I like this, but I want a timer with at least 3 timers in it, memory options. I have a digital one from AliExpress, which is quite OK, except the alarm sound is too faint and the memory button UX is awkward.
My microwave timer increases in 5, 10, 30, 60, ... second steps when turning the knob, so basically very similar scheme to this. Works pretty well imho.
With rotary encoders you can also do velocity sensing which could allow convenient coarse/fine adjustment, but for kitchen timer that probably isn't that useful.
I like it, but like the kitchen timer I built a while back with a rotary encoder knob, it doesn't run on batteries forever like most cheap timers. Maybe with AI help I could get that done though. (At least for a digital one, not sure how much power that physical dial uses.)
What about removing the "0" label (which is implicit anyways) and having a label at 10sec instead. That would preserve the pattern that the last label is self-documenting as the increment interval.
If you're not set on analog and want a countertop timer, just get one of these: https://www.thermoworks.com/products/extra-big-loud-timer (though probably on sale soon given the season). It's one of those products that just does exactly what it says on the tin: it's extra big (very easy to operate!) and extra loud (they do mean that one).
Though if you prefer a portable one you can stuff in your pocket they have that too, and it also does just what it says on the tin.
Indeed. For a dial microwave (the pinnacle of UX design IMO) 5-10 seconds is perfect for warming food, but as a kitchen 'egg timer' I unfortunately can't see much utility to small increments.
Hang on, literal egg timing (boiled eggs) requires exact minutes and varies according to how you want your yolk, which in my case also depends on what I am using it for.
This is, on the one hand, a very cool design, but on the other a sad indictment of more-buttons-is-better design in Western appliances. Go to Japan and most microwaves have two dials, one for power, one for time. 99.9% of the time you can get what you want with a twist of the time dial and be halfway through cooking/heating your food while the person with the keypad microwave is still trying to figure out which of the pre-Sumerian glyphs in dark grey on black keys against a black background is the one they need to press.
Microwaves... I personally find something else more annoying, the power output is often regulated by a very crude PWM - so basically if your magnetron is rated for 1 kW, "500W" is effectively 30 seconds on, 30 seconds off, or 15 seconds on, 15 seconds off, 15 seconds on and 15 seconds off. Or whatever ratio the microwave controller uses under the hood.
That's fine if you need something to be in the microwave for a few minutes, but it absolutely sucks if you need something to be close to (or much less than) the period time... it's completely random and depending where the prior usage started, how much active time your ingredients experience.
Like the author, I've also found there are no great kitchen timers. I've had some ovens in the past that do an OK job, but my current one is terrible. I've been using a clockwork one for the past few years, but it does have the noted shortcoming of only ringing once.
The quasi-logarithmic idea is a good one. I would buy a simple one that just has a dial. No button required. But I agree with the other commenter that the 0-60 part would be quite useless for a kitchen timer. Better to have more resolution in the commonly used 0-30 minute range.
With rotary encoders you can also do velocity sensing which could allow convenient coarse/fine adjustment, but for kitchen timer that probably isn't that useful.
Though if you prefer a portable one you can stuff in your pocket they have that too, and it also does just what it says on the tin.
That's fine if you need something to be in the microwave for a few minutes, but it absolutely sucks if you need something to be close to (or much less than) the period time... it's completely random and depending where the prior usage started, how much active time your ingredients experience.
The quasi-logarithmic idea is a good one. I would buy a simple one that just has a dial. No button required. But I agree with the other commenter that the 0-60 part would be quite useless for a kitchen timer. Better to have more resolution in the commonly used 0-30 minute range.