I was looong wondering if there’s a good way to let one notice if the door is to push or pull only with the shape of a normal (round/tulip shaped) doorknob. Thinking of a good knob design for pushing is not so difficult but in most cases the shape is also good for pulling and vice versa.
So I thought differently; it might work if I can find a shape that makes it HARD to push/pull. Then a user instinctively notice which way the door should open. (Not sure if this has already been used.)
The above knob is for pulling. It a little hard to turn this knob and push.
Likewise the above knob makes it a little hard to turn and pull.
There are times when you have to push a pull-door and pull a push-door, such as when you release a door stopped with a door-stopper, so I made it “a little” hard to push/pull. Will these doorknobs help many people you think?
For manufacturers, please contact me for development.
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Someone has been reading Donald Norman.
I think a lot of existing hardware works very well; it’s just that it is applied INCONSISTENTLY and that is what confuses people.
For example, glass doors often have the same handle on both sides, so the door seems to afford pulling on both sides, even though it only swings one way.
Interesting idea. The book “Design of Everyday Things” mentioned a bit similar concept: The use of flat plates on the side of the door you’re supposed to push, and the use of a handle on the side you’re supposed to pull.
It’s really a pretty simple concept, yet you see doors that don’t really have this kind of thing all the time.
I read a book about this. You know that, in Italian it is “the masochist’s coffee maker”: an handle to pull, a plate to push.
Sorry for my english 😉
After I read Mark’s comment… it’s the same!
The commento of Jani Hartikainen, not Mark’s one.
i like the idea, and your site too!
but then thr’s times when you have to close the push-door, e.g. when you push it opened and have to close it back without going through the other side of the door, for example when someone is changing or bathing, or when the door is stucked by a stopper, and you will have to pull in back in order to release the stopper.
hey good concept….kudos!
Great idea.
I like it when design is smart enough that it doesn’t need signs explaining how to operate it. (In this case, “push” or “pull”.)