The UX of Socks

Today, I counted 9 unmatched socks.  That’s 9 worthless socks.  The problem is a UX one.  They all look different.  Because they all look different, if I lose one of the pair, I can’t match it up with another “same” sock.  I appreciate socks that are colorful and let me express myself, but I also want socks to match.  I feel like a spaz wearing unmatched socks.  Just sell me the damn 3-pack and they are all exactly the same.

Go into any store and look at the men’s causal socks.  Look at this example of a 3-pair of socks.  Notice the picture.

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Two are the same and one is different.  Why do I need socks that look different from each other?  It only makes it so I can’t match them together when one (inevitably) disappears.  I hate this. I don’t know why it does, but it does.

 

socks


Comments

2 responses to “The UX of Socks”

  1. yamikuronue Avatar
    yamikuronue

    If matching is your biggest concern, buy only two colors: all white for casual use and all black for formal/business dress codes. Done.

    Patterned socks are purchased in order to be fashionable. It is not fashionable to wear identical socks every day. Therefore, if all 3-packs had three identical pairs, a fashion-savvy buyer would have to buy 5 packages of socks for 5 days — 15 pairs when 5 would do. Therefore, 3- and 5-packs where all the pairs are different sprung up in order to minimize the amount of socks needed to get through the work week.

  2. Thomas Quaile Avatar
    Thomas Quaile

    I always buy the same exact socks. Gold Toe Metropolitan over the calf in black or brown. I know very boring, however they always match based on color alone. In the dark I sometimes mix up black and brown, but for the most part it works pretty well. However, sometimes in their infinite wisdom Gold Toe changes the weave around some, probably to produce them cheaper but for the most part this system works pretty well.

Whatya think?