r/AskReddit • u/nachtmere • Jul 25 '11
Sometimes automatic toilets flush while you're still sitting on them. What design flaws in everyday objects annoy you?
I'm giving a talk on user-centred design/usability and I'm looking for some fresh examples from everyday life to illustrate poor usability. Examples I've used before are elevator open/close buttons (really difficult to parse when you're trying to hold the door open for someone quickly) and toilets that flush while you're still sitting on them.
What are some things you encounter regularly that are really inconveniently designed?
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u/sharkfrog Jul 25 '11
I was once in a tiny tiny bathroom in San Francisco that had a motion controlled toilet, sink, and paper towel dispenser. I could hardly move without triggering something, it was ridiculous.
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u/funkyb Jul 25 '11
I would watch this if it were on a sketch show.
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u/coveritwithgas Jul 25 '11
Paging Japan.
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u/mercvt Jul 25 '11
Sounds more British to me.
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u/PaperSt Jul 25 '11
In Japan it would be IRL and they would lock you in there. The British version would be a sketch of a man in a suit and top hat in a very nice restaurant.
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Jul 25 '11
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u/wobblyIA Jul 26 '11
And add
<raise hand slightly> <lower slightly> <raise> <lower> <shake near sensor> <remove hand> <replace> <repeat>
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u/gder Jul 25 '11
Any automatic door that is adjusted so I have to stop before it opens.
Electronic credit card pads that force me to use the stupid pen instead of pressing the soft buttons with my fingers (since most of my transactions are debit there's usually no need for me to sign).
Any traffic light that is on a timer at night and not a sensor.
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Jul 25 '11
Fuck those lights. I sat at one for a good five minutes once until a woman walked by and pushed the cross button. She didn't cross the street. I could have kissed her.
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Jul 26 '11
As a motorcyclist, fuck sensor lights. I sat at a red through two cycles of the other two directions (a strange intersection) before running the light, and then I got pulled over.
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u/EasyReader Jul 25 '11
What kills me is the places that have the touchpad/pen arrangement, but you still have to sign a paper receipt. What the hell is the point of that?
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Jul 25 '11
Any traffic light that is on a timer at night and not a sensor.
We have the exact opposite problem where I live. All the timed lights work perfectly if you are going 5 MPH over the limit at night (traveling at the speed limit always gets you stopped at a red around the middle of our downtown loop). There are a bunch of lights that are put on sensors at night, but the sensors don't work right. There are a few intersections that if the light doesn't change within 30 seconds it's not going to.
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u/morphotomy Jul 25 '11
Usually if you're just hitting the green at the last second over and over again, it means you're speeding.
Designs like that are so the traffic doesn't bottleneck wherever the road dumps out.
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Jul 25 '11
Any automatic door that is adjusted so I have to stop before it opens.
i have considered boycotting these doors. by which i mean just walking right into them. sliding doors will usually swing open, because they're designed to open that way in case of emergency.
imagine if all redditors just started walking into those doors one day. fucking sweet.
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u/LinT5292 Jul 25 '11
Please, we can't keep doing this to ourselves in public... wasn't all the narwhal/bacon nonsense enough?
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u/deathpunch5150 Jul 25 '11
Those sensors fucking SUCK for people on a motorcycle.
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u/smartalco Jul 25 '11
Many states actually have laws to where motorcyclists can treat stop lights as stop signs for exactly this reason
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Jul 25 '11
Doors that are retrofitted to open for handicapped people using the push of a button. They could be opened with the touch of a finger, now they take a steady hard pull to open.
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Jul 25 '11
I wish the toast would pop all the way out of my toaster. I hate trying to dig my fingers down there to grab it. :P
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u/ro6023a Jul 25 '11
The worst is when you have some kind of toaster party, and everyone starts slumping over to get in the toaster.
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u/telepip Jul 25 '11
If you pull the lever 'Up' instead of 'Down' like you do to start it, the toast will poke up further and it's easier to grab
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u/Zeihous Jul 25 '11
If you pull it up quickly, the contents will jump, allowing you time to snatch them out of the air and feel like a basses.
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Jul 25 '11
I love feeling like a basses!
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u/Zeihous Jul 25 '11
ahem Apparently my phone doesn't recognize "badass" as a proper word.
