Hand dryers are usually a pet peeve of mine. As an environmentally conscious person, I would prefer to use a hand dryer over a paper towel, but the vast majority of hand dryers I have come across are simply ineffective and frustrating. Some of them try compensate for poor airspeed with heat, which doesn’t do the job. The first time I encountered Dyson Airblade, sometime in middle school, I remember thinking ‘wow – this is the first hand dryer I’ve encountered that actually dries my hands in less than 15 seconds’. It delivers on its promise – reality exceeds expectations here, which, as we discussed in class, is an important element of desirable design. Especially because people are usually in a hurry to leave the bathroom, the efficiency of Dyson Airblade makes it stand out. As a bonus, in addition to great functionality, they tend to be a lot more sleek and aesthetic than the usual box-like machines. Plus, feeling the actual “blade” of air is pretty cool.
