When we were looking for a house last year, I wondered a lot about the people who design houses. I think men must design most of the awful kitchens. Men who never stand at a kitchen sink and wish they could watch the kids playing in the backyard and feel the sun on their faces. These same architects plan bathrooms without windows, inconvenient laundry “rooms,” and parlors too small for any real use.
I don’t study design, but often it seems that a few simple modifications would improve the traditional dishwasher layout or the turning radius of those kid-tastic car carts at the grocery store. Too often I wonder, “Are you kidding me? Who designed this?” We can put a woman on the moon but can’t devise a way to keep a toddler from running through a roll of toilet paper in under twenty seconds?
When the Wat-aah! people asked if I’d take the Wat-aah! challenge, I thought: Here’s my chance to BE THE FOCUS GROUP. Really, if companies want to improve their products, they should pay me to discover every possible thing they should fix on the current prototype. They could pay me by hour or by the stupid design flaw, and I’d be rich.
The problem is that most people, companies included, can’t handle the truth. They just want to hear that they’re fantastic and that their product is basically mankind’s last and greatest hope for lower gas mileage, more obedient kids, and thinner thighs.
I suppose as an aspiring blogger I should tell you I love Listerine and the American Egg Board and Crayola washable markers (I really do love those!), but I cannot tell a promotional fairytale (LeapPad won’t be able to get your kids out of the house if a fire starts, and Hanes is not a substitute for two miles around the track), which is why I probably won’t be getting any more products to review or giveaway.
But the Wat-aah people asked for very little. Just put the bottles of Wat-aah in the fridge next to the soda and record what happens, they said. I even told them (a bit loftily) that I don’t keep soda in the fridge for the kids. (My Mountain Dew and the Coke Zero reside in the pantry so I have to add lots of ice which means it’s like drinking water basically). I don’t even keep juice, usually. (Just the occasional juice box for trips or extreme bribery situations. Juice boxes are a big treat around here.) That’s fine, said the Wat-aah person, just put it next to whatever you have and see.
Sally, Susan, and Spot Take the Wat-ahh! Challenge from jane on Vimeo.
So here’s what happened. This is the unrehearsed, unretouched recording of our fridge movie. Susan didn’t want to make a fridge movie, which was odd considering how concerned she usually is about where her next bite is coming from, even if her last bite was only five minutes ago. She wanted to do a Sleeping Beauty movie, but once we filmed this one, she and Sally and Spot spent another couple of hours taking turns directing each other in subsequent fridge movies. Sally was so eager to be in any movie that she helped me clean out the fridge in preparation. Which was one of my incentives for doing the review — I knew the spector of virtual shame would force me to excavate those last moldy onions.
It’s kind of hard to see the fridge, so this is what the kids saw:
It was probably unfair that the Wat-aah bottles weren’t standing upright next to the juice and water and soda, but the bottles are too tall for a shelf in the fridge at kid level. The large size also makes it look like “Mommy’s special water.” Even my girls, with their race-horse/camel bladders won’t drink more than six and a half ounces in a sitting.
Which leads to my final thought on Wat-aah, a product marketed to children that a) Looks like Mommy’s drink, b) Tastes like “water,” (which is free* and perfectly-flouridated in our city) and c) Is too tall for the fridge at kid level: “Are you kidding me? Who designed this?”
Jane
*Water isn’t really free, but we pay for it whether we drink it or not, out of the tap.
**If your product is up to the “Are you kidding me? Who designed this?” Challenge, email me at whataboutmom at gmail dot com. I think we’re on a roll.
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Dude – your vimeo sucks. It took me 10 min. to watch the first half of the video. And I never could get the rest. But your girls are cute – we are besides ourselves with the excitement of coming up this summer. And hello, when did Avery get so tall?
Speaking of Who Designed This?… what’s up with the new Mt. Dew design. I do not like it. It’s all jagged lightning bolt-y. So basically I just try to get it from the fountain whenever I can – to avoid looking at the new design. Or, you know, drink Wat-aah!
ps: I read this post and I liked it.
The biggest problem with houses is that architects do not, in fact, design them. An architect would have known to put a window over the sink, how the work triangle should go down, and what makes a good laundry room. The designers that work with builders do one thing: maximize square footage and minimize costs.
And sometimes people design products don’t actually think about who really uses them and how they actually live their lives.
(Said someone who designs products.)
I should clarify: MOST houses (especially those built by developers) do not have an architect, some houses do.
I nearly bought an architect-designed home and it was amazing. He built the kitchen (which was along a wall of windows that overlooked the backyard so that you could see your kids) to the scale of his wife–which meant that I could easily reach the very top shelves without a step stool. He installed a pull-out stool in the cabinet under the bathroom sinks so that your little ones could turn on the faucet (but then slide the stool back in to save space) And on and on.
I just hate that not all products are truly thought through before they want us to buy them.
Mom Blogs – Blogs for Moms…
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Crazy big water for marketing at kids.
How’re Spot’s eyes? Just noticed her eye condition a bit in the video. And I only noticed because of M’s eye condition, I promise!
i find my home pretty well designed even though it was done by some cheap military contractor…everything goes to the lowest bidder, you know. but anyway, i love it, and i can handle the truth. i had a hard time with your last post. i don’t like sarcasm or satire much. i just like the truth…
Tara — I was in love with Vimeo when I first did it, bec. it was better than Youtube (downloading-wise and not-breaking-my-posts-wise) but last night was awful. So I don’t know what to do w/ the video. It should be all processed now, if you want to try again.