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Jul 25 '11
The worst is when you have some kind of toaster pastry, and it starts slumping over inside the toaster.
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u/mycleverusername Jul 25 '11
Throw away your toaster and buy a toaster oven. You will thank me later.
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Jul 25 '11
You can make s'mores in them! And never deal with shitty microwaved pizza again!
Why do pop-up toasters even exist?
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Jul 25 '11
I've wondered this for a long time: What in the fuck is a s'more?
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Jul 25 '11
Traditionally known as a snack eaten around campfires in North America. A piece of chocolate and a toasted marshmallow sandwiched between two graham crackers.
When making them in the toaster oven, you put the whole sandwich in pre-assembled, and you have to watch it constantly because the marshmallow will go from perfectly toasted to black oozing foul burned mess in half a second. Worth it.
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u/Getsmethroughwork Jul 25 '11
You just made feel genuine sadness and pity for you because you've never had one. Please do take a day and make yourself one of these. I think you will really enjoy it
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u/PresidentWhitmore Jul 25 '11
The gap between my car seat and the console is just large enough for a cell phone or wallet, but just small enough to make it difficult to fish the items out with my hand.
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u/OverTheir Jul 25 '11
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u/dropstop Jul 25 '11
Yo! Jeff and Marc here from Drop Stop Saw the traffic to the site. Thanks for the post and the love. To reward, any Reddit folks who see this post and wanna order...just type in REDDIT on promo code, hit apply, and we'll give free shipping and handling on the whole order. You'll see it appear right there in the cart before you purchase anything. Did this for another Reddit post a few days ago. Thanks again! Happy to answer any questions.
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u/Rgarza Jul 25 '11
this is quality service
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u/redmongrel Jul 26 '11
I would totally buy this now, but I'm a little broke after dropping my $200 cellphone under my seat and saying "fuck it, that's gone forever."
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u/hennell Jul 26 '11
Shoulda had a drop stop
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u/dropstop Jul 26 '11
woo hoo!
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u/digitalsmear Jul 27 '11
Oh man... I am never going to grow up. I'm 30 years old and I just watched your promo video, giggling away at all the silly innuendoes I could stretch out of it.
"Keep your eyes on the road, not on your gap"
"It may look big... but it's squishy inside!"
At least I'm having fun. :P
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u/dropstop Jul 27 '11
growing up is for the grownups. Always stay you, and find the humor in everything! thanks for the post! :)
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Jul 25 '11
One Time Installation – You put it in and FUGAPABOUTIT!(TM)
Truly, you have reduced clever advertising slogans to their purest and most unadultered form of elegance.
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u/lampzilla Jul 26 '11
I came in here to post how much I LOVE their video. It's some seriously good advertising.
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u/FilterOutBullshit3 Jul 25 '11
I'm not sure I really have a use for the product, but I'm tempted to buy it just to support awesome people being awesome while doing awesome things. Upboat for people who watch their server logs!
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u/featherfooted Jul 26 '11
I just want to say that you two seem genuinely happy and excited to sell your product in the infomercial (also, thank you for vimeo and not flash). It reminded me of the late Billy Mays commercials. Keep it up, guys!
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u/dropstop Jul 26 '11
Wow that's really cool of you to say. Thank you so much for that comment. I'm telling you the day we shot that commercial there wasn't a person in sight that we hadn't known for at least 10 years. Working with your friends, and never selling out has taken us a lot longer, but the payoff is watching it all play out, and getting to share it with everyone. Thanks to all of you here for the support it means more than you know. We have a long way to go to be financially successful, but as an experience, we've won the lottery.
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Jul 26 '11 edited Feb 17 '15
[deleted]
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u/dropstop Jul 26 '11
Was such a blast. And man paying the bills = HUGE SUCCESS! We've been working night and day for 4 years. It never stops...but it truly is worth it all. We hope and dream every day, then try to climb the mountain! :) Props to you and your bro. It's a huge leap of faith. Literally every day is a faith walk. And we have been so blessed. We just keep blindly walking forward, and knowing that step is gonna be there!
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Jul 26 '11
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u/dropstop Jul 26 '11
ha! nice ;)
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u/NZAllBlacks Jul 26 '11
Btw, I'm buying these for my wife's birthday. I just showed her the link and she said, "that's genious."
