the author's simple $12 drip coffee maker from Amazon is going to the landfill well before that.<p>The problem really is that brands like Keurig are packaging these same $12 machines for $100-150, and add useless half-baked features to justify the price. Same can be said for plenty of other companies that built a reputation for quality 20+ years ago and are now trading that for a quick buck by cutting costs and sacrificing product quality. It's ultimately up to the consumer to be diligent and do their research before buying. Plenty of companies are making solid coffee machines today – Breville, Bonavita, Baratza, Gaggia, La Marzocco, Ninja, Bialetti, OXO.
Aeropress ftw. There is a somewhat intricate mostly sequential workflow (inverted method):<p><pre><code> - fill and start kettle
- measure and grind beans
- clear and rinse coffee maker
- assemble coffee maker and invert
- collect grounds, funnel into coffee maker
- remove funnel, replace as stand for coffee maker
- check water temperature, heat or cool as necessary
- pour water into top of coffee maker, 2/3 full
- stir for 10 seconds
- allow to rest
- pour hot water into cup to warm it
- insert filter into holder and rinse it
- add remaining water to fill coffee maker
- attach filter cap
- dump water from cup
- invert coffee maker over cup
- press slowly to fill cup
</code></pre>
Doubles as a dementia detector. Forgot the filter? Hot muddy mess on your counter. Forgot to dump the cup warming water? Too weak to drink. Forgot to set the grind properly? Too weak or un-pressable. Forgot to finish making the coffee? It's cold.<p>Get it all right and it's probably the most satisfying non-espresso cup.
If you want a simple drip machine that makes really good coffee, I can highly recommend a Moccamaster. It's probably the closest you're going to get to a pour over with a machine, and it has only two buttons - one to turn the machine on, and another to to adjust how long the plate stays hot.
> What an interesting idea to combine both a standard 12-cup percolator with the "pod-based" single serve option.<p>Oh, no, it's the coffee equivalent of the combo DVD-VCR.
My wife and I got a Keurig and found metal coffee capsules that let us brew the coffee we liked in it, for a price we liked.<p>This worked great until it stopped working. We got a replacement.<p>We learned the hard way that Keurig has upgraded their "security" so those third party replacements no longer worked.<p>We've thrown out the Keurig and gone back to using a purely mechanical French Press. I happen to like <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Half-Dozen-Coffee-Du-Monde/dp/B000FV5F4U/ref=asc_df_B000FV5F4U/" rel="nofollow">https://www.amazon.com/Half-Dozen-Coffee-Du-Monde/dp/B000FV5...</a>. And I don't need a fancy coffee maker with an electronic nanny built in telling me I can't have it because nobody paid a premium for the approved packaging.
I’ll do you one better: an electric kettle and a French press. Kettle does one thing: boils water. French press has no moving parts and is interchangeable with water and coffee from any source. Lasts forever or until you knock it off the counter. Makes good coffee.
I'm more of a cappuccino fan, and I have two coffee makers<p>1: A Nespresso that uses the classic pods<p>2: A Breville Barista Express<p>I highly recommend the Breville if you can find it used or on discount. We got ours from a man who got extremely into espresso and upgraded 6 months later to a very high end machine. I've had it for 2 years and it's very nice. I use it to make cappuccinos, espressos, or just regular coffee with milk by adding hot water to espresso shots (Americano).<p>The Nespresso is the quick solution if you just want espresso or cappuccino fast. The pods are ubiquitous, and you can usually find them for cheap. I definitely do not recommend the Nespresso Vertuo machines since the pods are very expensive and hard to find. Vertuo machines make coffee sized drinks, but in reality it's just a massive amount of pure espresso and not traditional American coffee like Keurig does. If you're leaning towards coffee, then just do old school pour over with a filter. You'll get better quality coffee, more options in what flavors you like, and it's generally faster. Just make sure you have a fast kettle or hot water machine.
Anyone interested in how the traditional american coffee maker works should watch this.<p><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sp9H0MO-qS8">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sp9H0MO-qS8</a><p>Very fun video and I love the concept of using a piece of metal as a temperature-sensitive valve.
