Heckel’s law: conclusions from the user interface design of a music appliance—the bassoon

In this paper, we look at the user interface of a successful musical appliance. We discover that the user interface is difficult and inconsistent. The appliance is very hard to use, yet, people are willing to spend hundreds of hours learning it. This phenomenon cannot be wholly explained by saying that the experience of using the appliance is, in itself, enjoyable. My proposition (Heckel’s law) is that user interface design is not of primary importance as a factor in the adoption of an appliance.