I got a new tube of stuff for the bathroom yesterday. This morning, I blearily opened it and it was one of the caps that had a spike on the end to break the foil seal of the tube.
This should have been a 'no brainer'. I put the cap on and it kept falling off.
Look (see right) , it seems straight forward, am i just having a morning moment pre-coffee?
I stopped and examined the cap in more detail. I got a surprise. That screw cap went against all other tube caps I had ever seen (gasp, quel horreur!). The screw cap 'mechanism' was actually reversed. The narrow end was actually where the thread or 'working bits' screwed on to the tube.
Armed with that realization, I made another attempt, but saw my self putting the wider end on first and turning. What? eh? I consciously knew the that this was a screw cap in reverse, and I had fully intended to turn the cap around. However i kept trying to put the wider end on first and turn it before I 'caught' myself.
I then realized that I had fallen prey to 'capture error'. This is a phenomenon where an habitual behavior is so ingrained, trying to do a slight variation on it, you'll default to the habitual pattern despite consciously intending to do other wise. E.g. You get in the car to drive to tennis only to discover you're on the way to work. Then I finally got the cap, on feeling amused and slightly foolish. I got my coffee and had to chuckle that I was thinking about how such an inconsequential product design change affected the experience and on what rational grounds you would have to do it (if it ain't broke etc etc).
Did some sales meeting have a crisis moving the product? Did product designer wake up one day and think 'I know, change the cap'. Rad!
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