><i>The only advice I can give to designers is this: try not to add to the problem.</i><p>I agree with this a lot. But one difficulty in adhering to this lies in our ability to process the additional cost beyond initial implementation.<p>It seems easy, even to engineers and builders, to add something small. But as the author points out increased complexity leads to fragility.<p>It may be easier to convince product managers and designers of product minimalism when approaching from UX angle: keeping features as bare bones as possible makes it easier for people to figure out how to use the thing.
The most simple, and best (from quality and value) is something like a v60 or hario switch (my preference) + kettle.<p>You can very easily get under <$50, it will last you a lifetime (longer than a drip coffee maker, I'd bet), and the quality of coffee is way better than a drip machine (and depending on your kettle, you don't need electricity).<p>Not quite as convenient, but great high-end kit for a low cost. Then later, if you want to upgrade, buy a good hand grinder ($100-$150).
In the past seven years, the only consumable I've bought for my moka pot is a new seal - $5 on eBay.<p>The pot was made in 1947. It was my father's. Before that, it was my great aunt's.<p>These are not statements you could make of really any product made today.
I use a Moccamaster cup one. It is pretty consistent drip, design is simple, sturdy, easy to clean and has a 5 year warranty. Granted it does come at a more premium price.
My sister bought a Bunn VP17-1 with the additional 20216.0000 stainless steel funnel basket after she had ditched her Keurig and older coffee machines. I am not a fan of terms like "military grade" but I think her machine fits that sort of concept, and it is easy to keep in an almost sterile state between uses. My only tweak would be immediately pouring the output of her machine into my Pykel stainless steel carafe. Bear in mind that the Bunn machine is ridiculously expensive for most consumers.
As a preface, I'm a massive tech lover and have tons of complicated devices in my house.<p>We have 3 ways to make coffee in our house. The first is a ~$7 5-cup coffee maker with no bells or whistles (like in the article) that I've used for 5+ years now. I'm fairly certain I've gotten my money's worth in that deal. I recently added a Zigbee on/off switch so I stop forgetting to turn it off. Second is a dead-simple ~$25 Kurig machine that you pour water in, pop in a pod, and punch the only button on the device to activate. It pumps out hot water and turns off. We've also had this for years with no issues. The third is a recent addition. It's a double walled glass vessel with a basket on top that holds grounds and you pour in boiling water. No electronics at all. I couple it with a simple electric kettle that's equally dead-simple (one button), but could be replaced with water boiled on the stove or a fire if need be. I fully expect these devices to last for many more years at this point.<p>All of the above is my anecdotal contribution to the value of a machine or device that just does the core thing it was designed for in the simplest way possible.
> Instead, I snagged the cheapest and most basic coffee maker I could find. It cost me $12. It has no clock, no programming options, no base settings or cleaning functions. Hell, there aren't even level numbers on the water reservoir tank. You simply add your scoops of coffee grounds along with desired amount of water. Then you switch on the (only) button at the side of the machine. After a handful of minutes, you have coffee.<p>Until recently that's what I had too and I connected it to a Sonoff S31 (Tasmota) connected to Home Assistant which let me turn on the coffee maker with an automation and also measure when it's done brewing. One of the temp fuses blew recently and I haven't been able to get the parts I need to fix it. None of the thrift stores in the area have had a simple model like that for a while now. They're all "smart" with their timers and "brew strengths" and whatnot, very frustrating.
I despise Keurig and all the waste. I have a very simple coffee routine now and it works fantastically.<p>I buy coffee grinds (I no longer have a working grinder or I'd buy beans) - I buy several blends (decaf/light/dark) and freeze them in a ziploc.<p>I tend to just make it for myself in which case this simple filter coffee setup works great [1]. Alternatively a french press or pour-over style filter setup is just as convenient and may yield more coffee (if you're preparing for spouse/etc).<p>Taste is quite good, and the cleanup is very simple. No maintenance. Coffee tastes great and takes very little time/materials - just need a kettle or stove + kit + grinds/beans.<p>[1 ]<a href="https://www.amazon.com/Stainless-Steel-Coffee-Filter-Indian/dp/B01AHGGA9G" rel="nofollow">https://www.amazon.com/Stainless-Steel-Coffee-Filter-Indian/...</a>
So far I love my Delonghi magnifica, no display or programming so it also doesn't do much and it was around $230 a few years ago. It grinds coffee beans and has sufficient water pressure and that's it. A bit loud, a bit bulky, but for the money it was a great value :)
We had a Nespresso for years and it was great. We felt guilty, but the pods were tactile and beautiful and the coffee was fine. Eventually we moved on to a bean to cup machine with all sorts of complicated settings. That was great too, and has never stopped working. I’ve had an Aeropress for years but eventually I realised I’d just skip having coffee because I couldn’t be arsed grinding beans and faffing and then washing it up every time. I do think having little physical rituals in life is important, especially when they break you out of the monotony of work etc. But also life is short and I like things that work well. My response to a broken coffee machine will always be to get a better coffee machine, not a worse one.