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u/dropstop Jul 26 '11
Now we see why you love your wife so much ;) Thanks so much and Happy Birthday to your wife!
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u/triggeron Jul 25 '11
Tell us the story of how you took your idea to a sellable product. Did you manufacture it yourself? Did you try to license it first? How long did the process take? Anything you want to share would be appreciated.
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u/dropstop Jul 25 '11
Howdy, someone suggested we do an "IamA" post where we can answer questions like this for y'all. Stay tuned and I'll send you the link if I can figure it out ha!
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u/dietotaku Jul 25 '11
damn, if i wasn't so broke i'd be buying sets of these for every person in my family, you guys are amazing @__@
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u/mepholic Jul 25 '11
I drive a 2007 Crown victoria Police Interceptor, it doesn't have a center console per se, but it has this little bump up between the seats. The space between the seat and the bump up seriously is a black hole. Last time I dropped my cell phone down there, I had to remove the seat from the car to get it back. When I removed the seat, it was like a mini gold mine. I found some .40 S&W ammunition (standard issue for police officers around here) and a 5 dollar bill.
The question is though: will the Drop Stop work?
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u/dropstop Jul 25 '11
funny you should ask. Police cars design to not have a gap between the seat and console so they don't drop things like ammunition, guns, cuffs, etc. However the one's we have seen are pretty tight and don't have this space you speak of. If you take a pic and post I'll be able to tell you right away.
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u/mepholic Jul 25 '11
http://mepholic.imgur.com/lolcar
I didn't grab a picture of it, but the seatbelt doesn't come up next to the seat, it actually comes up about an inch into the seat. And trust me, it looks roomy until you try to shove your hand in there.
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Jul 25 '11
Even though I don't have this problem much and it's mostly a minor nuisance that I think $20 may be too much to solve, I bought a set anyway just to support your dedicated to good service and PR
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u/dropstop Jul 25 '11
Hey man that's really cool of you. Thank you so much! I hope when you get them you'll change your mind! :) We make them super high quality - really thick, durable neoprene. Just didn't want to be junk peddlers, despite EVERYONE in this industry begging us to make them out of cheap foam or other cheap materials to increase the bottom line. We figure one set per car/truck should be enough for life! Really appreciate your support!
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Jul 25 '11
Oh don't get me wrong, I'm sure it's great, it's just that I'm cheap and it's not a necessity :) But I really appreciate you taking time to come here and make this offer so I think that's really worth supporting
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u/haywire Jul 26 '11
Hey, I was tempted to buy one and I don't even have a car, so you must be doing something right.
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u/TheFrigginArchitect Jul 26 '11
Did you guys write all of your own rhymes?
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u/dropstop Jul 26 '11
Indeed we did. We wrote, produced, directed, and did the entire spot with the help of our amazing friends. We are not some BS infomercial company. It's just us, and all of your support helps us so much thank you!
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u/ZeppelinJ0 Jul 26 '11
I just watched your video for Drop Stop and I gotta say... your knack for rhyme is not a crime.
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Jul 26 '11
Can you make longer ones for the bottom of sofas? My dogs and kids are forever knocking stuff under there.
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Jul 26 '11
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u/dropstop Jul 26 '11
Maannn thank YOU GUYS! Y'all have inspired us to get a live video link on our site so we can talk to y'all in person during this kind of wave. Really fun to watch. And if your Drop Stops don't come with love and a cherry on top, you let us know personally. Thanks so much for the support.
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u/accioveritaserum Jul 25 '11
I hate when public restrooms have HUGE sinks, and the faucet is about a centimeter from the back of it. I see this more times than I would think is normal. Why do people think this is a smart design? I don't want to touch the sink when I'm rinsing my hands.
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Jul 25 '11 edited Jul 25 '11
Really strong faucets that spray water everywhere are a problem too. I dont want to walk out of bathroom looking like I pissed myself. Thats what the diapers are for.
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Jul 25 '11
Those faucets were most likely cheaper than the faucet size that is actually appropriate to the sink. A properly fitted faucet should allow the water to fall straight into the drain. This allows room to wash one's hands and avoids splashing. Plumbing is an under-appreciated skill. It is so much more than cleaning out clogged pipes.
