This video showcases a US Postal Service system that was developed in the 90s; it’s still going strong:

It’s easy to find all sorts of problems with this system. Users need to undergo weeks of training (many of which won’t make the cut). It’s also not the most delightful UI to look at all day. However, one of the top comments on the video from a former user provides a different view:

…once you learn the rules, applying them becomes automatic and extremely fast. It’s a fun job for the right person.

Farrah Upson

So, while there’s plenty of room for improvement here, but it works pretty well. Something to remember for those of us charged with replacing and improving on these types of systems that were developed 20 or 30 years ago. Don’t assume it’s all terrible by judging the UI based on today’s standards, make sure the good parts aren’t missing from the new and improved system.

via Core77

This is somewhat related to the suburb subsidization video I posted earlier since suburbs require cars.

To really get an understanding of how hopeless traffic management is without jumping in a car, check out Martin Treiber’s interactive traffic simulation.

No matter what I do, aside from taking cars off the road, I end up with a huge traffic jam. I’d blame my lack of traffic management skills, but my experience with driving in the real world tells me otherwise.

via Flowingdata