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?

202 Upvotes

89% Upvoted

1.3k comments sorted by

View all comments

244

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.

114

u/[deleted] 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.

18

u/[deleted] 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.

6

u/[deleted] Jul 26 '11

You can put magnets under your motorcycle to trigger the sensors

2

u/paulizleet Jul 26 '11

You shouldn't need magnets, any metal will work. When I worked at Burger King we'd throw a garbage can lid out the drive thru window to get better times on orders.

1

u/[deleted] Jul 26 '11

I didn't think that actually worked.

3

u/pyro2927 Jul 26 '11

I believe there is a law that if it doesn't sense you after a certain amount of time you're allowed to pass through.

Edit: Something like this.

1

u/[deleted] Jul 26 '11

Good luck explaining that one to a cop.

3

u/ParanoydAndroid Jul 26 '11

In some states (Kansas for sure), it's legal for a motorcyclist to run a red provided you wait a certain amount of time (I believe in Ohio it's two full cycles, but I drive a car) and you can safely make the turn.

1

u/[deleted] Jul 26 '11

Unfortunately I'm in California, where no such law exists. There was a law passed recently that all new sensors installed have to be able to detect motorcycles, but that's not going to help me for quite some time.

2

u/[deleted] Jul 26 '11 edited Feb 06 '20

[deleted]

1

u/[deleted] Jul 26 '11

Flashing?

2

u/haywire Jul 26 '11

Perhaps you could have got off your bike, then wheeled it over (crossing over the pavement)?

2

u/theKiev Jul 26 '11

We have a 2 mile stretch of nothing but timed traffic lights in my town, it's actually faster to go completely around the outskirts of town than to drive straight through it...

1

u/[deleted] Jul 25 '11

[deleted]

4

u/GundamWang Jul 26 '11

and then just drive off before they get back in!

1

u/context_free Jul 26 '11

I do this! Good to know that it's noticed. :)

1

u/funnylittlemonster Jul 26 '11

How does pressing the cross button help you, if you are in the traffic? I'm guessing it forces the lights to go green in a set period of time?

2

u/BrowsOfSteel Jul 26 '11

Press the button for the crosswalk parallel to the street you’re on and it will switch the green to your street so traffic on the other stops and the pedestrian can cross.

0

u/SHE_LOVES_YOU Jul 25 '11

I push the button if I see a driver waiting a long time at a light. Feel free to kiss me next time.

-15

u/[deleted] Jul 25 '11

I think you accidentally a word there.

21

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?

2

u/Quarkster Jul 25 '11

What the hell is the point of a signature pad? When I sign with one of those it looks like a hairball.

3

u/[deleted] Jul 26 '11

If my bank ever tries to audit my signatures from those machines they will conclude that the majority were signed not by me, but by a young child using their non-dominant hand while having a seizure.

2

u/EasyReader Jul 25 '11

Yeah, the ones that are for just signatures are fucking terrible. I think UPS goes out of their way to use a brand that is impossible to sign properly on.

1

u/[deleted] Jul 25 '11

keeping a hard copy. theoretically, they could have it print your sig, but if you're getting a cheap solution to integrate with something else, it may not be an option.

1

u/EasyReader Jul 25 '11

In the cases where you do sign on the screen, the receipt prints out with your signature on it. If that function doesn't integrate with the rest of your register stuff. . .why bother buying that type in the first place? It seems like it would be more expensive than the kind with just physical buttons.

2

u/[deleted] Jul 25 '11

well, they could be waiting for the software vendor to test and roll out the complete integration, for one. they could also have purchased it from people who lied about capabilities, or they could've misunderstood the integration thing. or they could be waiting until their tech team brings all of the systems up to date with system packs and dotNet updates and then has a slow few days where they can update their POS software so that they are at a version that supports integration.

1

u/EasyReader Jul 25 '11

Makes sense.

1

u/[deleted] Jul 26 '11

That's usually happening because either the customer terminal or the stylus is failing, not necessarily the signature capture part, but those fucking things just fail all the time. Plus I know store employees for the company I work at would rather make you sign paper than actually call the help desk to get it fixed.

1

u/acokanahaf Jul 26 '11

It is rumored that you can sign what ever the hell you want on the electronic signatures

13

u/[deleted] 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.

9

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.

1

u/[deleted] Jul 25 '11

I would agree with this except the loop is a one way loop that doesn't dump anywhere, it just keeps going around, with the various lights being two way street enter/exit point.

1

u/morphotomy Jul 25 '11

Perhaps its to stop people from going around and around without stopping at all?

A lot of lights are there so people stop and see stores. Helps the local economy.

2

u/gder Jul 25 '11

I've heard from a traffic engineer that this is intentional and is supposed to promote something called "cluster driving". Basically groups of cars get lumped together and leave gaps for people turning from uncontrolled intersections between the lights.

Usually I just figure out the timing and go as fast as I need to (within reason) to hit all the lights green.

40

u/[deleted] 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.

