If the instructions are too long, try, try again...

Here's an oldie-but-goodie, from Mark Hurst's Good Experience blog and "this is broken" Flickr group: instructions for setting the alarm on a hotel room clock (photo by Robert S. Donovan). Now, many designers may complain that usability is an elusive quality, difficult to measure and a somewhat subjective matter. But I'll tell ya right now: if your alarm clock takes 5 detailed steps to set (and step 5 is "repeat steps 3 and 4," for cryin' out loud!), you've failed. Try again.