Good usability is like housecleaning – you only notice if it’s not done. So I’d never thought much about my alarm clock – the same one I’ve had since I was around 13 (that’s well over half my life at this point). But then I came across a discussion of bad design in everyday objects and realized how lucky I was.

If you’re anything like me, you put enormous trust in your alarm clock. “Waking up naturally” and “not being chronically late” are not two ideas that can co-exist in my world. Most of my home electronics are strictly about convenience (microwave, coffee maker) or entertainment (music, television). Even my cell phone, while handy, is not that crucial to my everyday life. But without my alarm clock I’d be – well, I’d probably be home in bed. Which doesn’t sound so bad, actually; but it would certainly have an effect on my professional life. When I travel, I always have some degree of anxiety that I won’t wake up. If I’m in a hotel, I typically set the alarm clock, and also the alarm on my phone, and also request a wake-up call, just in case. How do I love my alarm clock, (and eye other, lesser models with suspicion)? Let me count the ways…

• It has two alarms. I don’t like setting my alarm on the weekends, but I inevitably have to. So I reserve Alarm 2 for weekend wakeups. This way I never really have to worry about if my “work” alarm is still set for the right time, since I rarely change it. The display tells me which alarm is currently on.
• It’s easy to set the alarm. The time setting controls are touch-panel buttons – fast and slow, forward and reverse. “Fast” in either direction moves the setting at the truly fast rate of about 15 minutes per second (actually, less than a second — I’ve done agility training with my fingers and that fast button, and I can’t get down to below 15 minutes per touch). “Slow” is about one minute per second. I don’t have to worry about going over my desired time, because I can always back up.
• It’s easy to NOT set the time. Both the alarms and the time set controls are slide switches. The time-set slide switch is on the side, far away from the alarm-set controls, which are on the front. Since the time setting function only works if the time-set switch is on “time set,” it’s almost impossible to change the time by mistake. If I do need to set the time, it’s just as easy as setting the alarm. Many alarm clocks require you to press two buttons simultaneously to set the time (or the alarm, for that matter). Time setting should not depend on timing, if you know what I mean.
• The snooze button is prominent and nowhere near the “off” button. All I have to do is slap the top of the alarm in my sleep-fogged haze, and I get 7 more minutes of blessed sleep time. I know some people don’t believe in snooze buttons, but I don’t understand those people.
• The snooze button obeys me, for as long as I tell it to. I’ve heard of some snoozes that simply stop working after an hour. I don’t often feel the need (or have the luxury) of snoozing for over an hour, but if it happens, I don’t want my snooze button to get distracted from its job.
• The alarm stays on for an hour. This was less lovely when I used the buzzer setting, but since I’ve discovered that I can actually wake up to the radio, it’s nice to then get ready for my day with the radio on. And if it turns itself off, I know I’m running late. I usually turn it off as I’m headed out the door, but if I forget, it will do it for me.
• I can turn the alarm off without un-setting it. I can also turn the radio on and off throughout the day without disturbing the alarm setting. The controls to do this are two wonderfully simple panel buttons – one says “On.” The other says “Off.”
• The display has two brightness settings. As I’ve gotten older and also developed the habit of keeping my alarm far, far away from the side of my bed, being able to set the display to “bright” has come in handy. The “dim” setting is appropriately dim, and the “bright” setting is appropriately bright.

Sadly, my alarm clock is also incredibly ugly. I didn’t realize just how ugly until I was photographing it for this article. Here it is in all its 20 year old glory:

It’s true that my alarm clock favors function over form. It was made in the 1980s, after all, and has been with me through 3 states and probably 10 residences (I moved around a lot in college). But for all its boxy brown dowdiness, I wouldn’t trade it for another model if you paid me. And I guess that betrays my design bias, too - first, make it usable. I promise, though, that nothing I design will be quite as ugly as my beloved alarm clock.