Recently did something similar, and switch to a Bunn. They aren't cheap, but my grandparent's had one last for 20 years. It's an always-on heated reservoir that uses gravity to dispense the water over the beans. You pour the water into the top, close the lid, and the room temperature water flows down into the reservoir pushing the hot water out over the beans.<p>They are simple, easy to repair, machines. While I spent ~$100 on mine, the longevity of it will likely make it cheaper than lower priced units that need to be replaced more frequently. It brews faster than a Keurig since the reservoir is always on. It's also about as good of a pour over as you can make given the constant stream of perfect temp water.<p>10/10 would recommend.
This is very recognizable. Every time I arrive at the coffee machine, I have to perform 30 tasks (cleaning, rinsing, …) and press on 20 settings just to get a simple espresso.
I highly recommend cold brew coffee. We make it once a week or so. My wife grinds her mix of beans, into the toddy, add cold water, let steep over night and drip the next day. Add some brew to a cup and top off with hot water. Cold brew will keep for quite a while in the refrigerator. No fuss, bother and filling the landfill with little plastic cups. IMHO too many simple tasks are over-engineered into ready to fail products.
Chemex pour-over turned out to be the sweet spot: Last summer we rented a house in England for a month but the French-press coffee maker in the house was too small for our family and a pain to clean. So we picked up a Chemex, used it happily, and brought it home.<p>Supposedly important: We use an electric kettle that allows us to specify the temperature, in this case 200°F / 93°C, <i>not</i> boiling.<p>Making coffee takes a few minutes of attention but it's a nice way to wake up in the morning — as the coffee is pouring through, I'll get the paper and start reading it, check emails, empty the dishwasher, etc.<p>Washing out the glassware each time with dish soap and a sponge wand, vice just rinsing: A habit ingrained from college-freshman chemistry class.<p>Chemex: <a href="https://a.co/d/8YfriZF" rel="nofollow">https://a.co/d/8YfriZF</a> (Amazon.com)<p>Bamboo stand: <a href="https://a.co/d/1n2zOet" rel="nofollow">https://a.co/d/1n2zOet</a><p>Chemex filters (coffee people claim they're better): <a href="https://a.co/d/6vrexRH" rel="nofollow">https://a.co/d/6vrexRH</a>
In my kitchen I always try to go as low tech as possible. Usually that’s not worse then high tech, way more reliable and often less work.<p>For coffee: just get a French press. The taste is somewhere between Filter coffee and espresso. You can’t run out of filters, because you don’t need any. The only waste you produce is the coffee. And you can get them for as little as 10$. And you can let the dishwasher clean it.
<a href="https://us.moccamaster.com/collections/cafe-office-brewers/products/cdt" rel="nofollow">https://us.moccamaster.com/collections/cafe-office-brewers/p...</a><p>It ain't cheap, but it's sturdy and dependable, and it makes a very good cup of coffee. It's already outlasted every other coffee machine I've ever had.
I have a Mr. Coffee machine with a timer. I got it new for $20 at Target. It makes coffee for me in the mornings.<p>There's an appropriate level of complexity, and it's not a hard line. It's a balance between convenience and absurd complexity. Can I both achieve a simple task and a more complex task, with <i>appropriate</i> levels of effort for both tasks?