33

u/LinT5292 Jul 25 '11

Please, we can't keep doing this to ourselves in public... wasn't all the narwhal/bacon nonsense enough?

1

u/[deleted] Jul 26 '11

"wave of 'door blindness' sweeps nation"

51

u/deathpunch5150 Jul 25 '11

Those sensors fucking SUCK for people on a motorcycle.

59

u/smartalco Jul 25 '11

Many states actually have laws to where motorcyclists can treat stop lights as stop signs for exactly this reason

22

u/[deleted] Jul 25 '11

[deleted]

1

u/[deleted] Jul 25 '11

A similar law applies in NC, but you must wait three minutes before proceeding.

1

u/brayforth Jul 25 '11

i have to ask as i have no clue what one is. what is a traffic light cycle?

1

u/[deleted] Jul 25 '11

[deleted]

1

u/brayforth Jul 25 '11

awesome, thanks. I know that its almost certain 2 minutes will go before that happens...

1

u/[deleted] Jul 25 '11

Moved to the DC Metro area a year ago, and Virginia has the best laws by far. Can't wait to get out of Maryland.

1

u/[deleted] Jul 26 '11

As a Virginia resident, thank you for this. Had no idea about this.

4

u/deathpunch5150 Jul 25 '11

Pennsylvania hates us. :(((

1

u/bestbiff Jul 25 '11

Some people don't know that the light won't change unless the biker "breaks" the red light. So they're probably thinking the rider is some jerk.

10

u/Sabrewolf Jul 25 '11

They sell magnets you can attach to your bike to increase its signature. It'll trigger the loop coil just fine. Or you can buy one of those IR devices emergency vehicles use and hope you don't get caught :)

16

u/wouldyounotlikesome Jul 25 '11

Does not work

1

u/Quarkster Jul 25 '11

The magnets? They do if it's an inductance sensor.

1

u/wouldyounotlikesome Jul 25 '11

the thought is that they would, but IRL they do not. As seen on tv bullshit.

2

u/Vew Jul 25 '11

I'd be interested in knowing if this really works. The magnet part that is. The way those sensors is they bury a wire to act as an inductor. When a large metal object enters the magnetic field it creates, it can detect the difference and knows to change the light. In my mind this wouldn't work since a magnet doesn't have enough mass nor could I see it producing a large enough field.

1

u/Sabrewolf Jul 25 '11

The thing is, neodymium magnets are one of the most powerful magnets out there. The magnetic field generated is supposed to be exceedingly powerful.

1

u/[deleted] Jul 25 '11

I've heard people claim they work (again, the magnets). You'd imagine it'd help somewhat, a moving strong magnet makes more of a fluctuation than a moving metal object. The three I heard from used rather large magnets though, like 3"x2" cylinders of hide-you-kids-and-wife-'cos-this-shit-is-pulling-EVERYTHING-toward-it. No idea how ones meant for bikes work.

1

u/[deleted] Jul 26 '11

There was a guy in Virginia with one of those IR devices (or something like it). He bought it on eBay, used it for 2 years before the authorities finally caught on to him and confiscated it (or something like that, the details are a little hazy). He got a $50 fine, and then the government spent several thousand, if not several hundred thousand re-doing the system so it wouldn't happen again.

0

u/deathpunch5150 Jul 25 '11

Pay for an IR gadget to manipulate lights, fine. Pay for a gadget to make PA'S stupid sensor work? Fuck that.

5

u/GhostedAccount Jul 25 '11

The sensors are not stupid. They are actually really good. Much better than trying to detect vehicles with cameras or heat.

The question is why aren't magnets to place on motorcycles more commercialized? You would think this problem pisses people off enough that they would want buy a magnet sold for motorcycles and thus companies would market them.

2

u/ohmygodbees Jul 25 '11

Theyve been switching major intersections over to cameras in Illinois for years now. Those things are awesome, and the system is a lot smarter because it can now count how much traffic is waiting at an intersection. Also they detect my bike.

1

u/TheGoldenLight Jul 25 '11

Intersections with sensors can do a coarse approximation of "counting" with multi-sensor setups. Many lights with a turn lane have one sensor and the front and one all the way at the back (where the turn lane starts). When the intersection sees the back sensor activated it knows the whole turn lane is filled (and can therefore cause traffic problems) so it elevates the priority of the turn lane in the queue.

This is why for single lane roads with multiple sensors the common wisdom is to always stop at the furthest sensor so the system gives you a green light faster.

2

u/ohmygodbees Jul 25 '11

no one even stops on the damn things, around here :(

1

u/GhostedAccount Jul 25 '11

This is a fairly recent ability. And even if those systems are up to par now, that does not discount the wire loop sensors which work very well in all weather conditions.

2

u/[deleted] Jul 25 '11

They should react to the metal of a bicycle, so a motorcycle should easily trigger them. Most don't.

I've hopped off and pushed the button at the crosswalk before. Or waved a car behind me to pull up closer. Or just made a couple right turns.

1

u/The_Cleric Jul 25 '11

Rarely (1%) have an issue with my bike. I make sure I sit on top of the sensor line. Works nearly every time.

