Application of EMI: Gas Stovetop Design  

1.  Consistency Design

Making Design
Easy to Recognize

The gas burner in Fig. 1 represents a typical conceptual model users have when they interact with a gas stovetop. Associations with LTM are strong. The control dial on the lower right turns on the gas. There is a direct mapping of the user's goal to turn on the gas burner using this control dial. After viewing this gas burner once, user's should be able to easily sketch a mental model of this burner design and predict its functions.  The button on the lower left, however, might be confusing, as it is not part of the typical user's conceptual model. This button provides a spark for gas ignition. This design could be improved by getting rid of the ignition button and including it in the control dial as many upper end models do.

The electric burner in Fig. 2 is even more consistent with a user's conceptual model and should present no conceptual difficulties to typical users.

Fig. 1. Conceptual Model of a Gas Burner

Fig. 2. Conceptual Model of an Electric Burner