I don't think I'm a complete idiot, but I'm unable to work out whether on a toilet with two flush buttons, the larger button denotes 'bigger flush' or whether the button is larger to encourage you to press the smaller, water saving option. Experiments have been inconclusive.
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@fesshole
Take the lid off the cistern.
Press one of the buttons.
Note how much the water level dropped.
Note how long it takes to refill.
Press the other button.
Note how much the water level dropped.
Note how long it takes to refill.
Make an informed decision about what each button actually does...
@fesshole I gained such a toilet when moving into a new place, so I lifted the lid of the cistern to look at the cistern. Both buttons connect to the same mechanism in the same place. I think the "standard" and "eco" flush are the same, and it's a greenwash.
@fesshole Checked mine, and as far as I could tell, they were both the same. Thomas Crapper must be turning in his grave...
@fesshole in my experienxe, often the buttons are a facade over one singular button, and both do the exact same thing.
@fesshole you don't press one or the other. You press one or both. 💡
@fesshole I’m glad I’m not the only one who finds dual-button cisterns inscrutable.
@fesshole If only we had some sort of universally understood information conveying pictographic shapes we could ‘write’ into the buttons that one could ‘read’
@fesshole Oh this has been the bane of my peeing for years! There's *no* consistency with how different manufacturers indicate which button is which. Some have a half filled in circle engraved on one button and a fully filled in circle on the other, that's probably one of the clearest designs, but others are just dreadfully confusing as you describe. For example, here's the buttons on my cistern: The left button is half flush, the right full. The clue is that the left button sits a bit lower than the right (what the horizontal ridges on it are supposed to indicate is anyone's guess).
Just label them 1 & 2 ffs! Or engrave one raindrop on one and two on the other, it's really not hard you idiots.
@fesshole I always use the small one. If needed, I press and hold.
@fesshole Take the lid off, push a button, see what it does. Sorted.
@fesshole You are absolutely describing one of the canonical bad UI situations of the modern world. The clash of representational, Vs behavioural semiotics in UI/UX.
*edit* for clarity: Is the bigger slice of the button denoting a bigger flush, or is the bigger button linked to the smaller flush, and its greater surface area is a behavioural nudge to make it more likely / more convenient to use less water.
@fesshole At least on the ones in this house, the smaller button is for the smaller flush
Better to press both to be on the safe side.
@fesshole I always assumed the larger button is the smaller flush, but I could be completely wrong.
@fesshole
New house - we couldn't figure out why there were two buttons on one of the toilets, as they did the same thing. Turns out the buttons you push are just chunks of chrome painted plastic and the real buttons are deeper inside. The old owners had rotated the surface mount 90°, so they were hitting both buttons at once.