I was in a brand new office building today that has an ultra-modern ThyssenKrupp elevator system. It is a design disaster.

The first thing I noticed is that there are no standard call buttons. Instead, the wall space between the cars is occupied by numeric keypads. The rider is supposed to key in the destination floor, and then a display directs him to the correct elevator.

Although that’s non-standard operation, it’s not terribly intrusive. The problem arises when the manufacturer goes a step further by following through on the claim that, “there is no need for buttons inside the car.”

That’s right… no buttons inside the car. Think about that. If you happen to get into an elevator, and then change your mind about your destination, you’re out of luck. There’s no way to get off early or stay on past your selected destination.

And it gets even worse if you enter an elevator without first making your selection on the keypad. As often happens when people are in a rush, they see an open elevator with someone getting in and they simply follow. But if you haven’t made a floor selection before getting in, you have no way to get to your destination. No buttons inside the car… brilliant.

One might think an elevator car without buttons would have a minimalist feel. But no… there’s a TV in there, blasting advertising, or CNN, or whatever programming the building management decides to feed to a captive audience. There’s also a fancy display over the door which tells you the time, the temperature, and every floor that the elevator is scheduled to stop on. Unfortunately, there are no field labels, so what you see looks something like “11:32 31C 8 20 24″.

The one thing the display doesn’t indicate is what everyone expects to see when they look at numbers over an elevator door: the floor you’re on. In fact, the only way to know what floor you’re on is by the serene voice which accompanies the doors opening. The problem is, you can’t hear it over the television. And I guess deaf people (or those who don’t speak the language) have to take the stairs.

When it was time to go back down, I was faced with another challenge. Since the system uses a standard numeric keypad, it has no floor-specific buttons. It’s pretty much guesswork to figure out that: 0 = Lobby, 1 = Mezzanine, -2 = Parking, etc. I’m left to wonder if the term “usability testing” is even mentioned in engineering schools these days.

This whole design debacle is indicative of a larger trend that I’m seeing lately. The focus on incorporating the latest high-tech features eclipses any attention paid to the device’s ability to perform its primary function.

An elevator is supposed to get me to the appropriate floor quickly, comfortably, efficiently, safely, and with a minimum of effort on my part. Any design which detracts from that, or in any way makes the device less efficient than its predecessors, is movement in the wrong direction, no matter how “cool” it looks or what extra bells and whistles it provides.

The people who buy and install these systems want the “latest, greatest” technology, even if the old systems worked better. I’m sure it’s no coincidence that the same building features an equally wacky high-tech parking system.

Interestingly, this seems to be something of a cultural phenomenon, as I see far more of it here than when I lived in the United States. For example, my apartment complex recently replaced the standard remote controls for the entry gate with a fancy RFID system. Now, instead of being able to remotely open the gate from 30 yards away, I have to pull the car up, stop, roll down my window (often when it’s raining), and place my card within inches of the special reader. It’s astoundingly less efficient than the 1960s technology we were using before, and it costs a lot more too. Arrrgh!

I read a comment from Rudy Giuliani the other day claiming that John McCain was the best candidate the Republicans could have fielded this year, and nobody could have done better in the current political climate. I beg to differ.

Here is what won the election for Barack Obama:

If you look at these points, you can see that the Republicans had only one primary candidate who could have matched or exceeded all of those advantages. That was Ron Paul, and his party threw him under the bus.

Dr. Paul may not have been the perfect choice. I think he still would have had a tough time in the general election. But he was the best option the Republicans had.

The fact that his party couldn’t see the fundamental shift that had taken place in the country, even after suffering a resounding defeat in the 2006 mid-term elections, speaks to a severe leadership deficiency. Fielding a selection of neo-cons who each tried to “out-Bush” the other while ridiculing the one guy who could have actually won the election was a serious mistake.

The country has changed. It’s well past time for the Republicans to take notice.

As often happens when a political party receives a thumping like the Republicans did last Tuesday, they strive to redefine themselves. Toward that end, the Republican National Commitee has started a new web site soliciting suggestions from the public. I posted a version of the comments below there.

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I am a political independent who voted Democratic this year. I have voted for Republican candidates in the past, but the Republican party as it stands right now is unrecognizable to me. The effort underway to redefine the party is a great thing… both for your members and the country. I can offer two suggestions which, if followed, would make an independent like me consider voting Republican again.

