After reading Norman's prologue "Three Teapots", I couldn't help but think of my own special teapot. It is made from a lovely brushed stainless steel, with sleek lines, and, if you can believe it, drip-free pouring. It matches the appliances in my kitchen and holds just the right amount of tea. It is easy to use and efficient. Unfortunately, it has a major flaw in terms of its utility. This teapot will pour tea beautifully, yet in the design process I am certain that no user tests were performed and, on the off-chance that they were, it was in an artificial situation, as in my video, pouring cold water, rather than hot tea. What the designers failed to note is that the teapot's design allows for heat transfer between the tea in the pot and the handle. It is impossible to pour freshly made hot tea from this pot without insulating the handle in some way - the handle is as hot as the liquid in the pot. These designers certainly would have benefited from a course in user-centerd design! And that leaves me with my old Brown Betty pot and great puddles of tea on the counter.
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