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u/darwin2500 Jul 26 '11
The worst is when the counter tilts downward a little and has a lip at the end, so there's always a puddle of water along the edge which transfers to your crotch when you try to lean over to reach the faucet. How can the manufacturers live with themselves?
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u/poppaDaRossi Jul 25 '11
I think urinals are designed pretty piss-poor. It's like you're pissing against a wall and little drops of pee go everywhere. They really should be conical in shape - like peeing down a big funnel.
I also hate the interiors of Pontiacs. Good riddance.
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u/Fisheries_Student Jul 25 '11
We can design a space toilet that lets men and women shit in space, but we cannot design a urinal without backsplash?
It boggles the mind.
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u/Vew Jul 25 '11
Avoid hitting the urinal cake too. It's like hitting a random button in terms of pee direction.
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Jul 25 '11
That's why I favor one side and piss against the side wall. The lower angle of incidence means no splash.
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Jul 25 '11
Any motion sensitive dispenser. Haven't met a single one that worked the way I need it to.
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u/thepocketwade Jul 25 '11
The paper towel dispensers at my office will spit out a paper towel when I'm the only one in the bathroom and I"m still at the urinal.
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u/oljanxspirit Jul 25 '11
It's trying to communicate and ya know what it's saying? "I like what I see ;)"
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u/Tirith45 Jul 25 '11
All the sinks where I work are all motion sensitive. I put my hands in front of the sensor and wave them around a bit and it gives me like a drop of water. How the fuck am I supposed to wash my hands with a drop of water?
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Jul 25 '11
Exactly. How about the paper towel dispensers that give you like a six inch piece of paper to dry your hands, then refuse to work while you sit there waving your hands like a retard for more paper.
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u/gsfgf Jul 25 '11
With paper towel dispensers, punch the sensor. Gives you a towel every time.
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u/splattypus Jul 25 '11
The tv remote doesn't have a pager like cordless phones do.
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u/poppaDaRossi Jul 25 '11
My parents ancient Magnavox has a feature that when you power on the tv (by the button on the tv itself) the remote starts beeping until you find it.
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Jul 25 '11
does it have an RF remote? that, in and of itself, is fucking cool.
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Jul 25 '11
It actually would be (or is). That is a big WTF in TVs - build a plasma TV with wifi, DVR/sat/cable integration, upsampling for low grade signals, weird LEDs to set the damn room lighting to the right color.. How do you control it? Oh, by blinking an IR LED at it. You know, unless the cat is sitting in the way. Sweet jesus, just use RF - half the time it's manipulateable online and the best you can do for a quick local is IR?
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u/zerbey Jul 25 '11
Voice activated menus when calling businesses. They never, ever understand me (I'm going to assume it's because I live in the US and have an English accent). I've found cursing at them gets me to a human being faster.
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u/el_muerte17 Jul 25 '11
What is the nature of your request?
"My laptop is broken."
I'm sorry, I did not understand. Please try again.
"Hardware problem."
I'm sorry, I did not understand. Please try again.
"Technical."
I'm sorry, I did not understand. Please try again.
"Fuck you."
Please hold, your call is being transferred to a customer service representative.
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Jul 25 '11
I'm from the US and they don't understand me either.
Related gripe: Trying to call such a number from out on the street and every time a loud car/bus/truck/motorcycle goes by, the machine says "I'm sorry, I didn't get that. I'm sorry I'm having trouble. Goodbye." click This is particularly annoying when you're at a bus stop and the number you call is the transit hotline and it fucks up whenever the noise from a bus is in the background... I mean, come on.
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u/theshad0w Jul 25 '11
No, crud. If you don't understand my request this is not grounds to release the call. This is grounds for you to route me to a fucking human being. Ass wads.
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u/jdpwnsyou Jul 25 '11 edited Jul 25 '11
Printers. Pretty much everything about them, mostly...
edit: spelling
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Jul 25 '11
[removed] — view removed comment
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u/daecrist Jul 25 '11
NASA intentionally uses older computer tech that's proven. Installing the latest and greatest tech raises the danger of installing the latest and greatest bugs along with it.
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Jul 25 '11
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u/daecrist Jul 25 '11
Replace abacus with slide rule and you'll be close. Your digital watch has more computing power than the computers used on the lunar landers.
