One of the best ways of locating a potential improvement is to think of the annoying and disagreeable processes, duties and conditions that people face. Sometimes the world seems full of them. Merely to grumble is adding just another to the collection. To improve or remove them is the one justification for thinking about them.
Can you think of something people need yet hate to touch? An outstanding success in the fish business was built by Gorton of Gloucester, Mass., on this principle, when he imagined how women would welcome codfish from which the bones had been removed. He also found he could distribute his product inland all over the country by means of his convenient packages.
Are you interested in an object whose use may cause injury or strain? Carrying a heavy ironing board from a closet to a work table was one of these, until a thoughtful architect devised an ironing board of a built-in variety, which could be lowered from the wall into working position.
Many improvements have been thought of to eliminate damage to property or clothes. Fade resistant curtains or cellophane bags may be cited.
Did you ever have the awkward experience of carving a roast and having it skid off the tray? A large specialty shop sells a tray that has spikes in it to secure the roast.
Do you know of disagreeable jobs that are neglected because they are so inconvenient to do? Your pet peeve may be a blessing in disguise. Think of the years that women had to mop laboriously under and behind the bathtub until someone thought of a flat tub on the floor that would fit tight against walls and corners.
Is there something that causes you to bend over, carry something heavy, and put yourself in an awkward position? It is a proper subject for an improvement. When I drop a paper on the floor, I never bother stooping down to pick it up. I use the long desk scissors which extends the length of my arm about ten inches, and grasp the paper without bending. Many portable objects such as radios, typewriters and the like are sold with cases to relieve the load and awkwardness of carrying.
What kind of a situation always makes you want to “cuss?” Let us say you hate subway crowds when you ride in a big city. The signs all say that no one is permitted to ride on the platforms, yet they are jammed to the gills. But by designing a subway car without end platforms, no one could ride on them.
How about jobs that get people dirty, wet, cold? They are susceptible of an improvement idea. That is the basis of the success of paper towels which are largely displacing the old time dish-rag and the newer dish mop, to say nothing of regular dish towels and hand towels in the kitchen. Their disposable quality enables one to wash the greasy dishes without soiling either the hands or a dish towel, thus saving time, energy and laundry. One may wipe the stove or anything else without a qualm. One may use them for countless cleaning purposes about the kitchen and bathroom, doing away with soiled, damp towels, and having always a fresh sanitary one that costs next to nothing and protects health, time and temper.
The boredom that children feel when they have to get a haircut led one barber to build a children’s seat on a merry-go-round type of horse. Consider improvements in the use of waste and byproducts. Even experiment with the useless. Bricks that were over burned or underdone used to be thrown away, until one day somebody built them experimentally into a wall. The varicolored effect turned out to be more pleasing than the perfect uniformity of properly made bricks had been. The earlier discards were henceforth renamed tapestry bricks, and became standard, at greater profit to all concerned.
Is there a safety hazard you know about that you car improve? Color is used as a safety device in many places For example, instead of making black leather shoes on black machinery so that the operator doesn’t know where the leather leaves off and the machinery begins, the machinery is painted a bright contrasting color, and accidents are reduced. Another way to reduce accidents is to add light. A fluorescent pattern was designed for a rug in movie theatres’ aisles to keep people from stumbling in the dark. And for those awkward moments when you wish you had another hand, there’s Ristlight: a small flashlight attached to a band much like a wrist watch, so you don’t have to waste a hand working the flashlight.
Embarrassing situations also often call for an idea to improve them. A screen and a bathrobe are two good answers. Another is noiseless plumbing. Another is Air-Wick.
Again, what is more annoying than a row of buttons to make clumsy mistakes? The zipper was an answer to that problem. The first time I saw this contraption it was on a pair of galoshes, and for a long while this was the only place I saw it. So much so that when I used the word zippers I meant galoshes. Now of course, the handy device has been applied to almost any kind of closing on apparel.
Activities that cause too strenuous work call for an improvement, such as a washing machine. Jobs that cause eyestrain require an improvement somewhere along the line—perhaps bifocal glasses, or sun glasses, or magnifying glasses, or glare-less paper, or rough, non-reflecting typewriter surfaces.
