User experience and the Nespresso coffee machine

I love the Nespresso coffee system. In fact, Nespresso almost does for coffee what Apple does for electronics and digital. Elegant, well-designed coffee makers, combined with a convenient and clean capsule system, and supported by a fast, online ordering system results in a great user experience, and a near-perfect coffee every time.

But, as with all things, there's still room for improvement.

Frequently, in our three-year-old "Cube" coffee maker, the previously-used capsule remains stuck in the capsule chamber. About the only way we've seen to get it out, is to start the coffee process, and open the chamber while the high-pressure water is flowing, which usually results in the old capsule being ejected and cleared away.

Sometimes, though, we put in a new capsule without having noticed that the previous capsule is stuck. At this point, you can't close the chamber. Removing the new capsule involves removing the used-capsule container, and with a finger inserted from beneath, trying to pop the new capsule out the top (and catching it in the air before it falls back in!)

Hopefully, Nespresso will solve these problems in their future models.