A true mark of good design is the little details that the user discovers over time that reminds them why they picked your product in the first place.

What made me think of this today was the stop-and-go traffic in the rain. The rain was light enough that I had my wipers on long-delay intermittent. I noticed, at first, that every once in a while the wipers would go an extra time, out of cycle with the pauses. A few more times, and I realized what was happening: if I let off the brake at a full stop, the car would trigger the wipers, regardless of where they were in the intermittent cycle.

The car was purposely ensuring that the windshield was clear when you started moving the car from a dead stop.

This may seem like a small thing, but damn, it’s a nice touch. I have to hand it to the Acura people. It’s been six months now that we’ve had the 2009 TSX, and I’m still telling people how much I love the car.