Azucar — Yes, I realize that “architects” don’t design most houses. I just don’t know what to call the other people (“mass-tract-house-maximizers”?). I think if I were involved in product design, I wouldn’t hardly be able to get through the day, being even more aware of crappy design. I heard Cameron Moll (a designer for the church) talk about design at a wordcamp, and it was fascinating!
We bought our current house based on the great room, with its south-facing windows and open feel. A well-designed kitchen covers a multitude of house-design sins.
Kirsty — Spot’s eye condition (Duane Syndrome Type I) is the same. Since there’s no treatment, we just hope it remains the same. It always appears worse when she’s tired (and has less energy to compensate by turning her entire head). Is M’s condition treatable? (I’m sorry, I don’t remember what hers is.)
Sylwia — I had a hard time with it too. I enjoy reading satire (like Seriously, So Blessed), but I think perhaps I am a bit too ambivalent about motherhood to write satire easily.
And hey, did you get my title reference?
LOL Avery is a riot.
I could watch the Vimeo video fine on my ancient laptop.
As far as houses being poorly designed, I couldn’t agree more and that’s why I redesigned MUCH of my house. Our homebuilder, as much as I hate them and as much as they are unethical once the house is done enough to move into, allow people to make as many changes as they want to the plan, without cost. So, I turned two teeny bathrooms into one nice big one. I added a window in my laundry room as well as a chute and open shelving in lieu of a teeny closet. I turned an ugly island with TWELVE angles on the counter into a nice big rectangle with storage and only four angles. And don’t even get me started on my vast improvements to the basement. I wish I would have made the living and dining rooms a bit bigger. Darn.
Anne of Green Gables…diamonds, right?
I got my Wat-aah and I’m supposed to do the challenge, but I haven’t gotten my kitchen or fridge clean enough yet, or remembered to go buy soda and juice. My kids drink water or milk already so it will be interesting. I loved the video! Your girls are adorable! And what’s up with that Mom Blogs-Blogs for Moms comment thing. It’s making me crazy, and this isn’t even my blog. Maybe if I knew what it was….
So the most important question: does this get those obnoxious PR emails to stop?
I admire you for trying new products because I’m betting that you have to go through a bunch of crappy ones to get a decent one. Good luck with that.
Nice job capturing the Wat-ahh challenge! I am thinking Avery might be starting to understand the product endorsement angle.
And seriously, did you read that month of posts about Eggs? Wow, I hope she was paid more than a few flats for her “honest” opinions.
So these Wat-ahh people told you to put it in the fridge and watch it? Were they worried it would grow bacteria or weird stuff in it? Or were they only interested in how it actually fit? Bizarro.
I have to say, I loved how Susan was still going for the milk even when you asked if she’d looked for anything else in the fridge. And Spot saying her juice tasted purple!
I’ll have to let M watch the video before bed tonight – she loved Spot’s elbow dance ones.
M’s eye condition is treatable, but not “curable”. She’s got esotropia – both eyes move independently and both turned in. After patching her eyes from about 2-3 months, she had surgery (1.5 hours long!!) at 13 months, and she’s responded really well so far. Just a bit of turn when she’s tired, and when she’s looking at something close to her face. We’ll be seeing her opthamologist until she’s about 8. I think, like Spot, she’s not going to be able to be a pilot (or an opthamologist – her doctor told us these two professions require binocular vision!). M may not develop binocular vision. It may now look like her eyes are working together, but even though they were operated on at 13 months, binocular vision develops really early. A couple of the pics on this post show how her eyes used to be, before her surgery:
http://bunrabbit.blogspot.com/2007/10/photos-finally.html
I carried around one of those Wat-aah bottles for a couple days (you know, refilling it out of my tap) and my girls never really noticed it. But I got a lot of comments from adults who liked it. So maybe they should just market their product to adults?
I try not to use plastic water bottles so it’s not really my thing.
You are so right about the marketing people not being able to handle the truth!! I am a market research analyst and do all sorts of focus groups, phone surveys, etc. So often I give marketing people reports with great information for them to use, which they then promptly ignore or fail to utilize. It is sad. Your feedback for the Wat-ahh research is great; I hope they actually use it. Their product will not likely perform well with kids if they don’t make some changes.
The Lawyer Mom — the challenge is to put the Wat-aah in the fridge next to the soda and see what the kids will do (not the wat-aah). I was pretty proud of my kids (or is it my brainwashing — er “education” techniques?)
Kirsty — Thanks for the link. M is sure cute! So, do you expect that she’ll need surgery again? (I’m sure it was hard to have her go under general anesthesia so young!). Spot would have surgery at some point if it go so bad that she was needing to turn her head to see straight-on. We hope not.
mama bird diaries — I was quite surprised that this product is even being developed, now that plastic water bottles are being shamed for environmental reasons. And as far as childhood obesity goes, it seems that an easier and cheaper solution is for parents to just not buy sodas. I mean, RIGHT? I don’t get the whole concept. Un-promising on many levels.
Okay, I’ve finally drunk the wat-aah. At our house it’s gourmet lemon water. Not water, not juice, and never soda. It’s the oh-so exotic gourmet lemon water. Which just goes to show, it’s how you frame the issue.
Though I was thrown for a loop when my son once asked for his gourmet lemon water without the “gore.” “I only want the may, mom. Just give me the may.”
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