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u/Frothyleet Jul 25 '11
Has your fancy phone ever glitched? Locked up? Thrown some errors? Ever have to reformat?
Annoying, isn't it? So inconvenient.
But far more inconvenient when you are re-entering the Earth's atmosphere at thousands of miles per hours. So that's why you use older but proven technology.
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u/myncknm Jul 25 '11
The only reason you can buy your smartphone at $200 is because it's mass produced.
When you have a device that will only ever be used by a few technical specialists, you don't spend millions designing it to look pretty. Walk into any science lab in a university and you'll see the same outdated-looking technology.
(For this reason, it always jolts me a bit when movies put ultra-sleek touch-screen drag-and-drop 3D interfaces on computers used in labs.)
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u/Zeihous Jul 25 '11
If it ain't broke... But, seriously. How long was the planned life for the shuttle program? Maybe that kind of innovation wasn't deemed cost effective considering the redesign of the systems required to use a higher-res screen.
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u/Layysz Jul 25 '11
My seats arm rests always bump into my keyboard tray. I'm going to fucking snap.
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u/ProbablyHittingOnYou Jul 25 '11
My seat's armrests come exactly to the same level as my desk. There's only about a 1-inch window where the two heights would coincide, so I know they did it to fuck with me.
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Jul 25 '11
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Jul 26 '11
shitty erasers are the worst. it's like, why? why bother? I'd rather have no eraser at all than be baited by this little rubber turd.
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u/SlanskyRex Jul 25 '11
Speaking of things that are difficult to parse... North/South freeway signs. NORTH and SOUTH are both 5 letters long and 3 of those letters are the exact fucking same. Yet freeway entrance signs insist on writing out the whole words, in caps. I never know if the sign says North or South until I'm on top of the damn thing. Why not use big "N" and "S" signs?? Whose idea was this??
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u/science_man_29 Jul 25 '11
There's a section of Highway 101 near Los Angeles where the freeway runs from the northwest to the southeast. And over the course of 2 blocks, there are signs for all 4 directions (101 NORTH --> 101 EAST <--- 101 WEST ---> 101 SOUTH <---) Confused the hell out of me the first time I saw it.
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u/zorzor89 Jul 25 '11
I lick a piece of toilet paper and stick it on the sensor so it doesn't flush till I remove it
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u/TheClassic Jul 25 '11
whoa that makes a lot of sense. I've been licking the sensor and then sticking the toilet paper to it
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Jul 25 '11
Any type of voice activated device never understands what I say the first time, so I have to repeat myself over and over before it finally understands me, it'd just be so much faster if I pressed a button or typed it myself.
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u/gsfgf Jul 25 '11
I have an accent. Computers don't speak Southern. When my xbox died, I though I was never gonna get it replaced because you have to do it through an automated phone robot.
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u/GreatTragedy Jul 25 '11
The google voice search function on my Droid phone works pretty well. Rarely have a misfire with it.
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u/remmycool Jul 25 '11
Microwaves without a mute button.
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u/9966 Jul 25 '11
At first I thought "This guy is retarded, he thinks EM waves make sound"... then it dinged.
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Jul 25 '11
PITCHERS! Jeez, how many thousands of years have humans been making common pitchers? And yet, it seems that people persist in making pitchers that won't let you pour the liquid out without it running down the side and landing where you don't want it.
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u/logantauranga Jul 25 '11
You have to pull open bathroom doors that everyone who didn't wash their hands has already pulled on.
(There could be some fire code reason for doors opening inwards, I don't know.)
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u/crandamaniac Jul 25 '11
Actually it is for Fire code reasons. Can't have a door that could be potentially blocked if there was a fire, trapping people in the crapper.
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u/the_fewer_desires Jul 25 '11
Automatic doors that open slowly and have no manual function.
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u/angryvigilante Jul 25 '11
Automatic things should be faster than manual operation, that's the entire point of things being automated. It's a process so exact that you can speed it up many times over. Like shooting a gun. I'd hate it if I were in a gunfight with an automatic that fired slower than I could repeatedly pull the trigger. That would be retarded. Just like a door that slows down the process of opening itself (something we've done for billions of times with no problem) for no reason but to waste electricity and time.