> The product tries to do too much.<p>Not necessarily. It could be the product was designed around many different facets - user stories, bug reports, marketing requests, safety standards. Then there's the stuff you don't necessarily control, like cost controls and deadlines.<p>At the end of it there's quality control, and that's where these things usually fall down. You can make a super duper fancy coffee maker that won't die after 3 months. But you need the QC to ensure quality at scale. 90% of the defects might be easy to solve, but the last 10% might be too costly/time-consuming. If only 1 in 1000 will have a defect, it might be simpler/cheaper to replace the defective ones than do the QC to prevent it.<p>You don't <i>have</i> to have a simple design for reliability. But the more complex it is, the more quality control is necessary to make it reliable.<p>(I use an Aeropress, but that's because I only drink 1 cup... for more than 1, I'd probably go french press)
In last 10 or so years I've gone a full circle with coffee makers (manufacturers rejoice!) in a quest for better coffee. From Moccamaster, to Keurig, Nespresso, french press, fancy capucino machine or two, and now back to filtered coffee /w Wilfa Classic.<p>At the end of the day, it turns out I am drinking it for the effect, and quantity (as in volume of liquid, more is better). Although lately I've found some decafs that produce a rather pleasant brew. Filtered coffee from the 'right' (for me) ground coffees seem to hit right balance between ease of use, speed, and taste.<p>And then there are some studies indicating that filtered coffee might be a bit healthier[0] than other forms.<p>[0] <a href="https://www.health.harvard.edu/staying-healthy/whats-the-healthiest-way-to-brew-coffee" rel="nofollow">https://www.health.harvard.edu/staying-healthy/whats-the-hea...</a>
I have a Stagg EKG Electric Kettle. It is quite featureful for a kettle, with variable temperature control and the ability to continuously hold at the desired temperature. Some might even consider it too featureful (particularly if you count the snake minigame easter egg), but in general its main features are things that coffee lovers appreciate and it's a popular product.<p>Of course, now they have released the "Pro Studio Edition", which in addition to the above also sends you updates over WiFi. What could go wrong?<p>I agree with some other commenters, though, that this is ultimately driven by consumers. I'm sure "Corporate" would love to be able to sell us all on minimalism so they could charge more for less. But consumers love features and frankly most don't care about waste. I agree with the sentiments in the article but it is very much a minority view.
My coffee maker is a ceramic cone with a tiny hole in the bottom and a handle on one side. Best one I've ever had, and I can't imagine using anything else to make coffee. It'll never become obsolete, never need descaling, and has been 'running' perfectly for over 10 years now.
Apple had a design philosophy that a device should do one thing only. That is why the iPod was so amazingly successful. It was just a music player. No meeting planner or contacts list. Just played music.<p>This design simplified things and allowed each button to serve a distinct purpose.<p>With the iPhone, the design philosophy carried. The iPhone could change itself via running different apps. To switch between features you had a single giant button at the bottom. But each app should do one thing. So it was either a phone, calculator, GPS, or Rolodex. But never all at the same time. And never more than one thing on screen at the same time.<p>They started to get away from this, such as using a volume button to take a picture. Or displaying a video inside a window. I would argue overall it makes things more complicated.
Love the breadth and depth of opinion in the comments.<p>I have French press, Aeropress, Chemex, and Moka pot at home and am currently using them in descending frequency. I’m using the French press more now since I stayed at an AirBnB that had the Timemore Small U French Press [0] - it’s a really well-resolved bit of kit. I have a wooden stirring stick which was once a large rough chopstick, and I am enjoying feeling it acquire smoothness and patina over time.<p>[0] <a href="https://us.timemore.com/collections/other/products/timemore-small-u-french-press-450ml" rel="nofollow">https://us.timemore.com/collections/other/products/timemore-...</a>
Talking about coffe makers. I swear to Moccamaster. At my grandfathers cabin, I've had coffee made from a Moccamaster older then me, and I'm turning 40 later this year.<p>It just makes damn good coffee. Don't expect it to break on my watch.
My Delonghi coffee machine (ECAM 350.35.W) developed a fault after a couple of years of use. It would often give an "INSERT INFUSER ASSEMBLY" error when trying to turn it on, especially if it was already warmed up (cold starts on cold mornings tended to work fine!). Perhaps this was due to a faulty microswitch or similar so it was failing to properly detect the position of the infuser within the machine.<p>Delonghi charged £120 for the repair, including shipping both ways, which is about 1/4 of the new price. Came back fully cleaned, descaled, and serviced and has worked perfectly again ever since.<p>So hats off to Delonghi for designing repairable machines!