1. Relocate your true conservative principles. I vote for Republicans when I want fiscal conservatives who care about protecting my constitutional rights and defending our nation. That’s not what we’ve had lately.

The current administration has pursued a borrow-and-spend economic plan under the false premise that “deficits don’t matter.” As a voter, if I have a choice between a tax-and-spend Democrat and a borrow-and-spend Republican, I’m going to choose the Democrat. At least he’s got a way to pay for his profligacy.

The Bush administration seems to think the Constitution is not particularly relevant if you can get a group of smart lawyers to find enough loopholes. I’m accustomed to the liberals taking the “living document” viewpoint to push changes that fit their agenda, but I want Republicans to counter that with a stricter interpretation, so we don’t get too far from the founders’ vision.

Our current president ran promoting a platform of strong national defense rather than nation-building abroad. That’s the opposite of what we ended up with. You can say “9/11 changed everything” until the cows come home, but after seven years, it won’t fly any more. Nobody in the country has a taste for perpetual war. Furthermore, a lot of our citizens, including some in our military, believe that the nation’s security is better served by having our forces at home.

2. Disavow the hateful and intolerant commentary that permeates right-wing news outlets, especially talk radio.

Hannity and Limbaugh and Savage don’t have to go away. Protecting their freedom to speak is a sound conservative principle. But some of the outlandish comments made by these folks are doing serious damage to the Republican brand. If prominent conservative commentators make false or hateful statements about the opposing party (which the majority of Americans voted for), I will look to elected Republicans for assurances that those statements do not represent the views of the party.

The extreme partisans cannot be your base. They’re a shrinking demographic and they tarnish the party’s image. Commentary designed to polarize the people is no longer useful, nor will it be an effective election strategy. The culture wars, name-calling and fear-mongering are all beneath you. Conservatives have a proud intellectual tradition which needs to be revived as a replacement to these “lowest common denominator” tactics.

I look forward to a new, refocused Republican party that I can once again respect.

Last night, Senator Barack Obama was elected the 44th president of the United States. His acceptance speech was notable to me for its somber tone. The victory event included no pop songs, confetti, dancing, or balloon drop. The country has a lot of work to do, and you could see that President-elect Obama knows it.

But before we can do that work, we need to heal our divisions. I’m not talking about the divisions resulting from a hard-fought campaign, or those created under the Bush administration. I’m talking about the divisions that have polarized the country over the last 40 years. This polarization has left the major political factions in Washington so opposed to each other that they’d rather block a good idea from the other party than appear to “support the enemy.” I’m talking about the divisions in the country that cause citizens of one political stripe to say that they “hate” those of the other. We can’t get anything done if that fractiousness continues.

Barack Obama is a transformational figure for all the obvious reasons, and he has won a decisive victory. But another thing really struck me about the election results. Let’s look at the situation:

Obama’s opponent shared the party with one of the least popular sitting presidents in history. There is a severe economic crisis going on which most people are worried about it. We’re in the middle of an unpopular war which Obama has taken a stand against. He also drew huge crowds, inspired millions of young people to vote, enjoyed a huge funding advantage, and by all accounts, ran a brilliantly organized campaign.

In the history of US electoral politics, any one or two of those advantages would have translated to a landslide victory. Yesterday it did in the electoral college, but about 47% of the country still voted against him. That’s more than 50 million citizens. It is clear to me that we remain a nation divided. If we want to solve our problems, that must change.

In his acceptance speech, President-elect Obama acknowledged this:

“In this country, we rise or fall as one nation, as one people. Let’s resist the temptation to fall back on the same partisanship and pettiness and immaturity that has poisoned our politics for so long.

Let’s remember that it was a man from this state who first carried the banner of the Republican Party to the White House, a party founded on the values of self-reliance and individual liberty and national unity.

Those are values that we all share. And while the Democratic Party has won a great victory tonight, we do so with a measure of humility and determination to heal the divides that have held back our progress.

As Lincoln said to a nation far more divided than ours, ‘We are not enemies but friends. Though passion may have strained, it must not break our bonds of affection.’

And to those Americans whose support I have yet to earn, I may not have won your vote tonight, but I hear your voices. I need your help. And I will be your president, too.”

This sentiment is not new. Nearly every newly-elected president makes a similar pledge. I am hoping that this time it comes to fruition.

* Update 10-Nov: This site has an inspirational way of starting the process I’m describing.