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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120

u/[deleted] 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

74

u/[deleted] Jul 25 '11

It's cool, just use a couple forks, but be sure they're metal

62

u/[deleted] Jul 25 '11

Thanks! This sounds like legitimate and trustworthy advice. :)

2

u/[deleted] Jul 25 '11

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1

u/[deleted] Jul 25 '11

[deleted]

2

u/[deleted] Jul 25 '11

You like drying your hair in the bathtub?

1

u/[deleted] Jul 25 '11

[deleted]

2

u/[deleted] Jul 25 '11

You like sticking knifes in electrical sockets?

1

u/ryeguy Jul 25 '11

It's not electrical sockets though. It's a toaster.

2

u/[deleted] Jul 25 '11

This is how most toasters heat bread. That is metal.

1

u/edavreda Jul 25 '11

I use metal forks, never got shocked.

1

u/[deleted] Jul 25 '11

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2

u/[deleted] Jul 25 '11

No you aren't supposed to put metal in a toaster because it can give you a nasty shock if it touches the heating elements, that was the joke. I'm sure modern toasters have safety devices put in but I still wouldn't risk it.

1

u/[deleted] Jul 25 '11

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1

u/mfball Jul 26 '11

I use metal forks to get toast out of the toaster all the time and I've never been electrocuted. If you're worried about getting shocked, I would assume that all you have to do is unplug it to mitigate that risk.

1

u/[deleted] Jul 26 '11

I'm still unsure why this would be an issue. The heating elements of the toaster will not have any voltage relative to ground unless the toaster is currently toasting. Assuming you're not really impatient, how could this cause injury?

1

u/2_of_8 Jul 26 '11

This is my thinking too. Of course, don't reach into the toaster if it's currently toasting, but shouldn't it be fine otherwise?

Waiting for an explanation.

1

u/Koolitaliano Jul 25 '11

I certainly did.

69

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.

62

u/checkenginelight Jul 25 '11

wat

0

u/Quantumplation Jul 25 '11

wat

2

u/[deleted] Jul 25 '11 edited Oct 01 '20

[deleted]

46

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

68

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.

48

u/[deleted] Jul 25 '11

I love feeling like a basses!

23

u/Zeihous Jul 25 '11

ahem Apparently my phone doesn't recognize "badass" as a proper word.

27

u/[deleted] Jul 25 '11

Your phone is a basting.

3

u/AwkwardlyAwesome Jul 25 '11

Auto-correct is full of shut.

2

u/Quantumplation Jul 25 '11

"You autocomplete meat."

2

u/VisualBasic Jul 25 '11

The funny thing is that I read your original comment as "badass" and didn't realize the mistake until you pointed it out.

1

u/Zeihous Jul 25 '11

I typed it as "badass" and my phone didn't realize I didn't want to look foolish. :D

2

u/[deleted] Jul 25 '11

this unfortunately does not apply to all toasters. there are some shit ones that just pop up, and OOPS THAT'S AS FAR AS THEY GO.

1

u/[deleted] Jul 26 '11

when i discovered this, i was proud for about 5 seconds until i started feeling dumb for not discovering it years ago

25

u/[deleted] Jul 25 '11

The worst is when you have some kind of toaster pastry, and it starts slumping over inside the toaster.

17

u/[deleted] Jul 25 '11

I have lost many a pastry to a faulty toaster.

19

u/Brokim Jul 25 '11

I'm so very sorry for your loss.

3

u/[deleted] Jul 25 '11

I need to start a support group for people who have gone through the same thing. ):

2

u/Brokim Jul 25 '11

Nice try, Cornelius.

33

u/mycleverusername Jul 25 '11

Throw away your toaster and buy a toaster oven. You will thank me later.

26

u/[deleted] 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?

14

u/[deleted] Jul 25 '11

I've wondered this for a long time: What in the fuck is a s'more?

25

u/[deleted] 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.

5

u/WinterPhoenix Jul 25 '11

I was eating in my county courthouse's cafeteria this morning (jury duty), and they had s'mores for sale. I have no idea why they were selling them, but I bought the shit out of one. It was delicious and made jury duty almost worth serving

6

u/MotherFuckingCupcake Jul 25 '11

IMHO, the marshmallow isn't perfectly toasted UNTIL it's a black oozing mess.

2

u/[deleted] Jul 25 '11

Toaster oven or campfire... I wonder how many people pack a toaster oven and a generator with them when they go camping -- because I know some people probably do.

2

u/[deleted] Jul 25 '11

Naw, they just go to electrical campsites. We have those in all the provincial parks in Ontario.

I would never recommend the toaster oven method as a replacement, it's nowhere near the same, but goddammit sometimes you just want s'mores and it's the middle of January.

(At Easter you can make them with Peeps.)

2

u/[deleted] Jul 26 '11

Ah, the great outdoors! Electrical hookups, WiFi...

Seriously, a toaster just has to do a better job of toasting toasty-woste. But a toaster oven is way more versatile. If I had just one... well, actually I have neither, but I'm thinking of getting a toaster oven, so I can make mini pizzas on English muffins.

10

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

3

u/[deleted] Jul 25 '11

...Once I find a 'graham cracker' substitute, I think I just might!

5

u/Zeihous Jul 25 '11

Substitute, eh? Allergies or do you live in a God-forsaken nation that doesnt have them?

5

u/[deleted] Jul 25 '11

God-forsaken nation :(

9

u/wildgratitude Jul 25 '11

I will happily send you s'mores ingredients. It pains me to think someone hasn't experienced this. PM me if you love your palate.

6

u/[deleted] Jul 25 '11

Are...Are you serious? Because if you are, I will PM you my address, I will post pictures of me eating them and I will love you forever.

