The ‘A Bit More’ button on the Breville Professional 800 Collection 4-slice Toaster

Summary

The Breville Professional 800 Collection 4-slice Toaster features an "A Bit More" button, praised for its intuitive functionality and conversational, domestic-centric naming that reflects careful observation of everyday toasting habits.

Abstract

The "A Bit More" button on the Breville Professional 800 Collection 4-slice Toaster is celebrated for its thoughtful design that extends beyond mere functionality. The button's name, which could have been a generic engineering term, is instead a colloquial phrase that resonates with the user's everyday language and experiences. This choice exemplifies the importance of good copy in design, distinguishing exceptional designers from the average. The toaster's design, including the "Lift and Look" and "Crumpet" buttons, is commended for its simplicity and the human touch it brings to interaction design. The article positions this toaster as an example of everyday interaction design classics, alongside other notable designs like the Voice-O-Graph progress bar and the Grand Theft Auto pink arrow.

Opinions

The "A Bit More" button is appreciated for its user-centric design, which reflects a deep understanding of the user's habits and language.
The name of the button is seen as a humorous and appropriate choice for its context, adding a touch of humanity and wit to the product.
Good copywriting is considered a key differentiator between good and average designers, with the toaster's button names serving as an example of deft design.
The "Lift and Look" button is acknowledged for its clarity but is considered less remarkable than the "A Bit More" button in terms of personality and charm.
The presence of a "Crumpet" button appeals to a specific demographic, in this case, the Englishman, showing attention to cultural details in design.
Breville is praised for the overall design of the toaster, suggesting that thoughtful design can elevate even mundane household appliances.

Everyday Interaction Design Classics #3

What I love about the ‘A Bit More’ button on this toaster is not just the functionality, though that’s clearly come some from careful observation of everyday habits, but the name. It could so easily have been called ‘Power boost’ or ‘Toast+’ or ‘Extend’, or something else unthinkingly derived from an engineering- or technology-led process.

But no. The button is simply marked ‘A Bit More’. Because that’s what it does, and also because it has a touch of the conversational, domestic, familial, colloquial. Entirely appropriate for its context. And it’s funny, in a gently everyday way.

That choice of name — and the function, and its simple realisation in a sturdy button with a good action — is a deft bit of design, and for me, the ability to produce deft, including through good copy, is one of the key differentiating factors setting apart good designers from average.

The ‘Lift and Look’ button isn’t bad either — equally self-explanatory, but it doesn’t quite have the essential humanity and wit of a phrase like ‘A Bit More’ applied to a button. (I quite like that it has a button marked ‘Crumpet’ too, but that’s just the Englishman in me.) Well done Breville.

Elsewhere, on Everyday Interaction Design Classics

#1 The ‘progress bar’ on the Voice-O-Graph in ‘Badlands’
#2 The big pink arrow from ‘Grand Theft Auto’
#3 The ‘A Bit More’ button on the Breville Professional 800 Collection 4-slice Toaster
#4: The Melnikov House intercom system
#5: Alan Partridge’s Rover 200 fascia control system

This post was first published at cityofsound.com, on 25 July 2010.