User Centered

Movie theater concessions exist in a closed system, (...unless you've snuck something in to avoid the high costs) meaning you know what all the variables are as far as what will be purchased, and exactly where it will be consumed. It would then seem it's fairly simple to design a system that works well for the user given these constraints.

How is it then, that the movie theater operators would introduce into "the system" something that, literally, just doesn't fit? In this case, it's a cup that is too large for the cup holders. You can see here the bottom of the cup barely squeezing into the cup holder ring. I think it's worse that the cup almost fits in there- it gave me just enough hope that I might have enough time to "perch" it there long enough to sit down and get situated. Of course, it fell.

When the first shipment of cups arrived at the theatre, how hard would it have been for someone to take the largest cup and try it out in the cup holder? Why would you possibly frustrate the user like this when it's perfectly avoidable? I think it's clear what size drink I wouldn't have chosen if I would have known about this.