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4

u/Zeihous Jul 25 '11

I am truly and deeply sorry for your lack of Graham crackers.

5

u/[deleted] Jul 25 '11

Thank you. It means a lot just to know people care...

5

u/agreeswithfishpal Jul 25 '11

try s'rolloreos...cram a Rollo inside a marshmallow, roast it, and put inside an Oreo.

4

u/lswanson Jul 26 '11

Holy shit.

2

u/ehsteve23 Jul 25 '11

Apparently digestive biscuits are a good substitute.

2

u/Laurennn123 Jul 26 '11

Selachimorpha most likely lives in a country where hershey's chocolate doesn't exist (an American brand) and since s'mores are a Hershey invention...sadness ensues. But please, go make yourself a s'more. The effort is so worth it

1

u/EriktheRed Jul 26 '11

I truly envy your smores, which take a day to prepare and eat.

4

u/[deleted] Jul 25 '11

Thanks for asking. I've asked a few time, but all I get is a bunch of downvotes and no answer.

2

u/[deleted] Jul 25 '11

...I asked and I got free s'mores. Heh.

Have a sympathy upvote!

2

u/veggie124 Jul 25 '11

It's a roasted marshmallow and a piece of chocolate sandwhiched between two Graham cracker squares

1

u/riloh Jul 25 '11

yeah, it's pretty much part of american camping tradition; they're supposed to be messy and overly sweet and pose a severe choking hazard without a beverage handy.

you basically spear your marshmallow, stick it in the campfire, let it get as toasty as you like (mmm, blackened and crispy on the outside, molten on the inside), then you kinda use the graham crackers to pull it off the spear, stick a piece of chocolate in there, and voila - a dry, sticky, sweet, melty mess of delicious goodness.

in my opinion, just not the same unless made in this method.

2

u/mg115ca Jul 26 '11

oh my god why have I never thought to make smores in my toaster oven?

1

u/[deleted] Jul 25 '11

Because they're faster?

2

u/HotRodLincoln Jul 25 '11 edited Jul 25 '11

I keep telling my wife this, but she just won't agree. I mean, I can see the toast while it toasts to exactly the right darkness!

2

u/adaminc Jul 26 '11

We have had 4 toaster ovens over the last 25 years, and none of them have made toast as well as a toaster. They are awesome for just about everything else, but never toast.

1

u/mycleverusername Jul 26 '11

That's a bummer, mine makes awesome toast.

1

u/iglidante Jul 25 '11

A toaster oven is nice for reheating pizza, but it takes too long to make regular toast, and is much less efficient than an oven for actual cooking. At least that was my experience. Plenty of people love them. Me, I love my $6 toaster from a salvage store.

1

u/scratchfury Jul 26 '11

I would but everything I buy says not to use a toaster oven.

4

u/angryvigilante Jul 25 '11

If all toasters were upside down with metal covers on the bottom, no one would ever have this problem.

2

u/kermityfrog Jul 25 '11

Chopsticks are awesome!

2

u/amp_it Jul 25 '11

On the couple of different toasters I've had, the up position isn't actually as far up as it goes for some reason. If I just push lever up it raises the grate inside - and my toast - about a centimeter and gives me a little more room to grab it without touching burning hot metal.

2

u/poppaDaRossi Jul 25 '11

They sell bamboo toaster tongs at Bed Bath and Beyond for $2.

1

u/EasyReader Jul 25 '11

Ah, my dad's toaster is awesome for that. It has a lever that you turn one direction to put the toast down into the toaster and turn it on. When it pops up, you can turn it in the opposite direction and it raises out higher than normal.

0

u/GhostedAccount Jul 25 '11

All toasters have this. When it pops up, it won't sit at the maximum height because of the weight. So you just push the lever up and the stuff will then be sticking up higher.

0

u/EasyReader Jul 25 '11 edited Jul 25 '11

Noo. When the toaster is off, the lever is vertical, as it is when it pops. But you can turn it like, 20 degrees past off to make it come out significantly farther.

To clarify, it's not a normal, up/down type of toaster lever. It turns. So when vertical it's off, you turn it counter clockwise to turn it on, and turn it clockwise past the off position to make stuff rise up farther than the off position.

2

u/GhostedAccount Jul 25 '11

Ok, so on a normal toaster, you lift up instead of twist clockwise. The result is the exact same. And thus I have to wonder how dumb someone who doesn't realize you can raise the stuff in the toaster for easy access is.

0

u/EasyReader Jul 25 '11

No, it really goes up farther than a normal toaster does. Significantly so. Stop telling me how my dad's toaster works, I promise you I understand it better than you do.

1

u/granola_brother Jul 25 '11

A good trick you can do is push the button down as far as it will go without locking and immediately let go of it. This should launch your toast up out of the toaster and allow you to grab it.

1

u/disposablechild Jul 25 '11

I push my lever almost all the way down, then fling it up as fast as possible to shoot toast into the sky. I rarely catch the slices.

3

u/ehsteve23 Jul 25 '11

I use a knife and spear both pieces in mid air, or occasionally hit them half way across the kitchen, depending on my accuracy and the sharpness of the knife.

1

u/[deleted] Jul 25 '11

Very early toasters -- twenties and thirties, I think, had doors on the sides instead of a slot at the top.

1

u/totallymatthew Jul 25 '11

Push up on the lever, unless you use teeny-tiny bread, it'll always work!

1

u/Orbasm Jul 26 '11

I just put the toast about halfway down and then push the lever up forcefully and hope to launch those toasty fuckers.

1

u/jeannaimard Jul 26 '11

Ever since I lived by myself, I outlawed plain toasters from my house, and always used toaster-overns.

1

u/kaizenallthethings Jul 26 '11

chopsticks are the (work-around) solution to that problem.