Help me with my paper! :)

Hi, boys! (Ladies too )

This is Hiaboo's girlfriend asking for a little help from fellow Jeep owners. I am currently studying Normanism (if you don't know what I mean, check out The Design of Everyday Things by Donald Norman - basically a study on badly designed things and why) in my HCI class and I chose his Jeep's door locking mechanism as my paper topic.

When you insert the key in his 1994 XJ and turn it clockwise, the door unlocks, and counter-clockwise locks the door. This goes against what Norman calls a "mental model", since on most doors you turn the key away from the doorframe to unlock it (the bolt will be pulled into the door, away from the frame, right?), not the other way around like the XJ does.

Anyway, enough technicalities. Obviously, for any paper you must have research to corroborate your facts, so I humbly ask that you please post what year your XJ is and which direction you turn the key to unlock the doors. If you have any Jeeps other than XJ's, or even any other car, would you post model, year, and which way the key unlocks? The more research I have, the better.

I thank you for any help you can give me

93 2 door counter clockwise then clockwise. takes a few tries but it works

2001 XJ: No idea - I always use the remote to unlock the doors. Had the thing for almost eight months and I don't think I've actually unlocked it by hand yet. I should probably do that one day to make sure the locks actually work.

1989 Peugeot 405 Mi16 - Clockwise to close, counter-clockwise to open. Note that the motion is the same on the passenger side, so the 'turn it towards the pillar to close' rule doesn't hold up from side to side.

These are for the drivers door, the passenger doors are opposite.

1996 XJ: CCW to lock CW to unlock
1987 XJ: CCW to lock CW to unlock

1980 MGB: CW to lock, CCW to unlock.

If you look at where the latches are with respect to the key hole, it makes sence. The XJs are located below the key hole, the MG's is above. In both you are effectively pushing the nearest edge of the key toward the latch to lock. I could probably write this description clearer if I had more time. Hope it makes sence as is.

-Copperhead

1989 XJ, .. It has locks? Dont know, I dont use them...

Greg Smith Power door locks writeup (request was posted by Xjeeper back in april), also mentions a problem with electrical locks in jeeps..loss of voltage and what-not, if you want to hit the subject from another angle.

I never paid that much attention, but it's true, they're all over the map:

95 XJ is CW-unlock on left, CCW-unlock on right, and CCW-unlock on tailgate.

Both my old Mercedes (72 and 78) are CCW-unlock on left, CW-unlock on right, and CCW unlock on trunk. Unlike some vehicles, these have a trunk button, so the trunk can be left unlocked.

95 Honda Civic is CW unlock on left, CCW on right, CW open on trunk (no unlocked position).

88 chevy truck is CW unlock on left, CCW unlock on right.


And for your next assignment, how about gas cap placement? Or headlight switch placement?