This article was published in Scientific American’s former blog network and reflects the views of the author, not necessarily those of Scientific American
I have always been impressed by the design of the coffee grinder. Here you've got a supersharp metal blade spinning around in a buzzing blur and chopping the living bejesus out of those coffee beans. But you never—never!—have to worry about the same thing happening to your fingers. The only time a coffee grinder works is when the top is closed, which effectively eliminates the peril of losing your digits. The blender and the food processor, on the other hand, come with no such guarantee. Granted, you probably shouldn't be sticking your hand down into the spiraling blades but, hey, accidents happen. The coffee grinder's design does not allow for such accidents.
But every once in a while I come across a design that is the anti coffee grinder. One that is so plain dumb, I think I actually lose brain cells over it. This time, it's the instant soup cup.
I stumbled on this befuddling design in a recent Planet Money piece on the hazards of CupNoodle instant soup and its Styrofoam cousins. Apparently, the tall, narrow shape of these cups—combined with the flimsy material and almost overflowing fill line—make it extremely likely for them to tip over. Which means scalding-hot ramen noodle soup spills all over unsuspecting victims who are just trying to heat up lunch. In some cases, they suffer from burns serious enough to require skin grafts and several days in the hospital. Plus, they're still hungry. Not so fun.
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Soup burns might not seem like a huge problem, but you'd be surprised. They represent almost 8 percent of all burn admissions, and can have lifelong consequences, including permanent scarring and joint damage. They're also a particularly pernicious type of burn—apparently noodles cool much more slowly than water, prolonging the damage. Further, young children are frequently the victims of these treacherous treats. Eight out of the 12 hospitals that Planet Money spoke to said they see instant soup burn injuries in children at least a few times a week.
What makes it so infuriating is that the solution is a simple design tweak. To build a better instant soup cup, all you have to do is adjust the cup to a slightly wider, shorter shape. According to this study by David Greenhalgh, once that simple change is made—Wallah!, the chance of a spill plummets dramatically. Greenhalgh and his colleagues actually compared the precise angle at which 13 different instant noodle cups spilled and found that the one with the broadest base didn't tip over until it reached a 63.9-degree angle (compared with the narrowest, which flopped at 17.5 degrees). Here's a picture of those angles.
The paper was published in 2006, so this isn't exactly breaking news. Yet those instant soup cups have stayed stubbornly tall—and dangerous. Clearly, CupNoodle-maker Nissin Foods has higher priorities than preventing little kids from being rushed to the emergency room with horrible blisters all over their face and arms.
But design flaws with serious health consequences don't just limit themselves to the kitchen. Since conducting the soup cup study, Greenhalgh has shifted his attention to another household menace, this time in the living room: the fireplace. Traditionally, fireplaces were either raised above the floor on a step or had barriers in front to keep children (and adults) away from hot surfaces. "Now, many fireplaces are flush with the wall and there is no guard against toddlers touching them," Greenhalgh recently told me in an e-mail. "Toddlers explore their world with their hands (and mouths), so we are seeing an increase in palm burns in young children."
Other examples don't involve burns, or even object design. Typeface design can have big health implications (and no, not just Comic Sans font–induced anxiety). The poor readability of traditional highway signage has been implicated in all sorts of vehicular accidents, which is why many states have now replaced Highway Gothic with Clearview. Information design can also have health consequences, which is why this new way of visualizing arteries (to diagnose heart disease) could save lives.
Build a wider cup, adjust a few letters—in many cases, a simple design tweak can make a world of difference. And if you need inspiration, just think of that coffee grinder.
