First off, this video making the social media rounds is giving folks a quick chuckle:
As you can see, it’s a kid apparently bewildered by seeing a payphone for the first time. From a designer’s perspective, it’s interesting to see him tentatively move the receiver towards his ear; however foreign the device appears, the form of the receiver seems to provide some clue as to its function.
But what about the rest of the phone, or say, a rotary phone? For that we turn to YouTube channel The Fine Bros, which regularly posts videos exposing kids to old technology (or old folks to new technology) to record their confusion. In this one below, they ask kids if they can figure out how to dial a number–and send text messages, in a bit of misdirection–using a rotary phone, and it is nothing short of fascinating. We’ve queued the video to the appropriate part:
Watching it dawn on the kids that text-messaging once did not exist was priceless. But to be fair to them, perhaps the early interface design of a rotary phone is not as intuitive as we old-timers imagine it to be. In fact, when rotary phones were first introduced, adults had to be taught to use them too; the phone companies produced actual training videos for the public.
via Core77
Video of Kids Trying to Figure Out How to Dial a Number, and Send Text Messages, on a Rotary Phone