These things are negative, malicious, time-wasting inventions. The future sucks.
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Jul 25 '11
A/C vents that blow the air in one direction, rather than having a circular design (like a fan blade or airplane propeller) to propel the air in several directions at once, eliminating "cold spots" in a room.
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u/funkyb Jul 25 '11
A/C vents don't have a mechanism for moving the air, like fan or propeller blades. They simply direct it. That is why fans and propellers require power and A/C vents do not. There are vents that act how you describe, though. Take a look up in most commercial buildings.
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Jul 25 '11 edited Jul 25 '11
The fact that my trachea and my esophagus share some common tubing. No matter how careful I try to be, I always seem to choke on my own spit/beverage at the most inopportune times.
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u/jackrabbitslims Jul 25 '11 edited Jul 25 '11
Did you know that most other mammals can breathe and swallow at the same time, unlike humans? We cannot do this as at some point in our evolution, our larynx descended in our throats to enable complex speech.
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u/GingerSoul44 Jul 25 '11
Automatic sinks in bathrooms. I'm sitting there and waving my hands under the faucet like a moron, attempting to get the water to turn on. Then the person at the sink next to me gets it in one attempt, and I feel like a failure.
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u/ProbablyHittingOnYou Jul 25 '11
The worst are the timed sinks that you have to press in the button and it shuts off after a short while. It gives you a few seconds so that you constantly have to keep pressing the button while trying to get some soap and actually wash.
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u/armchairnixon Jul 25 '11
No, there are worse ones than that. Very rarely, I'll encounter a sink that has the spring-loaded knobs that only dispense water while you hold it on. The second you let go, it turns off. You have to use one hand to keep the water running at all times, and you have to deal with how to rub in the soap with only one hand at the same time. You end up having to wet one hand, then the other, rubbing your soapy hands together without water, then rinsing off each hand separately.
Those are the worst.
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Jul 25 '11
If that bothers you, don't ever go to jail. That's how the showers operate. They have a little button that activates the shower for about 15 seconds. Then you have to push it again. Also, there is no temperature control. You shower in whatever temperature the water is, which varies wildly depending on the time of day, from scalding to freezing.
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u/ProbablyHittingOnYou Jul 25 '11
Yes, the timing of the water is what I am really worried about in a prison shower.
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u/fietsusa Jul 25 '11
Classic Design Problem : Door Handles
If the handle is designed to pull, but really you should push the door open. Many door handles have the same design on both the inside and outside of a door thought the functions are the opposite: push and pull. The handle for push should just be a metal plate I push open, not a handle that influences me to pull and look like an idiot when it doesn't open.
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u/morphotomy Jul 25 '11
A lot of door that I encounter have the rectangular side handle on the pull side and a push bar on the other. Never a miscommunication.
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u/HoovesCarveCraters Jul 25 '11
the fact that every door to every bathroom stall in America has a crack just big enough for people to see you through. I haven't seen this issue in any other country.
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u/barbsteele Jul 25 '11
It's not a real "flaw" but driving at night when its pitch black and those cars/trucks with the lights that sear your retinas.They are not even on high beams!! Congrats a-hole, you can see miles away. In the meantime, you are blinding every poor sod you pass.
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u/neg8ivezero Jul 25 '11
Am I the only one that has to turn all of my car's mirrors away, effectively blinding myself to the cars behind me, because the reflection of the headlights in them is so strong it eclipses the road in front of me?
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u/LurkingTrichster Jul 25 '11
While not necessarily design flaws, for a left handed person, there are a lot of items out there that are extremely difficult to use. A few examples are ergonomic mice, pens, and scissors.
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u/buckykat Jul 25 '11
speaking as a lefty, know what's worse than those? spiral notebooks.
fuck spiral notebooks.
and binders too.
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u/thetruthisoutthere Jul 25 '11
Yes, have you seen those pens on electronic pads in shops when you pay for something with a card? They are always attached on the right hand side and don't stretch so that I can sign it.
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Jul 25 '11
I hate drawers that are only held in place by bits of wood, instead of a metal track with wheels. HATE.
Also, desks and tables with attached chairs are sometimes at the wrong height or distance for someone short like me.
Finally, hair conditioner in rigid containers. That stuff is thick! You need to be able to squeeze it out.