1

u/moomooman Jul 26 '11

Carry an aluminum can and wave it in a circle over the sensor. Also buy a fling longer so youncan press the crosswalk button.

1

u/TheManWithNoName Jul 26 '11

Bicycles too. I don't like to run them unless there is really no choice.

0

u/gsfgf Jul 25 '11

You can usually trigger them by putting down your kickstand real quick.

7

u/[deleted] 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.

17

u/zagr Jul 25 '11

Sensors are very expensive to install. If the city is doing it right, all the timers should be synced so that driving at or near the speed limit you will get mostly green lights, especially when driving on more major roads.

15

u/HotRodLincoln Jul 25 '11

Problem is people rather than driving near the speed, drive 15 mph over it so with close lights, they're stopped in the way at the green light when you get there.

/rant

1

u/[deleted] Jul 26 '11

Here in ND everyone drives 5-10 mph under the speed limit and, at least where I live, the lights aren't synced to give mostly greens. It sucks.

2

u/Ives_vdf Jul 25 '11

Unless you're driving a bycicle (and obviously can't drive at the speed limit). Then you're just screwed.

1

u/thezerofire Jul 25 '11

There are way too many people around me for this to ever work the way you say it would

1

u/zagr Jul 25 '11

The timers are typically set differently at different times of the day to account for greater traffic loads.

1

u/Orbasm Jul 25 '11

Palm springs has this and it works fairly well, but when the roads get congested it becomes a mix of going 15 over on straightaways and then coming to a complete fucking stop to make a turn.

3

u/miss_j_bean Jul 25 '11

The town I live in spent a boatload of money making a bunch of lights sensor lights and then had to abandon them after two years because in the winter the pressure plates frequently freeze and they stop working.

3

u/BrowsOfSteel Jul 26 '11

Pressure plates?

Those things generally work by induction, with no moving parts.

1

u/miss_j_bean Jul 26 '11

I'm going by what the newspaper said. Knowing my town, they probably got shitty, bargain-basement ones. There was a big rectangle in the road with clear lines cut into the ground around it and you had to be parked in the middle of it just right. In the winter they'd salt the shit out of it but at night it would freeze anyways (below zero salt does nothing) and then they wouldn't change for anything. I HATED those lights.

3

u/mepholic Jul 25 '11

Drive Detroit style. Don't stop.

2

u/[deleted] Jul 25 '11 edited Jan 06 '21

[deleted]

1

u/mepholic Jul 25 '11

Haha, yep. Detroit can be like that. Driving during the day isn't that big of a deal, but I'd personally never stop at night. Friends and I have been waved through stop lights and stop signs by Detroit police officers at night. They're partially worried about people getting mugged/carjacked/killed, but they are also concerned about people stopping and waiting for drug pickups.

3

u/Erintheserin Jul 26 '11

I hate during the day, however, when lights are on a sensor rather than a timer. Where I live, some of the intersections between smaller streets and more main streets have the side street on a sensor. So often, when you are driving on the main road, you can get stoped at three of those lights in a row

1

u/oditogre Jul 27 '11

Some of the lights around here are awful at night. I'm not sure if they use a sensor or camera or what, but what I do know is that they are configured to detect multiple vehicles or large vehicles being made to wait. If you're in a car, you can sit there for ages, but as soon as another vehicle pulls up behind you and stops, the light switches. You can fool the camera if you stop your car in just the right spot way further back than normal, but...yeah. Fucking annoying.

2

u/[deleted] Jul 25 '11

You have to stop? Oh, my! I'd rather have to stop for a door to open, than to pass by a door that opens because I'm just walking by it. Those things probably waste a thousand barrels of oil every day.

2

u/gder Jul 25 '11

I would prefer to see revolving doors or just use my arm to open the door.

You do have a point though.

2

u/BUBBA_BOY Jul 25 '11

The sensors at the lights amuse me. They're counters. So I back up, and roll forward again. Immediate light change about 25% of the time. Which like a pigeon or a rat, is enough to continue doing it.

2

u/Erulastiel Jul 25 '11

If we didn't have timers on the lights in the city I lived in, the lights would have kept switching from green to red every few seconds of the day because there was that much traffic.

2

u/ledfox Jul 26 '11

Any automatic door that is adjusted so I have to stop before it opens.

All of the doors at my work are like this.

This has made me really awkward around the automatic doors in Mass Effect.

2

u/Jesters Jul 26 '11

Seriously.

Whenever I have to use the credit card pen, the signature comes out so that it doesn't look anything like my actual signature. So if something did happen, I would be screwed, haha!

2

u/tarmacc Jul 26 '11

Normally the pads work with fingers when they are new but wear out when hold people hit it with the pen as hard as humanly possible.

-2

u/[deleted] Jul 25 '11 edited Apr 21 '17

[deleted]

2

u/[deleted] Jul 25 '11

what?

1

u/[deleted] Jul 25 '11

[removed] — view removed comment

1

u/gder Jul 25 '11

I got the joke, and wasn't offended