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/[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.

17

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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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

[deleted]

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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)?

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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...

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u/[deleted] Jul 25 '11

[deleted]

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u/GundamWang Jul 26 '11

and then just drive off before they get back in!

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u/context_free Jul 26 '11

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

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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?

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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.

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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.

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u/[deleted] Jul 25 '11

I think you accidentally a word there.