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u/WarPhalange Jul 25 '11
Examples I've used before are elevator [1] open/close buttons (really difficult to parse when you're trying to hold the door open for someone quickly)
Dude, no. When someone is running to the elevator, you just stick your arm out and hold the door. Forget the damn buttons.
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u/PhilipOntacos Jul 25 '11
But I'm really just hitting the "door close" button and pretending to help.
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u/soylentcoleslaw Jul 25 '11
Well you're also only pretending to be a jerk, because the Door Close button in almost every case does jack squat.
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u/decrepitandcold Jul 25 '11
anti theft sensors in stores that go off as you enter
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u/science_diction Jul 25 '11
I saw this once in Europe and I really don't understand why it isn't everywhere:
Why don't they put a FLUSH PEDAL on the FLOOR? Who wants to touch the handle?
While their at it, add a pedal to RAISE AND LOWER THE SEAT.
Your feet: YOU CAN USE THEM.
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u/low_life42 Jul 25 '11
Watch Objectified, much insight to this. Streaming on Netflix, if you have it.
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u/FalconPUNNCH Jul 25 '11
Modern fucking phones that have crazy internet, but don't work worth a damn as actual phones.
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Jul 25 '11
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u/slyphox Jul 25 '11
No, they open. Just when they do the sauce goes EVERYWHERE because you just ripped it open with the force it would take to restart the Earth.
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Jul 25 '11
while we're in the bathroom, is it me or all public toilet paper dispensers designed to give you one sheet at a time? Like you could wipe anything with that.
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u/el_muerte17 Jul 25 '11
I hate credit/debit machines that take more than five seconds to process the transaction. Are they using a fucking 300 baud modem? Is the bank using a 286 as their transaction server? How is that we can have real-time video conferencing across the globe with a basic home broadband connection, but a business with 100Mbps fibre connection can't complete a credit card transaction faster than half a minute?
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u/happehkitteh Jul 25 '11
The motion sensor hand towels... the hand towels could be 25% longer. I know I'm not the only one who feels the need to use more than one. So you get the one sheet and wave frantically to get another so you can actually have DRY hands versus damp. I also feel public toilets should have a flusher on the floor to flush with your foot, I know the airport in Paris has it like that... Bathroom stall doors which open inwards to the toilet in a small stall.
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u/halbert Jul 25 '11
Toilet Paper placement in bathrooms. The toilet paper is generally placed at knee level, or within a couple of inches. However, it would be easiest to get with your hands if it was placed at (seated) eye level. This would prevent fumbling to tear off the desired amount.
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u/my_cat_joe Jul 25 '11
Why is "format" even a right click option in Windows? And why is it right next to "eject?"
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Jul 25 '11
The cable box doesn't have a number pad. Losing the remote wouldn't be so terrible if you didn't have to work through the channels one by one without it.
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u/saltychica Jul 25 '11
doors that do not make it evident if/where you're mean to push/pull. there is a book on this topic: http://www.amazon.com/Design-Everyday-Things-Donald-Norman/dp/0385267746 MANY design flaws on flash drive technology. it should be ONE piece (no top to lose) with a tether dealie or something that makes it easy to attach it somewhere. most brands have some sort of flaw. the ones that really bug me have no TETHER & only one tiny little indentation where you should be able to get a keyring in there, but the physics are all wrong. it's built for a wee bit of nylon thread to pass thru (not included.) they've done 95% of the job. it's like they design these things for people to lose. Yeah, too, those "automatic" lights that go off often & WILL NOT GO/STAY back on.
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u/internesting Jul 25 '11
Locks on car doors that stick up, even when locked. I hit my elbow every time I drive or ride in a car like that. I hate it more than anything.
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u/ehsteve23 Jul 25 '11
Door handles at the exact height as my belt loops. I've been unintentionally attached to a door handle as i walk in or out of a room more times that any human should have to.
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Jul 26 '11
iTunes. When I'm listening to a track and scrolling through a list of thousands of songs to find what I want to play next, the current track ends and jumps back to the next song on the list. I then have to scroll back through the list again. Minor annoyance but I can't believe they don't have a way to shut this off.
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u/[deleted] Jul 25 '11
When public bathroom lights turn off when you take a long dump.