So the manufacturer gets revenue from the sale but externalizes the cost of trashing the device.<p>The buyer personally benefits from many features for cheap, and externalizes the environmental cost to society.<p>I say it is good design, from a business perspective.<p>Also, yet another instance of the Tragedy Of The Commons <a href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tragedy_of_the_commons" rel="nofollow">https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tragedy_of_the_commons</a>
Ironically, the latest addition to my coffee system is going to be the Fellow Ode v2 grinder. A lot of people had specific problems with the first version, and then instead of adding features, they just went in and improved all of their existing ones to solve all the issues. With the exception of an ionizer to reduce static and create a cleaner experience. But it didn't grind for espresso and still doesn't.
If you want a decent coffee maker that'll outlast you - <a href="https://www.moccamaster.eu/" rel="nofollow">https://www.moccamaster.eu/</a><p>Made out of extruded aluminium and a copper element, handbuilt in Netherlands, been making then for decades, spare parts available, makes good coffee.<p>Not going to change your life - but one less thing to worry about.
Makes me 0.1% happier every morning.
Simple drip machines are a marvel--I spend more on a month's supply of beans than I do on the maker, and have been getting about 5 years daily service out of each one. Technology Connections made a great video explaining how stupid/brilliant they are <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sp9H0MO-qS8">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sp9H0MO-qS8</a>
The Keurig that worked well for me was a institutional model from Staples with simpler controls. The model with manual water fill works fine also. When my partner was buying a countertop oven, I suggested the version that was $5 more expensive that had a temp knob rather than a digital display, because once the display fails, you have an expensive brick.
Keurig is a blight on coffee; here's why: <a href="https://muddydogcoffee.wordpress.com/2011/04/01/why-the-keurig-k-cup-is-the-beginning-of-the-end-for-great-coffee/" rel="nofollow">https://muddydogcoffee.wordpress.com/2011/04/01/why-the-keur...</a>
Technology Connections on youtube has an awesome video about coffee makers! its 35 minutes, but i highly recommend it!<p><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sp9H0MO-qS8">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sp9H0MO-qS8</a><p>i think it's actually amazing how much design went into these "dead simple" coffee machines!
In the same vein, I think the industry is ripe for "smart-less" TVs. Reduce the cost, and take all the smarts out of it. Don't even need wifi. Apple TV, roku, chromecast - enough good options out there that there's really no need for your TV to come built in with any apps or smart features.
I have a 4-cup Mr Coffee maker (definitely purchased for less than $25) that has been chugging along for about 15 years now. I just bought a Breville Nespresso Creatista Plus over the holidays because I got spoiled in Italy a few months ago. Which one will die first? I know what my money is on...
The $12 one works great until the thermal fuse blows for no reason. Luckily it's easy to fix with a soldering iron.<p>I've been doing pour-overs for a couple years now. I am always amused when I get LinkedIn messages from coffee brewing startups looking for embedded firmware engineers!
I use a cheap Bodum pour over, but if I was going to spend too much money on a coffee maker: <a href="https://ammunitiongroup.com/projects_pt/terra-kaffe/" rel="nofollow">https://ammunitiongroup.com/projects_pt/terra-kaffe/</a>
One of the best high quality purchases I have made is an Italian coffee grinder, built like a tank. It doesn't even have soft power, but it does have a small touch LCD (non dot matrix) to set the timer. Perfecto!
My simple Keurig has no clock, size options, cleaning requirements or any fancy features and it's been rock solid for years (<i>knocks on wood</i>). Maybe this guy/gal just needed a more simple... Keurig?
The model that I think the OP is talking about has 3.4/5 stars on Keurig's own website. That's a horrible rating.<p>Maybe there's a different lesson to be learned here?
Customers are ultimately the problem here - not designers.<p>Customers want lots of features, and they want it at a cheap price. This has resulted in an arms race of every-more-poorly made devices that try to do more and more with less and less.<p>This is the problem. Demand. Not the designers. They're just working within the market that exists.<p>There is of course demand on the higher end price brackets as well, but that's a separate discussion. That makes up a minority of all sales in terms of volume.
i've received the most compliments for coffee when using pour over, also feel it's the easiest way to make a cup/2 and it's portable for camping, travel etc. Plus everything is compostable
keurig always leaves me disappointed just from a coffee drinking perspective