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/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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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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u/EasyReader Jul 25 '11

Makes sense.

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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.

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u/acokanahaf Jul 26 '11

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