Cream jugs should be simple to design, right? You need a handle and spout, maybe an insulated body to keep the cream or milk cool and fresh, a cap to stop stuff getting in there, like maybe flies, and, finally, a label on the side to identify the contents. Easy, right? WRONG! Starbucks need a design consultant to advise them on how to provide things without annoying people. Sure, I am a whiner, I enjoy whining, it is what I do, and so I am sensitive to the so-called designers who continually screw up things I am subjected to, and thus annoy me. But, I mean, a coffee cream jug? What could be simpler. Well, for the Starbucks design morons, presumably a coffee cream jug is too high-tech to warrant their attention.
Now, Imagine this. I am at a Starbucks for the first time, and have no idea of the protocol, and so I have an overfilled coffee in my hand, and have moved over to the little desk thing where they force me to add my own sugar and cream instead of just serving me with it at the counter. On the right-hand side are jugs, on the left-hand side is sugar (more about that later!)All the jugs have the handles facing towards me, so I go to grab one, only to have another customer advise me that it is half-and-half, and not cream. She points to the label, which is on the side of the jug, simple right? I should have looked, right? I appreciated her assistance. Certainly I could read the label after turning the jug around a bit. But, here's the problem. Now, I know that some of you will groan here, and accuse me of being too picky, but just remember, it is picky people like me that make air travel safer, and who eventually will get the donuts in Tim Hortons coffee shops across Canada covered to stop the files crawling over the food. Anyway, back to Starbucks..... Ok, so, here is the problem: Most people are right-handed. I happen to be left-handed, but have accepted that most people are right-handed, especially the type of introverts who become design morons. So, if a jug is on a shelf, and I suspect that it might have a label on it to inform of the contents, then, having lived in this right-handed world for over 60 years, I will assume that if the handle is facing me, then the label will be on the left side, so that as I take the jug with my right hand, and bring it towards me, the label will then be facing me. Makes sense right? Not at Starbucks. They have a better idea. They put the jugs at the right-hand side of the desk thingy, forcing customers to use their right hand to reach for the jug. But, they put the identification labels on the other side, so that as you bring the jug towards yourself, you cannot see what the contents are. Now, if the jugs were stored on the left side of the desk thingy, all would be well, as everyone would be forced to use their left hand to pick up the jug, and thus, the label would then face the user.
Or, they could just give more consideration to their customers, and put the darn sugar and cream in at the counter where the serving takes place.

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